What I find really interesting is how boxel games immediately get a lot of attention: it effectively comes down to a lot of a lot of solid material you get to dig through (and place). Crafting etc. is honestly flavor because Minecraft's creative mode does as well as its survival mode. Combine that with the notion of wide expanses of nothing (space) and people really start paying attention. Add a treadmill (RPG) to that and you get even more attention.
I wonder what psychology is behind the seemingly guaranteed success of these games - even if it's only initial (pre-order) success; people seem to naturally want to play around with this type of stuff.
