If Minecraft were on the Super NES, it might look something like Terraria, Re-Logic's lovely crafting sandbox RPG that launched around six years ago on PC. While the popularity of most games dwindles over the years, Terraria's fanbase has only grown in size, so it comes as little surprise to hear that it's sold over 20 million copies since its release.

Interestingly, 8.5 million of the 20.5 million copies sold have been in the last 18 months, since version 1.3 was unleashed on PC. That update is coming to consoles and mobile platforms shortly, the announcement post reveals, so if you're not playing it on PC you'll soon be able to tinker with Terraria's latest evolution, which has been gestating on desktops and laptops for a year-and-a-half now.

In the years since its release, Terraria's NPC, enemy, boss and biome counts have ballooned massively, while extra modes, events and other bits have been added to the ever-expanding sandbox too. If you're one of its 20+ million players, you might want to take a look at our Terraria mod roundup.

Earlier this month Terraria and Dungeon Defenders 2 announced crossover plans which would see Re-Logic's open world sandbox merged with the land of Etheria. They've now come to fruition courtesy of Terraria's 1.3.4 update.

Bringing with it loads of new items and enemies, the "Dungeon Defenders 2 Cross-Over Invasion" is a so-called multi-tiered event that adds The Tavernkeep a new NPC from the Dungeon Defenders universe who swaps exclusive currency, gained from the new invasion, for Etherian loot and gear. The update also adds a new Blizzard weather event, while Summoner players can now direct their minions to attack specific targets.

Ten new enemies have descended on the collaborative world, as well as two new invasion style mini-bosses and one proper boss. Full details on the update can be found this-a-way, however here's what's new on the the items and accessory front:

• Four new sentry summons, each of which has three tiers of potency
• Ten new weapons
• Eight new armor sets
• Five new accessories
• Two new pets
• One new light pet
• Three new boss masks and trophies
• Two new decorate furniture items
• One brand new “Personal Safe” style furniture item, in the style of the Piggy Bank and Safe
• A brand new currency which can be spent with the Tavernkeep for much of the above

Update 1.3.4 also adds the usual smattering of bug fixes.

Re-Logic, developer of 2D sandbox adventure Terraria, and Trendy Entertainment, developer of tower defense action RPG Dungeon Defenders 2, have been cooking up a little surprise for their fans: the two games will invade each other with some crossover content, as you can see in the announcement trailer above.

Via what appears to be an interdimensional portal, content from the two games will spill into one another. The announcement reads:

"In this rare crossover event, Terraria players will get to experience intense invasion-style action straight from the magical realm of Etheria, while Dungeon Defenders 2 players will enlist the help of an ancient and powerful hero to face down new threats of a distinctly Terrarian nature."

"Terraria fans will get a new Dungeon Defenders 2-themed event with special enemies and loot accessible to new players and engaging for veteran players. Dungeon Defenders 2 will receive new maps, gear, vanity items and more inspired by Terraria, as well as a brand-new hero available for purchase: the Dryad."

If you don't want to open your wallet, I'm told the Dryad can also be unlocked with "Defender Medals, which are rewarded for completing specific daily missions and challenges."

The crossover content is scheduled to appear before the end of the year, and more details will be revealed during a developer livestream on November 11. Below, help yourself to a few screenshots from both games.

If you're into Terraria, you might be aware of Super Terraria World, a standalone mod that morphs Re-Logic's sandbox survival game into a proper RPG, complete with quests, NPCs, skills, and other RPG-y things in a fixed world. If you weren't aware, then you should probably follow this link, before cancelling all your plans for today. Super Terraria World has just been updated to version 1.12a; there's a Patreon campaign and a new, 'official' trailer showing the ambitious mod off.

As explained over on Reddit, 1.12a "brings STW to the current code base of Terraria (1.3.3.2)". It also adds a new friendly NPC, an additional, chilly player-owned world, "leaf particles while using the Magic Leaf", an updated spear ability, revamped Mana regen logic and more. The end goal of the team is for the mod be an MMO, but for now it's single-player only.

It is simply unthinkable for work to finish on a survival game, even well after it's officially 'done', so here's a big new update for 2D building/survival/RPG Terraria. The 1.3.3 patch adds sandstorms to the game, a weather event that will occasionally rock the desert biome with new enemies, loot, tunes, and oh yeah loads of swirling sand. You might want to craft yourself a pair of goggles.

The nitty gritty of the update including the additional enemies and items is hidden behind a couple of spoiler warnings on the site, so I won't repost that here, but 1.3.3's big features are that sandstorm, a new heat distortion effect in hot biomes, new visual effects for blizzard events, and dripping sand. So it's a bit of a, chortle, hot and cold update, end chortle.

Terraria's patch 1.3.3 is out now.

