Halo + Minecraft = Murder Miners.

Murder Minders was also the #1 Xbox Live indie game during the Xbox 360 era. I remember this one fondly. If you wanted a cheap arena shooter, this was the ticket.

And it’s still around – on PC that is – although it’s not nearly as active as it was before. Today, I managed to join a public server of 5 people. It was the only server available.

Which is too bad. There’s still so much Murder Miners has going for it: zombies, vehicles, unique maps, unique modes.

It’s also incredibly cheap. It’s CAD$3.39. And you can buy a 4-pack of steam keys – to give to your friends – for CAD$5.69.

But the community is dwindling. Today had a 24 hour peak of 15 players. There’s nobody on right now. Compare this to the all-time Steam peak of 1,742 back in October 2017.

There’s supposed to be a sequel called Murder Miners X which is based on the Unreal Engine. But that’s been stuck in development hell for 8 years, and I have no idea if that’s coming.

In terms of specs, any modern machine can run Murder Miners. Any CPU will do. As long as you have 1GB RAM, 250MB space, and a broadband connection, you’re good to go. It also has native support for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It’s also verified for Steam Deck.

I realize there’s lots of arena shooters out there. But if you want something simple, smooth, and hits you in the nostalgia feels, Murder Miners is the way to go.