A dev on Minecraft-like Hytale has already used its creative tools to make a homebrew side-scroller

Three adventurers in Hytale stand poised to do battle in an ancient ruin.

(Image credit: Hypixel Studios)

Minecraft is as robust a platform for modding as it is anything else. Even Hytale, the long-awaited, standalone Minecraft-like due to release into early access Jan. 13, can have its origins traced back to one of the biggest custom Minecraft server networks around, Hypixel. Taking after its foremost inspiration, Hytale has ambitions to let players run wild with a suite of custom game creation tools—and the possibilities the team is showing off are tantalizing.

For instance, Hypixel Studios founder and CEO Simon Collins-Laflamme just showed off a brief snippet of a custom game on X. Far from the first-person survival fare you might expect, it's a 2D side-scroller with impressive set dressing. Collins-Flaflamme said in his post that it was made by one of the game's level designers, and "not a programmer!"

One of our level designers (not a programmer!) did a quick side-scroller for fun in Hytale! pic.twitter.com/GK0zYPprN6January 11, 2026

It's hard to say how intuitive these tools will be for complete newcomers to modding or level editing, but knowing what modders are capable of when their efforts are concentrated on a single project, I have a feeling we'll be seeing some pretty wacky stuff from Hytale players before long.

The "creative tooling" system was shown off a bit in a YouTube video uploaded by the Hytale team yesterday, though it focuses on placing objects in the world. What's demoed there reminds me a bit of a good MMO housing system, which is great news if you're like me and would rather pick out carpets for 5 hours than try to cobble together a completely custom side-scroller.

Fanmade tinkerers of all stripes should have something to look forward to when Hytale comes out, as there's even a suite of machinima making tools on the way, as well. The possibilities are certainly intriguing, and I'm looking forward to everything fans cook up when the game finally releases after its superlatively rocky development cycle.

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Justin first became enamored with PC gaming when World of Warcraft and Neverwinter Nights 2 rewired his brain as a wide-eyed kid. As time has passed, he's amassed a hefty backlog of retro shooters, CRPGs, and janky '90s esoterica. Whether he's extolling the virtues of Shenmue or troubleshooting some fiddly old MMO, it's hard to get his mind off games with more ambition than scruples. When he's not at his keyboard, he's probably birdwatching or daydreaming about a glorious comeback for real-time with pause combat. Any day now...

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