project-spark-03192014

Fans of Project Spark, the game creation app-game unveiled alongside the Xbox One last year, have a lot to look forward to.

The group behind Project Spark, Team Dakota, has opened up the Xbox One beta for the game to all users – if you have an Xbox One, you can download it and start playing with it right away. The closed beta opened earlier this month.

On top of that, the game's microtransaction system is being modified thanks to input from beta testers.

While the creation tools are free to users, not all of the creation materials are – you can buy additional biomes, textures, and objects from the game's store to create more varied worlds. If someone wanted to download and play your premium world beyond the daily alloted time, they previously had to purchase something called Spark Time. Team Dakota has done away with that, allowing a user to play any downloadable content entirely free of charge, with no time limitations.

The other currency, Spark Power, is being renamed Spark Premium and its cost is being reduced. While items can be unlocked through gameplay and creation, Spark Power gave bonuses to the XP and credits so players can unlock those even faster. Tokens are now available for players who want to build a certain kind of world right off the bat and aren't interested in unlocking it. Spark Premium gives not only bigger bonuses at a lower price, but adds permanent additional upload spots for creators to take advantage of.

Project Spark is both a way to create and play user-created games – the best comparison might be LittleBigPlanet on PlayStation 3. The tutorial walks you through the basics of level creation, character creation and design, and setting up AI for the beings in your world, and then sets you loose. I played with it briefly on my Xbox One, but I'm excited to check out some of the bigger creations users are posting now that the limitations on play have been removed.