Why is Terraria my [new] favorite video game?

In short, Terraria is an 8-bit gamer’s ultimate mash-up. I fondly remember playing these games from the Golden Age of Arcade Games:

1. Centipede (1980) mushrooms, linked-sprite snaky mobs, shooter
2. Defender (1981) side-scrolling combat
3. Donkey Kong (1981) jumping platformer, tool-using
4. Dig Dug (1982) digging/terraforming, boulders
5. Joust (1982) flying/physics combat
6. Jungle King (1982) side-scrolling jumping, vine-swinging
7. Moon Patrol (1982) side-scrolling, jumping parallax
8. Robotron (1982) shooting in different direction than moving
9. Mappy (1983) side-scrolling platformer with doors
10. Plus non-arcade (C=64): 1983’s Lode Runner –non-jumping “puzzle” platformer with digging, and a level editor.

Terraria can be played so many different ways. I first discovered it in 2012 when I was searching for a casual alchemy/crafting game. The steep learning curve almost threw me off after a couple hours, but I persisted and was smitten, and it has been my favorite game for years since.