We recently mentioned how having a Minecraft style game, or even just sticking the word Minecraft into your title or search terms, is the flavor of the moment to try and snatch some downloads from mobile Minecraft fans. Sometimes, though, the block-building formula is actually used in a unique way that complements the game. Naquatic’s recently-released Guncrafter (Free) is one of those games.

I never really understood the appeal of “gun apps" that let you either build, clean or just admire various types of 3D-rendered firearms, but they sure have been popular in the past. In Guncrafter you’re given a grid and a set of block types that you’ll use to build a firearm piece by piece. There are different size grids and different kinds of blocks that you’ll slowly unlock as you play which will affect how large your weapon is and the kinds of attributes it has.

Once you’ve created a firearm in Guncrafter you can then take it into a shoot range scenario where you get to actually test it out by blasting away at various targets, also made up of blocks. This portion of the game actually pits you online against another player and their created weapon to see who can blast away more of the target terrain.

It’s actually really fun, both to build a creative weapon and to see how it performs in competition. The formula really works in Guncrafter. However, there is one major negative that seems to be the sticking point for most players: the actual build of your weapon has no bearing on its performance. So, an elaborately-built weapon will fire exactly the same as one that’s literally just a barrel.

That’s too bad too, because Guncrafter could be a really deep title if the actual designs of your weapons had meaning. As it is now it’s still a fun shooting gallery game, and there’s something strangely compelling about creating crazy weapons of your own design, but at the end of the day the game just feels a bit too hollow to have much lasting appeal.

Like I said, though, it’s still fun for what it is, and it’s free-to-play so worth giving a look. I still need to spend some more time diving into it, but so far I’ve found that Guncrafter is way cooler than I originally thought it would be. People in the forums have been enjoying it too, so if you fancy making your own weapons and blasting away at stuff against online competition, check out Guncrafter.