Imagine being thrust into a world that looks as though it’s made from strangely decorated blocks of lego. This world is vast, literally greater than the surface of the earth; there are trees, flowers, valleys, lakes, deserts, horizons, animals and monsters. You have no resources and only three minutes to get together a shelter before the safety of the sun’s light disappears and darkness engulfs you. Night-time is not a place you want to be caught unprotected. Every creature will hunt you and make no mistake; if it finds you it will kill you. Your first mission is: Find a way to not die.
This is the world of Minecraft, a sandbox construction and adventure game where every thing you can see can be destroyed, collected and replaced to create almost anything you like. If you’ve ever played The Sims or even Farmville you can probably understand the addiction that develops out of being able to collect things, the more time you spend the better and greater quantity you obtain. This isn’t a video game about plot or victory; it’s about getting creative, exploring, crafting, building, surviving and sharing your accomplishments with other players.
The creator of this brilliant game is Swedish programmer Markus Persson better known as ‘Notch’. He is somewhat of a legend within the gaming community for bringing back an era of simplicity to video games that many had thought were cast aside at the end of the nineties with new developments to video games graphics. The game hasn’t even been officially released (only the beta version is available) and it’s already sold more than 3 million copies and 15 million people have registered to buy the game when it’s officially released in November 2011.
In Minecraft players can combine resources together to make new items, for example, you can combine blocks of wood and coals to make a torch. Iron and stone to make a pickaxe, hoe or spade. Players can also make circuitry and electricity using a resource called redstone. One player even made a working computer inside Minecraft, and then programmed Minecraft to play on it: mineception. Because Minecraft is so adaptable people have found many more uses for it than was intended. Many players have replicated scale models of famous icons like the titanic, even the starship Enterprise. Others have even made whole cities and replicas of fictional towns.
Perhaps the most interesting side product of Minecraft is its use as an environment for web-shows. Countless series have emerged from players creating characters, scripts and plots and acting them out in Minecraft to make a show. They can build their set to look exactly as they want it to be whether it’s lava filled dungeon or Grandma Bacon’s coffee shop.
Among the best of these web-series is ‘The Shadow of Israphael’ made by Simon Lane and Lewis Brindley. The story is based around the adventures of two characters, Honeydew a red bearded recklessly clumsy dwarf, and Xephos, a timid space captain. The series starts off with these two characters seemingly learning to play the game minecraft, showing new players what to do and how to build. A few episodes in however strange constructions start appearing on their server that neither of them has built. They come back from a day of gathering resources in the wilderness only to find their extravagant cave blown to bits and all the entrances trapped. They soon discover that this mysterious player is called Israphel and he's been going through their world and destroying everything.
Much to the surprise of Honeydew and Xephos they discover a settlement just beyond the mountain where their cave was and before long they realise that their server is not as empty as they had first thought. They discover that Israphel is the resurrected son of the village pastor and agree to help to protect the village and if they can, kill Israphel!
That is just the beginning of their adventures but, Simon and Lewis saw the potential of Minecraft to house a cast of fictional characters that could share their explorations in Minecraft endlessly.
Their series has more than one hundred thousand subscribers and each episode in the ‘The Shadow of Israphael’ series has over 4 million views.
Despite all these unintended side projects that Minecraft has spawned, its original purpose is still by far the best. Once you survive the fear and panic of the first night, and figure out the basics of not dying you have the world at your fingertips. Your first hastily constructed hovel has the potential to become a castle, a modern architectural wonder, the taj-mahhal or the even the secret entrance to a subterranean world.
You will become attached to your creations but in the end it’s you against the world and Minecraft doesn’t care if you die. Once you do, you respawn with nothing, left once more with just your ingenuity and a vast universe of blocks at your disposal. Pictured above is an example of what the collaboration of players can result in. If you want to walk through the world and see what other people can build, or work together on a project that everyone can enjoy then multiplayer is for you.
There are many types of multiplayer servers, some work based on economy, where you can specialise in a certain type of goods, which you can sell (e.g wood, iron, diamond, cake). Some servers are based on a common goal, like creating a city. You normally have to apply and agree to adhere to their rules (called a white list) to be allowed on their server. Others operate purely to let you be creative and make whatever you want. Some servers have strict rules, some are relaxed, some play on peaceful mode (no death), some on survival. It just depends on what your preferences are as a player. You can also play by yourself.
Make sure to keep an eye on the clock when you play because Minecraft is a huge time sink. You might start playing at 7pm and before you know it the birds are tweeting outside your window and it’s time to go to work. It’s a great way to take a break form the real world and do something creative, just be careful how much time you spend doing it. Minecraft allows you to lose yourself in an endlessly generated world; no two areas are the same. Walk through swamps, rainforests, barracks and abandoned townships, you and the sword you crafted with your bare hands, man vs. Minecraft.
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