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

I have limited Minecraft knowledge, but for those new to the franchise just know that the theme is "blocks." Everything in the game comes in cube form, including the people and animals that inhabit its world.

The event space had been decorated to match this, with the Golden Arches getting a blocky, grassy makeover.

Regular dining tables had been covered with artificial turf, cube-shaped bushes, and sacks of colorful gems.

While they looked appetizing, like sugar glass or hard candy, I was told the gems were not edible nor a part of the themed meal. Sad.

The standard Minecraft meal includes nine McNuggets — 10 in the US version of the meal — fries, a drink, and a collectible. You also have the option to add a new, limited-edition "Nether Flame Sauce."

I was told you can swap the McNuggets for a Big Mac.

In the UK, there is also a "Veggie Dippers" version of the meal, which subs the chicken for breaded, plant-based bites.

Unusually for McDonald's, the Minecraft meal comes with a collectible despite being marketed as a meal for adults.

This is something they have only done a handful of times, like a "Friends" collaboration in Spain for the show's 30th anniversary.

On offer with each meal is a collectible figure and accompanying trading card. On the back of a card is a QR code — scanning it allows you to redeem an item in the game.

The collectibles come inside a small cardboard box designed to look like a Minecraft chest. They pay tribute to both Minecraft and to McDonald's characters and foods.

This one blends the famous Hamburglar with a Minecraft zombie, because what could be more terrifying than an undead creature who also has no respect for law and order?

This collectible blends McDonald's character "Birdie The Early Bird" with "Elytra," which are wings from Minecraft that enable the player to fly. Sadly both references were completely lost on me.

Everybody knows and loves Grimace, the anthropomorphous McDonald's eggplant thing.

Reading between the lines here, McDonald's seems to be implying that Grimace lays eggs, which I assume then hatch into more Grimaces? Grimace? Grimmi?

That said, look at his little face! I love him. 10/10 no notes. This is the best one.

Kudos to McDonald's for creating a burger so well-known that it's immediately recognizable even when heavily pixelated. You don't eat this thing, you 8-bit(e) it.

In the Minecraft game you can equip your character with helmets to provide protection against monsters. This one would be especially effective against Creepers or Endermen who happen to be on a keto diet.

Finally there's the Soda Potion. The level of detail on this was particularly good, with vibrant colors and tiny pixelated shading to give a bubbly effect. It even has a tiny McDonald's straw tip poking out the top.

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.