I have two 9 yr olds and they find the Xbox version very difficult to use. They played once when we bought it and have not used it since. They loved the iPad and computer version so this was disappointing.

Challenging

My son loves this game on all his devices. He was looking for something specific from this version but could not do it, so he was disappointed. He still plays it and enjoys it.

My time with Terraria has been a rollercoaster ride of frustration and intrigue going from wanting to turn the game off immediately through to an uneasy acceptable. Find out below as I chronicle my time with the game as I approach it for the first time.

Parents need to know that Terraria is a sandbox-style mining, crafting, and building game similar to Minecraft . There is a bit of mild monster combat that involves slaying one-eyed flyers, slimes, and shuffling zombies, but the focus here is on exploration, discovery, and creation.

Whenever Terraria is brought up, there is almost always a comparison to Minecraft. In fact some people describe Terraria as a 2D Minecraft. Why do they do that? Because Terraria is set in a 2D world, and it also has crafting.

It's fair to say that Terraria wears a strong Minecraft influence on its sleeve. As a silent hero in an uncharted world, you'll dig for materials beneath the surface and craft all sorts of weapons and items to help you explore and survive.

+ Compelling 2D tweak on a familiar formula; + Bosses and amusing items give it a fun tone

- Can be a tedious solo start; cumbersome menus, ? Will it be regularly updated the way

"Part of the beauty of a game like this is that there really is no direction..." "...it's going to be awfully hard, even this early in the year, to find a downloadable game that can offer this much content."

Absolutely tons to do; Everything can be mined; chopped; and rebuilt; New content for PC expatriates

Early game is a drag; Occasional slow down; Crafting without a mouse

The game is sort of broken down into how you need to go about it you'll start of searching and mining and just being an adventurer then you'll get more confident and start going for bosses THEN when you want even more of a challenge you'll start hard mode!

Terraria is essentially a 2D side-scrolling Minecraft mixed with a Metroidvania. If that doesn't get your hardcore gamer blood pumping, I don't know what will. The game makes the transition from PC to Xbox Live Arcade fairly intact, though with some rough spots due to the control change from...

The advertising tag line for Terraria is DIG, FIGHT, EXPLORE, BUILD. For many gamers that will draw an instant connection with the highly successful Minecraft. But can this 2D side-scrolling game with RPG overtones live up to that comparison? The first step should be to play the tutorial.