Planet Coaster’s approachability may seem good enough at first, but the game has a lot of hidden depth under the surface of its cheery management exterior. In the case of mechanics, triggered effects, and contraptions, these games also go much farther than Mojang's game can while being easier to learn than Minecraft's complex redstone calculations. Their tools provide a higher level of detail and their art styles are better at mimicking the real world. There may never be a sandbox game that captures Minecraft’s simple yet endlessly augmentable experience, but these games produce results that definitely give it a run for its money. Related: How To Get Back Into Minecraft If You Haven’t Played In A Decade All these games exist on a scale of approachability to complexity, with many being harder to get into but the ceiling for creativity in all these titles reaching higher than Minecraft.
Many have systems that allow players to build more realistic or more detailed structures and bases in world seeds than Minecraft. While the action-oriented gameplay of Survival will always be present in Minecraft to give players a break from creating complex architecture and redstone contraptions, there are better games that allow for creative freedom.
