Stephen Franchak

Minecraft 2

Stephen Franchak

Minecraft

Although people age and mature, many people attempt to hold on to some thread that links back to their childhood memories and sensations. The thrill of adventuring with friends through unexplored and vast lands, the gratification of using one’s imagination and creativity to construct a magnificent castle out of building blocks, and the fear of not knowing when the gruesome gremlin underneath one’s bed or in one’s closet will strike are several of the feelings and memories that some adults can associate with their childhood. To stimulate these feelings or to reenact these memories in reality as an adult is impossible or foolish. Nonetheless, adults can safely escape to the virtual worlds created by the addictive, entertaining, and inexpensive computer game Minecraft in order to full their childish desires.

Diverging from traditional video games that have storylines and strictly defined objectives, Minecraft provides a unique gaming experience. Without providing any guidance or instructions, the video game releases players in a randomly generated, nearly infinite world in which trees, dirt, water, wild hogs, the players’ avatars, and other items are all made up of cubes. New players may feel confused and lost in this world, as if they awoke on a foreign continent with only the clothes on their back. Players experiment and learn that they can affect the landscape by destroying, collecting, and placing cubes. With these cubes, players can create structures and craft items such as tools, food, and building materials by using a crafting table. The need to build shelter and to create weapons is apparent while mining in underground labyrinths or while exploring the world during the nighttime, the settings required for zombies, archer skeletons, giant spiders, and the green, two-legged, and exploding creature known as the creeper to appear and to attack. Consequently, the ability to freely roam and to affect the world and the adrenaline associated with the prospect of meeting a monster are the reasons why Markus Persson, the original sole developer of Minecraft, classifies the game under the genres of “sandbox” and “survival horror.” The “sandbox” and “survival horror” themes are entertaining for and appealing to a large audience of gamers, but not all Minecraft players are satisfied.

Even though Mojang AB, the company founded by Persson, has sold nearly three million copies of Minecraft as of this writing despite the game being in an early stage of development known as “beta,” some players think that Minecraft is boring and imperfect. Without using cheats, players must spend hours gathering resources (cubes and crafted items) in order to continue working on their projects, such as large replicas of worldwide landmarks. Players spitefully call the process of repetitively gathering materials “grinding.” In contrast, other players find “grinding” to be relaxing and addicting. To illustrate, a player mines through the side of a mountain with the goal of not only gathering cobblestone to build his or her castle but also finding a cavern that holds treasure. The player addictively mines for hours with the mentality that a treasure chest may be behind one more cube. Furthermore, players believe that the game contains too many software bugs and glitches. The game sometimes freezes and aborts, causing players to lose their progress. Fortunately, the game is regularly updated, and software bugs are found and fixed. Once players purchase Minecraft, they receive updates as long as the game is updated and can play online for free. Minecraft is an inexpensive alternative to subscription-based online games like World of Warcraft. In addition, Minecraft is also an inexpensive way to bring back the awe and wonder that adults felt about the world as a child.

Minecraft is a must-play computer game that is entertaining, addicting, and inexpensive and that can stimulate the sensations that one had in one’s childhood. The thrill of going online for free with friends and strangers to explore vast lands that contain mountains, seas, forests, and deserts made up of cubes, the gratification of addictively “grinding” to collect resources for hours in order to use one’s imagination to construct an elegant castle out of virtual building blocks, and the fear of not knowing when a horrifying creature that lurks around the corners of dark underground caverns will strike are some of the memories and feelings that will be made and felt by playing Minecraft and that may be similar to the memories and feelings of one’s childhood. Since it is in the “beta” stage of development, Minecraft is currently being sold for €14.95, an amount equivalent to approximately twenty-two dollars as of this writing. Since the game is cheap, there is no excuse not to grab a pickax and to start mining; the next virtual Statue of Liberty or Roman Coliseum awaits construction!