By now, most people have heard someone mention Minecraft or own it! If you haven’t looked at it by now….what are you waiting for?!?!
At first glance you will think – Wow, thats ugly…why would I want to play a game that looks like it was made 10 years ago? Which is kinda what I thought too. I like decent graphics in a game. But after your first hour or so in the game, the graphics don’t matter. (You can upgrade them to look better)
Not sure how long ago I bought the game…I would have to look back at my time card at work and see when I missed 2 or 3 days about a year ago. Yes it is that addicting. It is a pure sandbox world. You can walk around and explore. There is no leveling up. You gather, craft, build, and destroy in a never ending cycle. It allows your creative mind to flow, it satisfies your need to collect and organize, and gives you a sense of accomplishment. And mixed in with all that is the risk of dying and being afraid of the dark and strange noises. A perfect combination! Your first day, you will have a dirt or stone room that you live in….and a month later you have a huge city or mansion to be proud of.
You start in the morning with nothing, punch the ground for some dirt blocks and a few trees for wood, build yourself a small shelter, a workbench and then start making tools and mine for ore and coal. At night, you might want to hide, because that is when nasty things come out and want to eat you. The darkness is not your friend. So much to do, cut trees, plant trees, make a pool or fountain, dig messy caves or a system of precise tunnels, flatten mountains, build pyramids, design a castle, make a farm, ride pigs, hunt diamonds, build a rollercoaster, go fishing….
The world is HUGE – Its bigger than I thought. From the Minecraft wiki – it would take you 820 HOURS to walk from your start area to an edge of the world. You can play alone, on a public server, or host your own server and play with a few friends. That is the best way to do it. I’ve created a server and played with my son, a group of friends created one and we played together there, and a third server recently created is going to be used for teaching kids in school about history and other things…way more cooler than copying notes from an overhead. It isn’t too hard to set up your own server either. You do need a decent system though with lots of ram and a fast internet speed.
It is still in Beta, which is kind of a joke as it has been perfectly playable for a year – I’d say its a endless work in progress. The developer is constantly adding new stuff, fixing bugs, asking for thoughts and opinions. Currently it costs 14.95 euros – around $21.50. I’ve maybe played it for 400-500 hours – I’ve lost track. So that is like – 5 cents an hour for pure entertainment and still going strong off and on! Compare that to the new Portal 2 which costs $49 and you play it for maybe 12 hours – fun game, but a bit pricey for the amount of content. Get Minecraft here! www.minecraft.net
The game is very MODable. People make new character skins, new texture packs, even change the coding slightly to add brand new stuff to the game, some of which has been incorporated into the official version over time. I currently love the Misa Texture Pack. Another top choice is the John Smith Texture Pack. For the kid friendly set, there is the Girlcraft Texture Pack.
Tell me your daughter wouldnt love this!?
Is Minecraft for you? Probably is. I have yet to find someone that hasn’t loved it after trying it. Yes, girls too! People go from Ewww, I’m not playing that to – Ugggghhh…I didn’t get any sleep last night, I couldn’t stop mining! JINX just put out a neat little quick guide that is perfect for a new person - Starter Guide -
You can check it out for free playing on the web, but that is in creative mode…not survival, which is the most fun evah! And I will say I’m sorry now, for getting you addicted. 
Have Fun!
