Terraria has been keeping me up late for about two weeks now. It’s a sandbox game that involves (if you want to) digging, crafting, fighting monsters, building your house, and lots more. I downloaded it on my phone and was hooked instantly. Several days in, I was worried that I was giving myself carpal tunnel syndrome because my wrist and arm were so sore! The phone is probably the least ergonomically friendly object on which to play games…or do anything really. It’s a flat rectangle. Terrible.
Anyway I love the way Terraria lets you reshape the world. Being a control freak, I think that’s what appeals the most. I can move mountains, pave over oceans, reroute lakes, throw away resources, kill monsters, or box them in so I don’t have to deal with them (or my favorite, box them in and then kill them when I feel like getting around to it), pick flowers, plant flowers, craft stuff, throw it away, anything I feel like doing at that moment.
My husband played the game a while back on the PC so it’s nice to ask him for advice and compare playing styles. He thinks it’s funny that I built platforms in the sky to avoid running on the ground over hills, valleys and endless slimes, but I think it’s equally funny that he took the time in his game to level the surface of the world. To me that’s boring and time consuming. (But I realize that to a lot of people, that’s what this entire game sounds like 😛 )
I like that the game can be as hard or as easy as you want it to be. If you’re feeling daring, you can summon a boss that will kill you in two seconds (or if you’re tougher than me, you might beat it!).
If you’re feeling artsy, you can make a really fancy house. I have to admit that I haven’t done much at all with mine. I have several shacks set up around the world that contain a few chests and crafting areas, but I haven’t gotten into decorating. Maybe one day I’ll make myself a shining gold-plated castle, but for now I’d rather go exploring.
The most relaxing thing for me is to dig around and explore. The other day I made it down to the lava and Fire Imps (not so relaxing!). I have also found a couple floating islands and I’m looking for more.
There’s so much more to the game, but at the core it’s pretty basic. It’s fun. There’s never anything I have to do, and that’s the best part.
Cynthia M Voss 
My evil boys (ages 14, 9, and 4) all love the game and eventually won me over. I’ve caught up (almost) to my teenager’s progress and even made him jealous once or twice when at first I had to endure crap like “oh, you still need IRON for things? That’s… that’s cute, Dad.”
The game may or may not be running on my iPad while I type on my laptop, in the hopes that a solar eclipse will kick off one of these days.
Good luck in your Terraria-ing!
The things we do for our kids, right haha. I have fallen behind but will pick it up again. I lost my progress when I got a new phone and had everything saved locally on the old phone. But I’m working my way back to my former glory, saving on the cloud this time. Good luck to you and all your digging and fighting adventures, and to your boys as well!