# Minecraft...



## cornelius (Jan 26, 2011)

I've picked up Minecraft a couple of weeks ago, and I'm hooked. True, the graphics aren't life-changing ( think of an old nintendo 64 game) and there aren't any epic quests. But it's an awesome "sandbox" game (in my opinion) with enough features to make it addictive.

First of all, there's the concept of mining and crafting (Mine-Craft.. you got it). You gather resources and use them to build. There is a number of "blocks" from wood and stone to gold and diamond, each of them with a specific use. If you like lego, there’s a good chance you’ll like minecraft: You can build houses, craft tools and weapons, even design traps, because the world of minecraft isn’t exactly peaceful…

Which brings us to the second aspect: survival. At night (or in dark spaces such as caves or your very own house if it doesn’t have enough torches), creatures spawn, from zombies to spiders over exploding creepers and skeletal archers… The first couple of “day cycles” , you’ll find yourself desperately trying to make a safe haven to protect you from these creatures. After a while, you’ll find ways to protect yourself (Sword, armour, bow&arrow, traps… or just make sure there’s enough light around) so you can focus on building your own little empire. Well, little… the world is massive. I’ve wandered for weeks and the landmass/oceans keep increasing. I’m more of a homebase type of player though: I’ve made myself a castle and that’s where I will stay.

Now I do admit, the fact that there isn’t an actual purpose in the game might make it boring for those who like questing. And walking alone all the time might seem a bit… lonely. There are animals like chickens, cows and sheep, but you can hardly call them company. 

Recently, a multiplayer was released, and now you can build together with your friends, which makes things more fun. If only you could brew beer ingame…

The game is still in beta, which means it isn’t a full game yet. I bought it back in the alpha stage (all purchase is online) which made it cheaper, but at a price of 15€ it’s still a bargain. The game will cost about 20€ when in completed stage. 

Minecraft is more or less a one-man-project (Notch is the name), but the interwebscommunity is taking this game up very well, and there are a lot of mods including better texture packs, personal packs (you can make your character look like just about any “pixilated” hero you can think of, from captain Kirk to Link, from Kratos (God of war) to Gordon Freeman (Half-Life)… You can also look up custom maps, the most popular at the moment puts players on a small island on which they have to survive. These maps often have quests (I believe the main quest on that island is building a 3 story house with windows, which sounds easier than it is) so that gives a new dimension to the game. If you’re more into the “MMO” thing, there are sites like “Reddit” that have their very own Minecraft server, which allows a whole group of people to work on projects together. I think the game is going to grow a lot in the next couple of months, you can easily find the latest option on Notch's blog or on the minecraft wiki.

I’d suggest looking up screenshots or type in “minecraft” in youtube, there’s a ton of examples of what you can do/build in-game, from a replica of the USS Enterprise to a functional 16 bit computer! If there are some fellow chronies that already play this game, I’d love to hear what you’re building. I’m working on a village together with a friend of mine, we might put some vids/pics online if we think we have something worth showing.

Have fun!


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