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The fact that Nintendo's systems are the only major platforms to miss out on Minecraft is well-documented and often discussed, though there have been other developers tossing their hats into the ring on the big N's hardware. The latest to do so on the Wii U is Cypronia, which has announced Cube Life: Island Survival for the eShop.

This entry will have two main modes. Survival Mode places you in a world with a series of islands and you have to explore and craft to survive; rather like in Minecraft you'll also have to defend yourself when night falls. Cypronia is keen to emphasize that it's aiming for "a living world with wild animals on the land, lurking in caves, swimming under the water, or even flying in the sky", while boasting of over 200 items to craft.

The second mode is Creative Mode, which as you'd expect simply allows you to construct designs in an editor, while there are plans for this to support online sharing.

In details given to us Cypronia states that it'll provide "several updates for all of 2015 and possibly more", to improve the game based on consumer feedback - the developer cites Miiverse, Facebook, Twitter and the Nintendo Life forums as community areas that'll be followed closely. It's also keen to distance itself - like similar projects on Nintendo systems - from being considered a Minecraft clone.

Our goal is create the best block building open-world sandbox game for Nintendo platforms. PC, Xbox, Playstation, and even smartphones, all have Minecraft. Nintendo players deserve to have something truly special, too—to have their own game.

We can get inspired by the best ideas from the existing competition, but we really want to go our own way… In the same way Nintendo makes their own path.

With release due in Q2 we can expect more details soon, as this joins others in trying to emulate the iconic block-building game on Wii U. Cypronia's track record is mixed, as we've been highly critical of some of its earlier releases but had praise for the recent ports of Color Zen.

What do you think of this announcement of Cube Life: Island Survival? Let us know in the comments.

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