Minecraft and RuneScape Feels Similar

While thinking about generic medieval fantasy signatures, I thought about how Minecraft and RuneScape feel very similar. While they both exhibit generic signatures overall, what I find the most curious is that they seem to both pull from a very specific set of ideas. This is interesting, considering the games were released in two different decades.

Good examples of this are the actions that the player can perform. In both games the player can:

• Mine some ores
• Smelt ores into ingots
• Chop some trees
• Craft items using various materials
• Perform the act of fishing
• Cook food

As you can see, all items on that list are related to natural resources. I am guessing this is an expression of the basic actions one could do in a survival scenario.

That being said, the similarities do not end here. Both games are written in Java and could originally be playable in web browsers. There are other "vibe elements" that I am not sure how to describe. I guess another factor of it is that both games started with a small development team. Both games also have a sort of pixel art & low polygon count aesthetic going on.

I also take note that many games include mining as if it were some sort of requirement. Examples of this top of my head right now are Stardew Valley and World of Warcraft. Although I haven't played much of those games, I can say that it feels like a bit out of place. My guess is that the activity of mining provides an easy framework for the player to collect resources.

On a somewhat related note, I recently noticed that Daggerfall seems to have a vibe very close to RuneScape. I will need to investigate this in more details in the future.

Written by manpaint on 18 March 2025.