Happy 10th Anniversary, Terraria!
10 years ago, on May 16, 2011 a little game called Terraria was released. It was a bit like Minecraft, but 2D and with more progression. At least I assume it was still like that at release since I’d met the game a little bit later.
Honestly, I don’t remember when and how I heard about the game. And full disclosure, I may have pirated the game for a short while, can’t recall. But I did check my Steam purchases and apparently, I bought the game in June 2012, on sale, for the ridiculous amount of 2.49$!
Since then, Terraria has been one of those games I found myself coming back to. But unlike most of such games, I found something new every. time. I’m not even exaggerating. I’ve never seen a game with such a small price tag and isn’t “game-as-a-service” that was supported the way Terraria was. We’ve had new bosses, new items, new mechanics, new graphics and versions on other platforms! Even with the final, “love-letter” patch, Journey’s End, devs added several meaningful changes. Then fixed some things. Then added a bit of content. Then fixed things… And all of this for a very, very low price point. Result? Over 35 million sales, that impossibly great Reddit community and a 98% approval rating on steam over 591,332 reviews… And most negative reviews are even jokes or just asks you why you are checking negative reviews. Me? Well, over these 9 years, I have accumulated 686.6 hours. That’s over 28 days! Now, I do have a couple of games that have higher hours on my Steam, but both of them have *tons* of AFK time. My 28 days on Terraria are active, which is by far the highest time I spent on any game except World of Warcraft.
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that I encouraged a lot of people into getting Terraria and gifted copies when that didn’t work! I feel I’ve created a few fans over the course of the decade. Outside of my circles, I’ve enjoyed the Reddit sub, one of the best gaming subs on the platform. Unlike many others, it’s filled with people who actually play and enjoy the game. I know, crazy. And the talent! There is so much talent in our community, it’s mind-blowing! Of course, we have our share of memes. Remember Obama Prism? Someone even made it a real mod!
I’ve enjoyed Terraria alone, I used it as a mind-soother-during-lunch at work and of course, played it with friends. Oh, the houses I/we built, the different layouts we tried, different ways we split the work, different builds we used! It’s always so much fun and I haven’t even properly checked the mods yet! Speaking of, the fan-made mod tool Tmod is now on Steam, plus Steam Workshop is enabled so… there will always be new content.
What a legacy. What a game. What a journey. I’d like to thank the devs for everything they’ve done. I can’t wait to see their next project — I’ll support it wholeheartedly, knowing how they operate. Until then, I’ll still visit Terraria now and then. You should too.
