Minecraft ($6.99) has been arguably the most influential game of the past decade. Whether it’s the crafting and mining mechanics, the emphasis on survival or sandbox gameplay, or even just the sheer online connectivity that Mojang’s flagship title has utilised to such devastatingly popular effect, there’s no doubt that the reverberations from the block-building behemoth have greatly impacted gaming, and likely will continue to do so for a while. Even though iOS received its iteration of Minecraft rather late (and a severely limited version, at least at launch), its omnipresence on the iTunes charts emphasises its impression on the platform, and games such as Junk Jack Retro ($0.99) are direct results of such an influence. Featuring an incredibly well done 2D take on the sandbox building formula, Junk Jack Retro (and its later sequel now confusingly titled Junk Jack ($4.99)) developed a cult following amongst the mobile community, and for good reason. To celebrate the new game’s desktop release, Junk Jack Retro is available for free for a week, and definitely worth giving a go if you haven’t tried the series before, or have been living under a rock for the past five years.

While I have stressed the Minecraft influence that the game brazenly wears on its sleeve, Junk Jack manages to craft (pun fully intended) its own identity with some incredibly beautiful pixel art graphics, its own expansive world with so many treasures to find, and most importantly its own tremendously impressive continuous support over the years. While Junk Jack Retro has understandably taken a back seat to its sequel, what was known as Junk Jack X has been updated continuously since its 2013 release with so many additions that it’d be impossible for me to list them all here within a concise news article. The fact there are two different Junk Jack games is incredibly confusing (for you and I both, I can assure you), and was met with a lot of anger when the second game original launched, however considering Junk Jack Retro is now free, it serves as a fantastic opportunity to try out the series. If it strikes a particular chord with you, the more expensive second game is definitely worth picking up, and even if it doesn’t, the Retro variant has a lot of content and many hours of fun within it. Be sure to download Junk Jack Retro before the promotion ends next week, and head down to our forum thread for more discussion on the Junk Jack games.