No Man’s Sky was recently previewed in the New Yorker, and the game looks more incredible than ever—by which I mean, we have a clearer view of what the game is like, and everything new we learn sounds really freakin’ amazing. Game-changingly amazing. The first game as amazing as Minecraft since, well, Minecraft. That’s right, folks… calling it now. No Man’s Sky is the first game that stands a chance at being a Minecraft killer.
No Man’s Sky: The Minecraft Killer
I should clarify what I mean by saying that No Man’s Sky is a Minecraft killer. I don’t mean Minecraft will disappear, or even shrink. It’s going to be with us for a very long time. And No Man’s Sky won’t even compete with it directly. What I mean is that it’s the first game with that much potential, as a long-term thing, since Minecraft—of which I am a huge champion.
No Man’s Sky, like Minecraft, is an essentially boundless world, generated by algorithm, and filled with cool stuff to discover and things to do. Unlike Minecraft, No Man’s Sky is set in an entire galaxy, not just a massive land. And the game will have something Minecraft really doesn’t: Variety. Minecraft is incredible, but ultimately it feels relatively samey. How many endless deserts and high mountain ranges can one Steve see? But No Man’s Sky will have a vast diversity of planets, getting stranger and stranger as you approach the center of the galaxy and the mysteries therein.
I can see No Man’s Sky capturing the imagination of gamers young and old in a way that nothing has since Minecraft and, once upon a time, World of Warcraft. It is a game of boundless potential. And while we don’t know that much about the gameplay yet, there’s more to the game than just exploring. There will be mining and fighting and ways to make planets one’s own, and it will all play out across a galactic scale.
Will the game have the epic customizability of Minecraft? No, I’m sure it won’t, and that’s why there will always be room for both games. But will it offer a nearly endless amount of variety, exploration, and new worlds to discover? That it will, and it may make the game as compelling, and as popular, as the greatest indie hit ever made.
