A new 'Minecraft' game is out today, and it shakes up the iconic series with a bold new hack-and-slash style of gameplay you can play with a friend

If you've ever played any of the games in the classic "Diablo" series, or any of the many games in the "dungeon crawler" genre, you're already familiar with the type of game that "Minecraft Dungeons" is: Players control a pixelated warrior on a neverending quest to kill hordes of enemies, collect experience from them, and use that experience to make yourself stronger.

Levels, "dungeons," are distinct, and can be replayed with different character builds.

Like "Diablo" and other dungeon crawlers, "Minecraft Dungeons" is primarily a loop of character building and combat — a formula that's proven very successful in the past.

Creepers? Check. Zombie guys? You bet. Skeletons shooting arrows? Absolutely.

"Minecraft Dungeons" is very much set in the well-established world of "Minecraft," from enemies to environments to goofy tone. To that end, expect to encounter all the bad guys you already know and love plus some new ones. And the same goes for environments.

The majority of the new stuff here, though, comes in the form of character customization and weapon options.

If you're expecting the normal "Minecraft" experience of mining for materials and building with said materials, think again: "Minecraft Dungeons" is a game about taking on groups of enemies, prioritizing the most dangerous ones, and taking them down.

Like other dungeon crawlers, little numbers will pop out of the heads of enemies as you attack them — the amount of damage you're doing per hit. By calculating how much damage you're doing versus the amount of health the enemy has, and then surveying the other enemies, combat becomes a kind of tactical dance. Should you prioritize the enemy who's shooting you from afar with low health, or the enemy who's running straight at you with more health? How you build you character — the type of armor you wear, the type of weapons you use, and so on — also impacts those decisions dramatically.

It's these type of quick calculations that define the genre's combat, and "Minecraft Dungeons" is no exception.

Even though combat is the primary focus of "Minecraft Dungeons," this is far from the grimdark setting and gory fights of something like "Diablo."

Just like "Minecraft," the world of "Minecraft Dungeons" is silly, and lighthearted, and violence is PG at worst. There is no blood, and the enemies are fictitious, and the weapons all look like a child's play version of the real thing.

Best of all: The game is entirely playable with friends and family directly from the couch. Just turn on a second controller and go.