You'd be forgiven for thinking Terraria: Otherworld has been quietly abandoned, given the lack of updates since December last year. The good news is that the project is still kicking, but in a new status update on the project, studio Re-Logic explains that the offshoot has recently undergone a significant revamp, and that it might be a while before it actually releases.

"To keep it short and simple, at the beginning of this year, we undertook a full in-depth review of the project versus our standards, expectations, and vision for the game," the update reads. "It was pretty clear to us at the time that Otherworld needed quite a bit of work and even a good bit of rework in a number of areas in order to hit that mark."

In order to make that happen, it sounds like Re-Logic had to initiate some changes at Engine Software, the studio it's collaborating with on the project. "As a part of this, the project team at Engine now has a new lead designer and art lead along with other changes made to better align to our vision for the game."

The studio offered two new screenshots comparing "corrupted" and "pure" biomes. You can see them above and below. As far as a release date goes, the studio can't provide one at the moment. "Our focus is on getting the game done right first and foremost," the statement reads.

Announced early last year, Terraria: Otherworld is a more structured, less sandbox-y version of the original phenomenon. "Set in an alternate dimension within the Terraria universe, Terraria: Otherworld places the player in a life-and-death struggle to restore a once-pristine world," read the pitch from March last year.

The Terraria 1.3.1 update that came out in May was released to mark the game's fifth birthday. But the 1.3.2 update that's just gone live is the one that really brings the party.

Literally, I mean: You may now use the Party Girl's Party Center to fire up the festivities, and the town NPCs may start their own under the right conditions. The update also adds party essentials to the game, like balloons (and balloon animals), party hats, streamers, presents, the Pigronata, and more.

Behind the scenes, beehive-type bees have been nerfed in expert mode, unnecessary player synchronization calls have been significantly reduced which should improve performance on servers with high player counts, rain clouds are craftable, town NPCs will try to avoid falling into cliffs when they're away from their home area (the emphasis on try in the patch notes suggests their effort will not be met with great success), and the Sort feature will now work on chests. There are quite a number of bug fixes on tap as well.

Developer Re-Logic said in the 1.3.2 changelog that it's already working on the equally-excitingly-named 1.3.3 update. Details and a release date haven't been nailed down just yet, but the studio said it will focus on the Underground Desert.

Almost a year after Terraria's monstrous patch 1.3, version 1.3.1 is being released to mark the game's fifth birthday.

From Sunday, May 22, you can embrace your inner electrician thanks to big additions to the wiring system. Logic gates, from AND to XNOR, join the likes of conveyor belts and Large Gem switches.

Controller support is also on the cards. Not all that exciting to your average PC player, no, but it's good to have the option, particularly as the console versions have been doing it since 2013.

Lead developer Cenx has posted a checklist of every fix Re-Logic hopes to cram into 1.3.1 before Sunday. It includes some priority items, like tooltip flickering above 60 fps, and general tidying. My personal favourite: "You can see breath bubbles while dead."

It's rare for the best mods to pop up for a game years after its release, but here we are: the Terraria mod scene keeps on rolling. In the five years since Terraria's release, the sprawling survival sandbox has been treated to countless players, a vast number of updates and thousands of user-made mods—a list which spans the suitably sublime to the outright bizarre.

The following slides offer but a smattering of our favourites, which add new soundtracks, items, settings and overhauls to Re-Logic's two-dimensional adventure playground. Heck, there're even mods in here which transform the game into fully-fledged RPGs, so you're bound to find something that tickles your fancy. Have fun experimenting!  

Let's start big, shall we? The Tremor Mod Remastered is one of the best Terraria overhaul mods out there, and is as close to a total conversion as you're likely to get. Packing over 522 items (including weapons), seven NPCs, loads of mobs, and six new bosses, the mod's seven-person team isn't kidding when it says "our goal for the mod is to make Terraria even bigger and to fill it with even more content than it has." Furthermore, Tremor adds exclusive expert mode treasure which should keep even the best Terraria players/intrepid loot hunters going for some time.

Terraria is a game about growth about building up your character, your skills and, crucially, your chances of survival. Crafting plays a very large part of this and while there's something to be said about perseverance and successful scavenging, imkSushi's mod lets you craft whatever the heck you want, whenever the heck you like. This quality of life addition makes items that are usually found in chests and drops readily available, therefore this naturally this suits action-oriented players. It even lets you buy boss-summoning items from NPCs, so long as you've previously defeated the adversary in question.

Terraria is already a time-sink to rival any RPG, but N Terraria turns it into a fully featured roleplaying experience with all of the trappings: classes, races, a level system, NPC companions and even quests. It s got it all. It s a perfect way to add some longevity to what is already a very deep game. It also makes the game harder than Adamantite, but it s all part of the charm.

