Hytale‘s rapid development push to launch earlier in January this year, mere months after finally regaining control of the project, inevitably left many things on the cutting room floor in the early access debut. Areas were boarded up with WIP signs, magic was absent, and, much to my surprise, farming was almost non-existent too.

Coming from Minecraft, as soon as I saw animals roaming around, I attempted to tame them. I tried using wheat, guessing their favourite foods, all to no avail. It turns out that I wasn’t missing something obvious; it just wasn’t a part of the game yet.

That all changes in Hytale’s next major update, aptly named Update 3, just four weeks into early access. The big ticket item in this update is, you guessed it, animal taming. It should be noted that it’s an early version of taming, so expect more depth in the future, but you can now make friends with certain animals using their favourite food.

Tamed animals can be petted with an empty hand or fed, and some can also be milked, sheared, or mounted. Most importantly, tamed animals won’t run away from you, making it much easier to have your own farm animals around your base.

Another farming upgrade is the sickle, a new tool capable of harvesting multiple crops in one swing. Is it basically just for convenience? Yes, but I’ll take it. Hopefully we can get more uses for crops soon enough.

There’s a truckload of other great changes in this update as well, such as new customisation options, grass and fire spread, combat improvements, and even a climbing overhaul to let you side-step and drop off ledges.

Perhaps most exciting of all, at least for the long-term ambitions of Hytale, is the confirmation that the team is growing: “We’re proud to say that several hires have come straight from the modding community.”

“Beyond regular updates, we’re building chapters, larger content drops that unfold the Cursebreaker arc in Exploration Mode. We won’t spoil the story, but here’s the shape of it: the Cursebreaker arc is how Hytale progresses through Early Access, chapter by chapter, until the final chapter puts Orbis within reach and we step into full release.”