Minecraft Dungeons

Minecraft Dungeons is an action-adventure role-playing video game developed by Mojang Studios, and Double Eleven. It was released on May 26, 2020, for Windows, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4, and on November 10, 2020 for the Xbox Series X&#124;S.

Originally conceived as a game for the, Minecraft Dungeons takes inspiration from classic dungeon crawlers. It also features music by Peter Hont, Johan Johnson, Samuel Åberg, Eugnosis, and Rostislav Trifonov.

Purchase and availability
The Standard Edition of the game is available for 19.99 (19.99, 16.74, 29.95, 39.95), and the Hero Edition for US$29.99 (€29.99, £24.99, AU$39.95, NZ$49.95), which includes the Hero Pass (which can also be purchased separately for US$9.99 (€9.99, £8.39, AU$14.95, NZ$14.50)), which in turn includes the Hero Cape, the Baby Chicken pet, the Pake and Wargen skins, and the Jungle Awakens and Creeping Winter downloadable content (DLC) packs. The Season Pass can also be purchased for US$19.99 (€19.99, £16.74, AU$29.95, NZ$39.95) and includes the Howling Peaks DLC, Flames of the Nether DLC, Hidden Depths DLC and will include the End DLC. The DLC packs are also available separately for US$5.99 (€5.99, £4.99, AU$9.05, NZ$8.70) each.

The game is available on the following platforms:
 * Windows:
 * Minecraft Launcher (Windows 7+)
 * Microsoft Store (Windows 10+):
 * Standard Edition
 * Hero Edition
 * Xbox One/Series X&#124;S:
 * Standard Edition
 * Hero Edition
 * Nintendo Switch:
 * Standard Edition
 * Hero Edition
 * PlayStation 4

Gameplay
The game supports up to four players and features various new weapons, items, and mobs, as well as a variety of environments to explore and an overarching quest that sees players face off against a main antagonist, called the Arch-Illager. The game has specific quests and locations, along with procedurally generated elements. The player is not restricted to one class, and can pick up more armor or weapons and use them. Players do not build or mine because the game is focused on action/adventure. The game takes place both above ground and below. Players can re-play levels they have previously beaten. There is a camp "hub world" that takes place in part of the tutorial level, Squid Coast, with shops unlockable by saving their merchants. Levels are procedurally generated, and Mojang was considering using world seeds.

Players can choose their avatar from a variety of skins provided, with additional skins available as paid DLC. Character creator skins and skins purchased in vanilla Minecraft are not available for use in Minecraft Dungeons.

Character
The character is the person that the user controls in the game. When creating a character, the user can choose a cosmetic skin that they can use throughout the game. All skins are the same and do not offer special powers.

When creating a character, all loot, levels, and progress gained stays only on that character and does not carry over into other characters the user creates. If the player started a game with a character and want an alternate character with different loot, you can duplicate your character with the same loot your character had.

Locations
When starting up the game for the first time with a new character, the player begins at Squid Coast. They then progress through the other locations, such as the Creeper Woods, until they reach the final level of the game, Obsidian Pinnacle. Sometimes a location can generate a room that allows access to a secret location, such as the Creepy Crypt, Lower Temple, Soggy Cave, Arch Haven or Underhalls. Other levels can be accessed by proceeding through the levels normally, such as Pumpkin Pastures, Redstone Mines, Desert Temple and Highblock Halls. Most of the locations of the main story with the Arch-Illager take place on the mainland. Other locations are available only through the DLC packs. The secret location ??? requires players to collect all 9 runes after defeating the Arch-Illager.

Items
Weapons are tools that can be used to damage entities with either melee or ranged attacks. They can be enchanted to increase their effectiveness.

Armor is used to protect the player from damage and provide additional health. It can be enchanted to increase its effectiveness as well as provide miscellaneous uses to the player, like a burning aura through the burning enchantment or a chilling aura that slows mobs through the chilling enchantment, both of which doesn't necessarily boost protection, but provide more utility to the player.

Artifacts are objects that the player can use to gain a significant power-up, damage foes, heal allies, etc. They behave like spells which provide an effect and are on a cooldown timer. The effectiveness of artifacts can be augmented through certain armor enchantments.

Consumables are non-equipable items that randomly drop during gameplay to restore health, ammo and provide temporary positive Status effects to the user as well as deal massive splash damage to foes.

Cosmetics include pets and capes that provide no functional benefit to the player and are designed for cosmetics and looks. Pet cosmetics are either free or require paid DLC to be equipped. Capes can either be obtained by owning the Hero Pass, are free or were obtained by completing a set amount of Seasonal Trials.

Players can gift weapons, armor and artifacts to other players by interacting with the gift wrapper.

