I'm Loving Hytale, But Early Access Has Me Reinstalling This Forgotten Sandbox RPG Gem

Hytale hasn’t been out but for mere days at this point, and I’ve already poured probably around 20 hours into it. For some, 20 hours in a game like this might sound like child’s play. But for me—a husband with two kids and two very demanding jobs—a number like that ultimately means I’ve had some late nights over the last few days and less sleep because of them. However, regardless of how much fun I’ve had with it, Hytale is only in early access, so I’ve encountered plenty of flaws and there are quite a few features unavailable at the moment. As a result, it has me reinstalling a similar game from 2017 that I fell in love with for its charming art style and presentation, its rewarding exploration and fantastical world, and its knack for taking the freedom of sandbox gameplay and merging it with the combat and progression mechanics of a good RPG.

A little over 8 years ago, I discovered a sandbox RPG called Portal Knights that, to me, was the total package. It wasn’t the first game to mix sandbox mechanics with RPG elements, but it was one of the first to popularize that hybrid in a 3D voxel sandbox with drop-in multiplayer and a more structured adventure loop. Now, Hytale is giving me similar vibes with its gameplay and even its atmosphere. They are two different games, and I’ll die on that hill, but there has to be a reason I’m suddenly craving Portal Knights again after being away from it for several years.

Hytale Isn’t Portal Knights, But It’s Pretty Close

Hytale is already a familiar experience in one, very obvious way. After all, the game’s developer is none other than Hypixel Studios, the team behind one of the most popular Minecraft servers in the world. As such, Hytale’s legacy is deeply rooted in Minecraft, and that influence is evident in its visuals, world design, and gameplay. However, I would argue that Hytale is essentially what would happen if Minecraft and Portal Knights had a baby.

How Hytale and Portal Knights Compare

3D SANDBOX EXPLORATION — both games put players into worlds where you dig, build, and traverse landscapes that encourage creative discovery and construction.
MIX OF BUILDING AND CRAFTING WITH ACTION — Portal Knights blends building and combat with RPG elements, and Hytale also combines sandbox building with RPG-style progression and deeper combat systems.
RPG INFLUENCES — Portal Knights has classes, combat, and bosses alongside crafting and building, and Hytale similarly layers RPG conventions like gear progression, enemies, and dungeons over a sandbox foundation.
CO-OP AND MULTIPLAYER SUPPORT — both support playing with friends. Portal Knights lets up to four players team up, and Hytale is designed around multiplayer servers and co-op play.
QUESTS BEYOND SANDBOX CREATIVITY — Portal Knights gives players quests and structured combat challenges, and Hytale aims to include structured objectives and combat encounters in its adventure mode and zones.
CHARACTER PROGRESSION AND LOOT — in Portal Knights you level up and collect better gear. Hytale also features RPG progression with equipment and combat growth.
FANTASY AND ADVENTURE FOCUS — Portal Knights leans toward a fantasy action RPG vibe, and Hytale similarly emphasizes fantasy settings and adventure alongside sandbox play.

Clearly, Hytale and Portal Knights share a lot of similarities. It wasn’t necessarily Hytale’s mechanics that immediately made me think of Portal Knights though. As soon as I entered the world, the music and the atmosphere immediately brought me back to the first time I played Portal Knights, even if what I was staring at on the screen looked more like Minecraft than anything else. I’ll confess, it was a feeling purely rooted in nostalgia, but Portal Knights isn’t quite to that age yet where its gameplay doesn’t hold up. After spending several hours in Hytale during my first session with it, I hopped over to Portal Knights, and that very much turned out to be the case.

In many ways, it felt like I was still playing Hytale, only with a more whimsical coat of paint on it. In fact, if it weren’t for Hytale’s world being much larger and its visuals being drastically different, I might have considered Portal Knights to essentially be the same game. Hytale‘s early access state doesn’t help the comparisons either, as Portal Knights already has some elements in place that Hypixel‘s sandbox RPG plans to eventually have—like a story-driven adventure mode. The similarities are just too hard to ignore. I mean, come on…Hytale even has portals.

Nevertheless, my love for Portal Knights hasn’t stopped me from wanting to sink more hours into Hytale. Maybe it’s because it’s new and so many others are playing it right now, as I’ve been known to succumb to the hype train a time or two. Maybe it’s because even though the music does remind me of Portal Knights, every now and then, a track will play that sounds like it’s straight out of an Elder Scrolls soundtrack. Or maybe it’s just because Hytale is a good game, despite having some understandable shortcomings during its early access phase.

I would still strongly recommend Portal Knights to anyone who has never played it and is enjoying Hytale though. On Steam alone, it has managed to maintain a Very Positive rating over the last 8 years with nearly 5,000 reviews, and it’s also available on Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch consoles. Come to think of it, maybe I should just play Portal Knights on my Switch 2 and save Hytale for my PC. Needless to say, Portal Knights is one of those gems that hasn’t, in my opinion, earned the audience it deserves, and if you’re a fan of Hytale, you already understand why I think that.

Portal Knights is also playable on iOS and Android.

That’s really the lens I’d encourage people to look through this with. If Hytale has grabbed you already, Portal Knights feels like an easy recommendation because it delivers a version of that same core appeal without the growing pains of early access. It’s a reminder of how satisfying the sandbox RPG genre mashup can be when all its systems are already in place and working in harmony. Playing it now doesn’t feel like stepping backward or settling for less. It feels like filling in the gaps while Hytale continues to find its footing, and for anyone enjoying what Hytale is trying to be, that makes Portal Knights more than worth your time.