Curiously, an entire gaming genre has grown out of building things with blocks. But yet here we are.

Stranger still, perhaps, is just how heavily populated that genre seems to be nowadays. It's a competitive niche, for sure, so you need to stand out from the pack.

And one such game that does precisely that is Block Craft 3D.

What you as a player have to bring to the party is imagination.

Features

● Fun for building sim gamers

● Lots of different things to build, from spaceships to the Eiffel Tower

● Selection of characters to choose

● Adopt and play with pet animals

● Multiplayer option

● Build your village or build anywhere in an unlimited and open world

More

For a free sim, Block Craft 3D is a pretty good affair. Its devotees even claim that it is - shock horror - better than Minecraft. But that's a judgment call you will need to make for yourself.

Block Craft 3D, despite its simple premise, is weirdly fascinating and therapeutic. There's no steep learning curve entailed. It's more a case of ready, block, go.

You learn on the job, which is half the fun. There's no shortage of stuff to build, be it your dream house, a castle, or even a mine. Once complete, you can furnish your building and apply your skins to give it a unique look.

Unlike other block builder games, there are no distracting monsters to deal with. Instead, you get pets to play with and adopt, from dogs and cats right up to elephants.

This lets you focus more on the tasks at hand - building and exploring new worlds.

In many ways, Block Craft's appeal is its cutdown, no-nonsense approach. For instance, you don't need mods, launchers, or PEs. You are free to create custom-built blocks, craft unique furniture, and create entire building plans. Better still, you can sell these off in exchange for gems.

However, there's no actual requirement to be a block-building genius. Instead, you can wander around a friend's village for inspiration and follow their blueprints and building guides to recreate outstanding buildings.

Exploration is a big thing in Block Craft 3D. You are free to roam wherever you please and help friends finish their construction by going into multiplayer mode.

While they say it is free, the limitations make it difficult to avoid over-priced in-app purchases.

PROS

● Free sim

● Decent enough graphics

● A vast world to explore

● Simple and addictive

CONS

● Only available in English

● Relatively expensive in-app purchases

Price - Free to download and play. Some in-app purchases, starting from $2.99

How to use

Block Craft 3D is downloadable from Google Play and Apple's App Store.

Android devices need to have 72 MB of free space and be running Android 4.4 or later.

Meanwhile, iOS users must set aside 136.4 MB of space and run iOS 10.0 or later.

The game gets a 4.2 out of five rating on Google Play and a highly respectable 4.7 out of five from App Store users.