Enchantments
Weapons and armor collected throughout the game possess randomly selected enchantments that, once activated by spending enchantment points obtained by levelling up, augment and alter the properties of the equipment. Equipment can appear with up to three enchantment slots each possessing a maximum of three enchantments to select from of which one can be activated. Enchantments are specific to the equipment type they appear on; ranged weapons enchantments will never appear on armor for instance.

Enchantments can enhance damage output, increase defense, apply positive or negative Status Effects, restore or increase health, spawn consumables, emeralds, bees, escape death, and more.

Mobs
Mobs (short for "mobiles") are creatures encountered throughout the game. Most in Minecraft Dungeons are hostile and attempt to destroy the player on sight, some are passive and will never attack, and few are neutral that will only attack when the player attacks it first. Mobs summoned by the player are friendly, cannot be directly damaged by the player, and will attack hostile mobs.

There are four broad types of hostile mobs the protagonist(s) fight in the game: mobs, enchanted mobs, mini bosses, and bosses.

Defeating mobs gives the player experience and they often drop emeralds, consumables, Weapons, and armor.

Throughout the game, mobs will ambush the player and a rising gate blocks further progression until all mobs that spawned in the ambush are defeated. The Arch-Illager can be seen initiating most ambushes on the Mainland.

Synopsis
Minecraft Dungeons is set in the same universe as Minecraft. Unlike Minecraft, which is a sandbox, the game features a linear, story-driven campaign, and cutscenes. The opening cutscene tells the story of a homeless Illager named Archie, who was rejected by all those who met. One day, he stumbled upon a powerful artifact known as the "Orb of Dominance," which granted him great powers but also corrupted him. The power-hungry "" then sought vengeance on all those who wronged him, and soon subjugated the world with his new army, raiding villages, forcing villagers to work as slave labor, and leaving only chaos behind. It's now up to the player to stand up against the Arch-Illager's tyranny and become a hero in order to defeat him and save the world.

The player explores various locations in their quest to stop the Arch-Illager, fighting his army and completing quests in order to pass on to the next level. Ultimately, they face the Arch-Illager in his castle, defeating him and shattering the Orb of Dominance in the process, which frees Archie from its influence. Afterward, they show kindness to Archie, much to his surprise, and together they celebrate that evil has been defeated and the world saved, though the Orb is later shown to be rebuilding itself.



The DLC packs continue the story as follows:


 * In Jungle Awakens, one of the orb fragments creates the and various other monsters out of the jungle flora. The player manages to destroy the shard and frees the jungle.


 * In Creeping Winter, another orb fragment corrupts a, covering the island in an eternal winter. The player must kill the , destroys the shard and rids the island of its winter.


 * In Howling Peaks, another orb fragment lands on top of a mountain, corrupting a local . The player must leap up the mountain and defeat the.


 * In Flames of the Nether DLC takes place in the Nether dimension. The Orb of Dominance is not in this DLC, therefore the levels have no beginning and ending narration, nor is there a main boss.

There is also an upcoming unnamed DLC that will take place in the End.
 * In Hidden Depths, an orb fragment lands in the Ocean corrupting an . The player must dive deep into the depths of the sea and defeat the.

Development
The game was announced at MINECON Earth 2018. It appears as a visually enhanced version of the base Minecraft game, but has a different gameplay style. The game is inspired by classic dungeon crawlers. On September 17, 2019, Double Eleven announced that they are assisting Mojang Studios and Xbox Game Studios with development, particularly with multiplayer and the console versions.

Minecraft Dungeons was given an April 2020 release date in November 2019, though this date was delayed to May 26, 2020, due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The closed beta for the game ran from March 25 to April 24, 2020.

System requirements
According to this page:

Guide to Minecraft Dungeons: A Handbook for Heroes
Guide to Minecraft Dungeons: A Handbook for Heroes is a guide book for Minecraft Dungeons that was released on May 26, 2020 as a and.

Minecraft Dungeons: The Rise of the Arch-Illager
Minecraft Dungeons: The Rise of the Arch-Illager is a novel about the background story on the origins of the Arch-Illager by American author. It was published by on July 7, 2020 in  and on July 9, 2020 in the. It was released as a, , and all of which were available to purchase on the same day.

LEGO
Minecraft Dungeons also has its own LEGO set called "21163 The Redstone Battle", which features the four main heroes Valorie, Hex, Hal and Adriene along with the Redstone Monstrosity and the Redstone Golem, as well as a Piggy Bank. It was released on June 1st, 2020. Another Minecraft Dungeons LEGO set was revealed which is called "21176 The Jungle Abomination" which features the two skins of the Jungle Awakens, a Mossy Skeleton, an Iron Golem, an enchanted Creeper, a Poison-Quill Vine and the Jungle Abomination itself. It is planned to release on August 1st, 2021.