ⓘ Xbox Game Studios

In Minecraft Dungeons, players take on the role of a hero of their choice who sets out to confront the Arch-Illager. The villain has gotten his hands on the Orb of Dominance and is using the sinister artifact's powers to subjugate the inhabitants of the Minecraft world with his army. On the way to the final battle, players travel through villages, mines and fortresses, among other locations – all presented in Minecraft's signature blocky style, of course.

In terms of gameplay, however, Minecraft Dungeons has little in common with classic Minecraft. Instead of mining blocks and building sprawling vacation homes from the ground up, players fight their way through hordes of enemies from an isometric perspective, search for hidden treasure chests and collect increasingly powerful gear. There are no fixed character classes. Instead, playstyles are determined by melee and ranged weapons, armor, artifacts and enchantments. In addition to single-player, the game offers online co-op for up to four players, local co-op and cross-platform multiplayer.

Minecraft Dungeons normally costs just under $20 on Steam. Until August 31, however, the action RPG from Mojang Studios and Double Eleven is 50% off, bringing the price down to $9.99. According to SteamDB, the deal matches its lowest price to date, last reached in early June.

German gaming magazine PC Games praised the straightforward combat, beginner-friendly gameplay and varied equipment in its review. The monster-slaying action is said to be particularly enjoyable in co-op. The reviewers were less impressed by the limited amount of content: Their first playthrough took only around five hours. The shallow story, highly linear level design and limited RPG depth also cost the game points. Experienced action RPG players may also find themselves wishing for more challenge and variety. Overall, PC Games awarded the game 7.0 out of 10.

On Metacritic, Minecraft Dungeons has a Metascore of 70 and a User Score of 6.8. The Steam community is considerably more positive, however: 90% of more than 18,000 user reviews are positive. On the Steam Deck, the action RPG is officially rated as “Unsupported.” ProtonDB, however, gives it a “Gold” rating, meaning the game should run without major issues after a few tweaks.

Disclaimer: Notebookcheck is not responsible for price changes carried out by retailers. The discounted price or deal mentioned in this item was available at the time of writing and may be subject to time restrictions and/or limited unit availability.

As a child in the 90s, my Gameboy was my steady companion. After school, the PlayStation was fired up. When I finally got my first PC, I was completely hooked. My passion for gaming has never waned since. For me, writing for Notebookcheck means reporting on topics that are really close to my heart - in addition to gaming, I also like to write about e-mobility, photovoltaics and innovative gadgets. When I'm not sitting at my computer, I'm probably on water rescue duty on the Baltic coast or trying to counteract the downsides of my geek life - namely sitting for long periods - at the local swimming pool.