Minecraft Dungeons Gameplay Reveal

And who could possibly be more excited for all of this than yours truly, who gets an all-new game to write blog posts about? I can think of very few people!

Well, possibly Minecraft Dungeon’s Game Director Måns Olson, who has been working alongside his small and dedicated team to bring this creation to life for the past few years, while not being able to tell a living soul outside of Mojang about it.

With all this excitement going around, I figured the only reasonable thing to do would be to DOUBLE THE EXCITEMENT by chatting to Måns Olson about the Gameplay Reveal Trailer for Minecraft Dungeons, and scoring some exclusive details along the way!

Måns: In the first few seconds of the trailer, we get a glimpse of the Redstone Monstrosity. If it looks (or rather sounds) familiar, you may just recall it from a very tall and very ominous-looking shadow at the end of the Announce Trailer that we showed at MINECON.

We’re also doing an initial fly-through through the Fiery Forge, which is the home of the Redstone Monstrosity. We then transition to a level called Desert Temple.

Thomas: I remember this environment from the same trailer.

Måns: Correct! This is a brand new mob, the Skeleton Vanguard [0:15 seconds into the trailer]. And in the background, perched on the throne, is the Nameless One, who holds power over the undead. This is another mob new to the Minecraft universe. In the final fly-over, we see a few familiar faces—

Thomas: Hello zombie, hello Creeper, hello skeleton!

Måns: Right. Hello, mobs. Anyway, we’re now in the Creeper Woods, where the player begins their adventures. We also introduce the player character for the first time.

Thomas: Hello, me! But… that’s not Steve. It’s also not Alex. That’s…?

Måns: Well, Valorie is featured as one of our four main characters, but we’re really dealing with skins here. It’s up to the player to choose their appearance, but all of our characters have the same stats and skills.

Thomas: Sounds fair.

Måns: Here we get straight into the action! For our first gameplay shot, the player is fighting the skeleton—

Thomas: Bye, skeleton...

Måns: —with a fishing rod in-hand.

Måns: You control your character, either using a mouse and keyboard, or a gamepad. Valorie engages in ranged combat, taking down an Illager and a zombie, before proceeding deeper into the woods. Ranged combat is always available alongside melee combat in Minecraft Dungeons. Players carry weapons of both types at all times.

Thomas: Oh, what’s this? A hidden crypt! [0:34 seconds into the trailer]

Måns: Yep! Some pickups will come in handy. In this case, a piece of armour and a giant hammer! This is one of my favourite weapons. It has a very satisfying thud, leaving mobs flying in every direction. We should probably equip that!

Thomas: So this is our first peek at the player inventory. Looks like there’s a lot going on.

Måns: There is. We see the player’s level, remaining enchantment points and emeralds. Emeralds are a purely in-game currency for buying items from merchants in the game. The inventory is where we can equip weapons, armour and powerful artifacts, as well as enchant our gear.

Here’s that enchantment at work! [0:41 seconds into the trailer] We’ve enchanted our hammer with the Thundering Enchantment, which sends lightning flying between mobs as you strike. This is a fun one.

Thomas: I know this place. We’re back in the Desert Temple. [0:44]

Måns: And it’s proving to be a dangerous place! Let’s hope this handy mini-map can guide us toward an exit [0:45 - be quick with that pause button to catch it!]. In our next glimpse of the inventory, we’ve gained a whole lot of levels and found loads of items. We’ll equip one of the artifacts we have found – the Corrupted Beacon!

Måns: The beam of a beacon will be familiar to Minecraft players, but in Dungeons it takes on a whole new purpose. You’ll see a lot more exciting items in this screen, but we’re saving those for later!

Thomas: It’s really tearing through those mobs! [0:49]

Måns: Oops. Our hero is downed. Luckily, a trusted ally is here to save the day (and us). In multiplayer mode, you only lose a life when everyone on the team is down, so be quick to resurrect each other!

Here, the entire gang is gathered and headed to battle. [0:57]

Thomas: The key! I recognize this from a frame or two of the MINECON trailer.

Måns: Yes, the Key Golem! This adorable little character has already won the hearts of many team members, and many community members from that quick appearance in our MINECON trailer. It gets you through locked doors, but does make a few strange noises in the process. The key will try to run away from the player at every opportunity.

Thomas: Then we get right back into the action [1:05]. We’re using a new shield here, but what else is going on here?

Måns: We’re summoning a wolf friend and an Iron Golem. These are pets – or should we say companions – that players can bring with them to aid in battle.

Thomas: Impressive jump! [1:10]

Måns: To make that jump we used the Feather, which knocks enemies away as you land. In the final scene, we end where it all began, with the Redstone Monstrosity!

Thomas: In the very last scene, we see the Arch-Illager wreaking havoc with the platform names, revealing more and more (and more?) platforms! Looks like your team has been very busy, Måns.

Måns: You… could say that. Those additional platforms are something we’re super excited about, as they will let a lot more people play Minecraft Dungeons in early 2020! Follow all the updates here, or at @dungeonsgame on Twitter.

Thomas: Thanks Måns!

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