Path of Exile creator thinks Minecraft is actually a hardcore action RPG

Path of Exile creator and Grinding Gear Games co-founder Chris Wilson is an expert on aRPGs, and he's identified a new one: Mojang's voxel hit Minecraft.

Path of Exile creator thinks Minecraft is actually a hardcore action RPG
Comment IconFacebook IconX IconReddit Icon
Senior Gaming Editor
Published
2-minute read time
TL;DR: Grinding Gear Games co-founder Chris Wilson argues that Minecraft qualifies as a hardcore action RPG due to its complex mechanics, experience systems, enchantments, and challenging survival modes. He highlights its emphasis on mastery, knowledge, and high-stakes gameplay, comparing it favorably to titles like Path of Exile.

Grinding Gear Games co-founder and Path of Exile co-creator Chris Wilson has an interesting theory: Minecraft is actually a hardcore action RPG.

Path of Exile creator thinks Minecraft is actually a hardcore action RPG 1
2

Minecraft technically fits the bill as an aRPG, or at least that's what isometrically-obsessed game dev Chris Wilson thinks. In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Wilson makes the case that the child-friendly simulator is actually a brutal role-playing game where knowledge and skill are the keys for voxel mastery.

"There's a surprising amount of RPG in there. When I first dabbled with the game in 2011, it was pretty simple: You build bases out of blocks. But nowadays there's experience, levels, items, enchantments, and end-game bosses. The game even has builds," Wilson said.

Remember that Wilson is referring to the base Minecraft game, not the obviously Diablo-like action RPG Minecraft Dungeons--he actually hasn't played that yet.

The video is a must-watch for fans of Path of Exile, Grinding Gear Games, and Chris Wilson in general, because it gives an in-depth look at how Wilson examines games while also potentially giving clues on what's next.

Wilson left Grinding Gear Games earlier this year and formed a new boutique (smaller) studio called Light Pattern. The studio is currently working on an unannounced project.

"So I've established that Minecraft ticks all the boxes for an action RPG game. But it's actually a pretty hardcore one.

"Minecraft is a game about mastery and knowledge--there's so much advanced knowledge that you really have to learn before you can master the game. So many wiki pages you have to go through and complicated interactions, and so it can really appeal to hardcore players in the same way a game like Path of Exile does.

"The game also literally has a hardcore mode. That has a lot of adrenaline, because suddenly every play session has consequences, every twitch reaction matters. Minecraft has exactly that mode, even with the same name. In fact, even in regular Minecraft survival mode, you drop items on death. If you're standing next to some lava, those items are destroyed.

"This is more hardcore than even Path of Exile is in this regular game mode.

"In conclusion, everywhere I go, everything is going to look like Diablo 2 or Path of Exile if I stare at it hard enough. And that's not a bad situation to be in. While researching this, I was reminded there's actually a standalone Minecraft aRPG called Minecraft Dungeons--maybe I should try it out, maybe it's good."