Terraria - Everything I Wanted from a Sandbox:

Terraria has been with me a long time, and now I am finally going to give it the proper praise it has been waiting so patiently to receive. This is my most-played game on steam, and for very good reasons. Terraria is a Adventure-Sandbox game that came out around the same time as Minecraft. Unfortunately, many un-informed people have assumed that it is just a 2-d Minecraft copy. These people would be fatally wrong, and I feel sorry for them, since they will never give this gem a chance. This game differs from Minecraft in many key aspects. Minecraft is a 3d sandbox, where combat is pretty bad, enemies are generic, and pretty much the only reason to play is to build something. Terraria is a 2d adventure game with sandbox elements. You can build an epic mansion, but you can also explore and fight. Combat is a huge and deep element to this game. There are different weapon types, and hundreds of enemies, and around 20 bosses. This game is incredibly long too, along with being very replayable.

Building/Mining: Building and Mining will always be an important part of any game with blocks, and Terraria is no different. The beginning of the game will mostly be spent underground hunting for some early ores. Luckily mining is not all bad, as plenty of caves and monster spawns can make mining feel more like spelunking. However, the end-game Jungle Mining is the worst of all mining. The good news is that the majority of the game-progression is not mining, but exploring and fighting. Most people really skip building in this game, but it actually is pretty good. There are many blocks and bakcground blocks you can use to make your house out of, and there are tons of furniture and the like to decorate with.

Combat: The game's combat is also varied and deep. At the game's first stage, you essentially follow one path of armor and just use what weapons you can find. But once you get past that point, armors start to have different headgears, which provide a buff to either melee, ranged, or magic in one way or another. By the time you get to endgame, there is a unique armor set for each of the "classes". What I like about this, is that it requires you to choose one weapon type you like, but doesn't lock you into a class that can only do that. You can have mostly magic, but still carry around a gun and sword. The enemies, especially later on in the game, can be challenging, but nothing compared to the bosses. The game has many bosses (~20), but, in the name of freedom, many of them are of equal(ish) power, so you often get to points where your possible progression paths can split. At the very end of the game, there are the endgame events. These can actually be fun, but even to the most well-equipped players, they are still practically impossible in single-player. In order to rerally get the best stuff, you will probably have to find someone else to help you, and try to set up a server or something so you can co-op the event.

Replayability: In Terraria, (as of 1.2) you can never really beat it. There is no final boss, just the endgame events that you can grind over and over again to get better drops. However once you get to that point, you might wonder if it would be fun to do the whole game again, maybe with a different weapon "class". This game is rather replayable (I myself have restarted about 5ish times), especially if you have gone a while without playing it recently.

Pro/Con Summary (For those too lazy to read)

Pros:
Varied Combat
Varied building materials
~20 unique bosses
Over 2000 items
3 unique weapon types
Progression often trees, allowing you to take multiple paths

Cons:
Mining is often monotonous
Endgame Mining is the worst of all
Almost everything before the first boss is mining
Endgame events are basically impossible in singleplayer

Terraria - Everything I Wanted from a Sandbox: Terraria has been with me a long time, and now I am finally going to give it the proper praise it has been waiting so patiently to receive. This is my most-played game on steam, and for very good reasons. Terraria is a Adventure-Sandbox game that came out around the same time as Minecraft. Unfortunately, many un-informed people have assumed that it is just a 2-d Minecraft copy. These people would be fatally wrong, and I feel sorry for them, since they will never give this gem a chance. This game differs from Minecraft in many key aspects. Minecraft is a 3d sandbox, where combat is pretty bad, enemies are generic, and pretty much the only reason to play is to build something. Terraria is a 2d adventure game with sandbox elements. You can build an epic mansion, but you can also explore and fight. Combat is a huge and deep element to this game. There are different weapon types, and hundreds of enemies, and around 20 bosses. This game is incredibly long too, along with being very replayable. Building/Mining: Building and Mining will always be an important part of any game with blocks, and Terraria is no different. The beginning of the game will mostly be spent underground hunting for some early ores. Luckily mining is not all bad, as plenty of caves and monster spawns can make mining feel more like spelunking. However, the end-game Jungle Mining is the worst of all mining. The good news is that the majority of the game-progression is not mining, but exploring and fighting. Most people really skip building in this game, but it actually is pretty good. There are many blocks and bakcground blocks you can use to make your house out of, and there are tons of furniture and the like to decorate with. Combat: The game's combat is also varied and deep. At the game's first stage, you essentially follow one path of armor and just use what weapons you can find. But once you get past that point, armors start to have different headgears, which provide a buff to either melee, ranged, or magic in one way or another. By the time you get to endgame, there is a unique armor set for each of the "classes". What I like about this, is that it requires you to choose one weapon type you like, but doesn't lock you into a class that can only do that. You can have mostly magic, but still carry around a gun and sword. The enemies, especially later on in the game, can be challenging, but nothing compared to the bosses. The game has many bosses (~20), but, in the name of freedom, many of them are of equal(ish) power, so you often get to points where your possible progression paths can split. At the very end of the game, there are the endgame events. These can actually be fun, but even to the most well-equipped players, they are still practically impossible in single-player. In order to rerally get the best stuff, you will probably have to find someone else to help you, and try to set up a server or something so you can co-op the event. Replayability: In Terraria, (as of 1.2) you can never really beat it. There is no final boss, just the endgame events that you can grind over and over again to get better drops. However once you get to that point, you might wonder if it would be fun to do the whole game again, maybe with a different weapon "class". This game is rather replayable (I myself have restarted about 5ish times), especially if you have gone a while without playing it recently. Pro/Con Summary (For those too lazy to read) Pros: Varied Combat Varied building materials ~20 unique bosses Over 2000 items 3 unique weapon types Progression often trees, allowing you to take multiple paths Cons: Mining is often monotonous Endgame Mining is the worst of all Almost everything before the first boss is mining Endgame events are basically impossible in singleplayer