TerraFirma is the premier mapping tool for the curious adventurer. This invaluable tool pulls the world map out of your save and makes it viewable, taking the guesswork out of spelunking for resources. You can also use it to sneak a peek into chests, search for statues or even find the underground desert.

The grandmaster of Terraria overhauls. Tremor, as featured elsewhere on this list, is a great mod excellent, even however Thorium is above and beyond the best there is. Think new bosses, new NPCs, new enemies, new items, a new multiplayer healer class, new just about everything you can think of this 'un upgrades Terraria's vanilla state in just about every way imaginable. What's more, bosses harness unique attack patterns and have a tendency towards projectile offence, which makes expert mode only suitable for those with utmost skill and a cool temperament. Or at least a replacement keyboard/control pad.

Another utility, TerraSavr lets you fiddle with your items: point it at your Terraria .plr and you can edit your character’s variables, imbue your items with buffs or—if you’re a filthy cheat—give yourself new items.

This isn’t limited to shiny new gear either, the tool makes every item in the game searchable and from there you just click and drag it into your inventory. It’s web based, so you just click the link and get to work.

Like Tremor and Thorium, Calamity adds a ridiculous amount of new stuff by way of both standard and unique weapons (melee, ranged and magic), armour loadouts, items, and accessories. The mod also flaunts five new types of mineable ores and tiles, not to mention ten new bosses each with its own distinct strengths and weaknesses. While perhaps not quite as sophisticated as the overhauls noted above, creator MountainDrew runs regular polls on the mod's tModLoader page where he or she asks for suggestions regarding what to add next.

Omnir describes his Nostalgia Pack as a mod based on Final Fantasy, Tibi and Lord of the Rings. It adds over 100 new creatures, a bundle of new bosses, and a host of great special items.

Also you get to fight Sauron, which really doesn’t happen enough in videogames.

Some caveats: This mod requires tAPI and also Grox’s Base Mod. It’s worth the fiddle to get it working.

If you just want to level up, but want to preserve the vanilla Terraria experience, then Terraria Levelled does just that. The mod doesn’t have many overt features beyond the levelling system, but the elegant UI and well-paced progress curve adds a moreish sense of achievement to your exploring. Equipment trumps levels, so you don't have to grind to wear that new set of armour or legendary sword.

Terraria+ takes the base game and bulks it up with extra weapons, armour and accessories. Additions include The Lihzarhd Lantern ("fires lasers randomly"), a Piranha Staff that summons pet piranhas and the Soul of Pow, which confuses enemies.

It’s unobtrusive, but adds a lot of extra diversity to the crafting tree. Some of the accessories are invaluable and I’d recommend even the more mod-adverse take a swing on this.

It’s another tAPI mod, so if you get on well you can add a lot more to it, but it works well as a solo effort that keep things interesting when you think you’ve seen it all.

After a hundred hours or so, you might start itching to change the music. There’s a lot of different music mods for Terraria, but I use the great Legend of Zelda Wavebank, which adds classic tracks from Ocarina of Time. There are a whole lot of other choices on the Terraria forums, including original compositions and renditions of the Mario and Halo soundtracks.

Installation is easy. Go to Terraria’s content folder. You’ll need to make a copy of the file Wave Bank and move it somewhere safe, then drag the sound pack into the folder and make sure it’s called Wave Bank. Voila. The game will start playing the music from the pack next time you launch.

Super Terraria World has been around for a couple of years, but has continually impressed with the speed in which it's grown. This mod transforms the base game into a fully realised RPG (it bills itself as a "standalone MMORPG overhaul mod") including intricate quests, skills, NPCs and all that's expected from a role-playing adventure lark. Once a part-time endeavour, its creators have recently launched a Patreon with the aim of pushing its boundaries further still, and its most recent update number 1.12a launched alongside an official trailer. This mod is ideal for those not just after extra mileage in Terraria, but also additional structure.

Another tool to round things off, this actually doesn’t interface with the game at all. However, it is an essential companion.

Terranion is a lightweight search-based guide for Terraria for you to run in the background while you’re playing. Need to know information about a boss, where to dig for cobalt or how to craft a certain item? It’s all presented in an easy to navigate format and, because it takes information directly from the game, it’s reliable. One to have on your bookmarks to load alongside every game of Terraria.

Are there any Terraria mods you've enjoyed that you'd like to share with others? Do mention them in the comments.

tModLoader's creator describes it as a mod to make mods, which makes it a vital resource for anyone interested in modding Terraria. It follows in the footsteps of the discontinued tAPI, and helps modders keep their creations compatible with one another.

