I tried McDonald’s new Minecraft meal. The food didn’t impress me, but the packaging and collectibles won me over.

I got the standard McNugget version of the meal, which costs £8.19 ($10.62) in the UK. While McDonald’s hasn’t been too ambitious or innovative with the food options themselves, I was impressed by the level of artistic detail on display on the packaging.

The packaging for the Minecraft meal has been pixelated to echo the iconic blocky Minecraft style. This includes the Golden Arches logo, as well as the text and imagery on the McNugget box.

“The Nether” is a dimension you can access in Minecraft. It is filled with lava and dangerous monsters.

The packaging of the Nether Flame Sauce certainly hinted at fiery flavor, with pixelated flames adorning it. Would it deliver?

While biting into a Nether Flamed McNugget may not have felt like battling the Ender Dragon, it definitely had some heat to it.

I got a strong habanero flavor with a touch of sweetness. While I’m no hero when it comes to spice, this was definitely at the upper end of my heat tolerance. If you enjoy hot sauce, it’s definitely worth a go.

I like the Minecraft chest boxes that come with the meals. They really do resemble the chests you can store your items inside of in the game.

Having seen all the collectible options, I was hoping to open my box and find the Hamburglar Zombie or the Grimace Egg — what awaited me?

I contemplated leaving the box unopened in the hope of selling it for $1 million in 20 years’ time like a packet of first-edition Pokémon cards, but my curiosity got the better of me.

Sadly I pulled what is probably my least favorite of the collectibles, Birdie Wings. She smugly T-posed and watched me while I sulkily ate the rest of my nuggets.

I’m a sucker for a McFlurry (on the rare occasion the McDonald’s ice-cream machine is functioning) and was intrigued by this new apple-cake flavor. It costs £2.19 ($2.84), but there is also a smaller version for £1.69 ($2.19).

A base of vanilla ice cream gets topped with cubes of apple and shortcake, then a healthy drizzle of a luminous green apple sauce. The cubes of cake make sense given the Minecraft theme, but I’m not sure if apples are a core part of the game.

The apple-cake McFlurry was a bust for me. I enjoyed the texture of the crunchy cubes, which I’d broadly describe as vanilla and apple flavored. What ruined the sundae was the syrup it’s served with.

It was sickly sweet, strangely gloopy, and had an artificial fruit flavor that completely overpowered everything else. I could only manage a couple of mouthfuls before I had to put it down.

In pure food terms, McDonald’s hasn’t gone too wild on any new menu items for this collaboration.

That said, I was really impressed by the attention to detail that has gone into the packaging and the collectibles, which made this promotion feel like a genuinely cool and fun event instead of a bland, corporate PR move.

Will I be rushing to see the movie on opening day, or downloading the game and starting a world right away? Probably not. Do I wish more “adult” fast-food meals tapped into the childlike joy of toys and theming? As it turns out, absolutely.