19 January 2026

Hytale Already Has a Feature Minecraft Has Fumbled for 17 Years (For Players Like Me)

By newsgame

For years, I thought the concept of a Minecraft-like was unnecessary. Minecraft is the best-selling game ever made if Tetris’ seperate versions are taken out of consideration, after all, with the Mojang game being available on virtually every platform imaginable. Through years of updates, it’s become an incredibly deep game where players can make virtually anything, and it’s spawned some memorable spin-offs and the hugely successful Minecraft film. The main game has a cheap price tag attached despite being so replayable, too, so again, I’ve never seen the need for a game like Hytale. However, after witnessing numerous streams of the early access version of Hytale, I have to eat crow, as it’s managed to bring in the one thing I’ve always felt was missing from Minecraft: furniture.

Furniture in Hytale goes beyond just the beds Minecraft has (though even its beds are an upgrade, as there are numerous designs available as opposed to just altered sheet colors). Below are just some of the many furniture pieces players can decorate with in Hytale:

Wardrobes
Chests
Functional chairs, benches, stools, and sofas
Functional tables
Functional bookshelves
Numerous decorations

To be clear, I’m aware that not everyone feels like working furniture is a glaring omission in Minecraft. Some players share the same opinion as Mojang about the mechanic, feeling like the studio is better off spending its time elsewhere than adding items clever players can design themselves. However, for me and other fans — like Hytale developer Hypixel Studios, who ran the most popular Minecraft server ever — the refusal to add furniture has always been a missed opportunity.

Why is Minecraft so Against the Idea of Furniture?

The main argument against furniture is that it wouldn’t suit the Minecraft vibe, feeling modded in as opposed to fitting well into the natural blocky aesthetic of the game. Per Mojang, it just wouldn’t suit the simplicity of its world, with it actually being the top request addressed on an old feedback page from 2020. Yet the fear that furniture would be more detailed than anything that currently exists in the game has never really held up for me. Functional beds exist, and they have done so for ages. Modding is encouraged, and most popular mods add furniture that works, so there is clearly a desire for such a mechanic. For players who don’t use mods, needing to rely on the old signposts and slabs tricks quickly gets tiring, as players are left with tables that take up too much space and look ugly or thinner tables that can’t hold anything. Not to mention the horrendous looking stairs we have to sit on.

If players can lay down in beds, why is it such a strange idea to let them sit down in chairs? Gamers shouldn’t have to jump through hoops and create invisible minecarts to sit in, as it’s tedious and unintuitive despite so much of the crafting and building in the game working smoothly. All the absurd creations players come up with using redstone don’t suit the supposedly simple world of Minecraft, as while they may be incredible, they feel far more out of place than something like a sofa would. Minecraft lost its simplicity years ago, with players able to fly around the map using Elytra, explore sea temples, and so on. Yet while other crafting-heavy games modernize when it comes to furniture — think Valheim, ARK, and now Hytale — Minecraft refuses to follow suit.

With Mojang saying outright that furniture was not being considered five years ago, and countless furniture-less updates having been released in the time since that statement was made, I’ve accepted the idea that it isn’t going to happen. That doesn’t make it any less frustrating, though. I’d love being able to sit down at a dinner table or rest on a sofa to look around and appreciate the interior I’ve designed, with the old “crouch to create the illusion of sitting” strategy hardly being immersive. It’d be awesome to have a range of different-looking tables to use that make use of all the stone and wood types available, especially if I could cover them in an assortment of decorations to make my Minecraft home feel lived-in. Using the same exact trapdoors and backwards stairs as literally everyone else who makes furniture isn’t creative like so many like to argue, as it doesn’t make me feel more clever to just copy a needlessly complex building style. Put simply, the current approach to furniture is just restrictive, tedious, and unsightly.

There’s a Bright Future Ahead For Furniture in Hytale

After wanting this feature for so long and Mojang refusing to budge, I’m willing to switch over to Hytale for a bit because of it. It may seem odd to finally see the appeal of the game because of its furniture as opposed to its superior combat, RPG progression, or Hytale’s dinosaur mobs, but it’s honestly made such a drastic difference for me that I can’t help but gush over it a bit. Sure, there’s a long way to go — more craftable items like the awesome wooden bookshelves would be desirable as opposed to needing to scavenge a ton of furniture from out in the world — but what is there is already better than Minecraft’s complete lack of furniture items. As an early access game, more and more furniture pieces will surely be added to the world of Hytale, while the ability to place everything, from weapons and armor to potions and books, will allow for far more detailed builds.

Hytale is not currently available via Steam, as its developers want to avoid unfair user review scores from players who don’t know what early access means. An early access copy can instead be purchased off the Hytale website.

hytale-furniture-placed — Hytale items placed in room

I’ll always love Minecraft, but after years of looking at ugly chairs made out of stairs, I’m ready to experience the real deal in a different cozy game. Plus, now that Hytale exists (and will hopefully thrive for years to come), it’s less problematic that Minecraft demands players create their own furniture. Those who like making their own decorative items and don’t care about them actually working have Minecraft to play, while another block builder that caters to the furniture needs of players like me is finally available. It’s for the best that these games are as different as possible, as it ensures there’s a reason to play both. Personally, I can’t wait to spend hours decorating a home packed with placed items and small details before finally getting to sit down and admiring all my hard work.