Not quite as sexy as a total conversion, rebalancing or slew of new items, but tModLoader helps keep new mods ticking along years after Terraria's release.

tAPI is a powerful tool that allows creation, management and handling of multiple mods at once. A member of Re-Logic helped out with development, though a disclaimer insists that "this mod is first and foremost community made".

tAPI lets you combine smaller mod complementary arrangements that you can easily tweak. Whether you want Dark Souls weaponry, inventory management or animal masks, tAPI lets you mix and match to your own tastes. Though now discontinued, it's an important tool in the Terraria mod scene.

Last month, Terraria got its largest update in nearly two years. The 1.3 update was the third major content drop the game has received since it launched in 2011, with dozens of additional updates in between—including a Halloween update and a Christmas update, both of which brought end-game events that are now staples of Terraria's progression. The 1.3 update finally added what developer Re-Logic has called a "final boss" to the game, so I was curious what the future of Terraria held. I caught up with Andrew "Redigit" Spinks, the CEO and Lead Developer at Re-Logic, to talk about what's next for Terraria, mod support, a creative mode, Terraria 2, and yoyos.

PC Gamer: How did the rollout of the 1.3 update go?

Andrew "Redigit" Spinks: The launch of 1.3 went better than any of us expected. It is actually out performing our last major update. There were a few bugs that cropped up here and there but we were able to fix a majority of them relatively fast.

How much larger would you say Terraria is now than when it was first launched? (How many new items, enemies, etc.)

Spinks: Since the release of 1.0 we have added 2,827 items, 490 creatures, and loads of new content/features/mechanics. We have made a lot of improvements to the engine and added a lot of new backgrounds and world gen variations. It is crazy how far this game has come since release. It feels like a completely different game now.

Why did you decide to support the game for so long? Why not release DLC or expansions?

Spinks: Making Terraria was always about making a game that I wanted to play. Every time I would think we were done we always found new inspiration to come back and add to the game. Our community has been really good to us and we felt the need to return the favor.

Did you ever consider charging for extra content?

Spinks: No, not really. As a gamer I have never really been a fan of paid DLC.

1.3 added a final boss to Terraria, does that mean the game is actually finished. Is it finally at the point you had originally envisioned it?

Spinks: I was never happy with the idea of Terraria not having a final boss. This will likely be the end of the game's progression, but we do intend to continue updating. There is a lot we can do without pushing progression further. We have a lot of ideas for new mechanics and alternate biomes.

If Steam Early Access had been around in 2011, would Terraria have been an Early Access game? Or did your ambition with the game grow after its release?

Spinks: I would not have done Early Access had that been an option. I would have continued to work on the game until I felt it was ready for release. Because Terraria was leaked, I felt forced to release the game sooner than I would have liked and worked towards getting it to my ideal release state.

I d heard that 1.3 will be the last major content update to Terraria, is that true? If so, why?

Spinks: This will be the last update that I work on personally so it is hard to say what the future holds. That decision will be left up to the team that continues to work on Terraria. We like the idea of switching to smaller more frequent updates moving forward.

We have always felt that Mod Support would be the best final update to Terraria so that the community could keep the game alive.

Any idea of how frequently?

Spinks: Not yet, this is something we will play by ear. It is very dependent on what the team wants to add at the time. If anything, I would say every 1-3 months. We are hitting a limit within the engine so we need to be careful about how we add things.

What s next for Terraria?

Spinks: Terraria will continue to be updated and be expanded upon. Before we finish we would like to look into mod support as well as creative mode. We have always felt that Mod Support would be the best final update to Terraria so that the community could keep the game alive. I think it is great that we have such a passionate community interested in expanding on our game.

Now that 1.3 is done, will you be switching focus to Terraria 2? Can you share any details on it or how it will differ from Terraria?

Spinks: Now that Terraria is done I would like to start working on a new project that is not Terraria 2. I already have a lot of plans and ideas for Terraria 2, but that will be much later.

Can you share anything about that new project?

Spinks: I want to make a game that is very modular, that includes mod support, and makes it very easy for players to add their own content.

How does Terraria: Otherworld factor into your plans for Terraria and Terraria 2?

Spinks: Terraria: Otherworld is more to show another take on Terraria, whereas Terraria 2 will expand upon Terraria much more.

Do you plan to do a similar release and update pattern for your next games? What do you plan to do differently?

Spinks: We will likely stick to this same model since it worked so well for Terraria. I would rather put out games that are more polished than Terraria was at the initial release.

Out of curiosity, can you talk about the addition of One-Drop YoYos to Terraria, and now the creation of a physical Terraria yoyo. That seems like an unexpected partnership, how did it come about?

Spinks: I have been throwing for years and One Drop made some of my favorite yoyos. When I went to add them to the game I thought it would be really cool to add some of the yoyos I have in real life. Once that conversation started we both thought it was a good idea to make the end game yoyo real. I am beyond excited about this partnership.

Thanks very much for your time, Andrew.