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What other game should have a spinoff in a totally unlikely genre?

Fire up the genre generator

After a brief moment of uncertainty during its first reveal, I had a pretty good feeling that Minecraft Dungeons would be some nice and breezy block-clad fun. Until I'd seen it though, turning Minecraft into Diablo's little brother was not an obvious experiment—at least not to me. What other game series should get a spinoff into some totally unlikely other genre?

Minecraft Dungeons isn't out until tomorrow, but RPS reviews man Nate has already called it some good, simple fun in his Minecraft Dungeons review.

"Minecraft Dungeons is really fun! It’s a charming, lively little looter-bruter, with all Minecraft’s aesthetic elements, but absolutely nothing in common with it beyond that," says Nate. He seems to have found it a fun romp, if a bit short and shallow. Dungeons doesn't get deep into RPG stats, opting instead for familiarly Minecraft-y armor and enchantments. Despite that, in so many ways it doesn't want to be Minecraft at all.

"It just seems bizarre that in a setting designed entirely around the concept of altering physical spaces, everything in every level is completely implacable," says Nate. "Would it have hurt to have had a few blow-uppable walls? A bit of token mining, just as a nod to the fact that it’s called 'Minecraft'?"

Not every spinoff strikes diamond. Minecraft Story Mode always seemed an odd choice, despite how much I enjoyed Telltale's other intense story games.

What game other than Minecraft do you suppose could successfully tackle some entirely new genre? Could The Elder Scrolls be a tactics game? Maybe Half-Life should be a party game somehow. Should Dragon Age be a dating sim? Just kidding, it already is.

You can even peep this great Twitter bot for ideas.

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Lauren Morton avatar
Lauren Morton: Lauren was a freelance news writer for RPS between 2019 and 2021, writing news during evening hours. She's an expert in cosy games and has strong opinions about farming sims. She is now associate editor at PC Gamer.
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Minecraft: Dungeons

PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch

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