Minecraft - Mojang (Computer Game)

For those who don't know, Minecraft (2009) is a computer game in which you break blocks and move them. Among other actions, you can build things, craft things, mine in the ground, fight enemies, breed animals, and farm.

Minecraft represents, to me, the future of gaming and technology in general. Periodically there are updates; these updates add new items, biomes, rules, or creatures to the game. Updates are made by Mojang (the company that created Minecraft) in response to both user feedback and their own experience in playing, so the game is shaped in interesting, dynamic ways, based on the kinds of things actual players want to see.  This is why people (like myself) remain interested in the game years after setting Halo 3 aside, which we used to play contemporaneously with Minecraft.

Already, people have done amazing things with Minecraft, they have made working adding/subtracting computers out of redstone circuits and pistons. I have even seen Minecraft within Minecraft: a fully-functional 2D version of Minecraft you can play inside the game proper.

Servers (where people can play in the same world with friends or strangers) have expanded the experience even further. You can build huge castles and your friends can actually visit them. It's like Legos for the new age.

The game has incredible variety. Sick of digging? Build. Sick of building?  Hunt down the items to make an enchanting table or a potion brewing stand. Sick of that? Start a farm, build a mine cart roller-coaster, go to hell:

Literally

Since they are continually updating, once you have done everything and set the game aside for a month or two, you can come back to a host of new things to do. It makes me excited about what games and technology we will enjoy in the future, since ten years ago my friends and I would not have even been able to imagine something like Minecraft. Is there the possibility of addiction? Yes. But there are a lot of good things about it, too. Minecraft is a great way to connect with far-off friends. When I'm building a courthouse or giant tower with friends, we are chatting and working together. I also like to use Minecraft time as meditation time.  There is something soothing about breaking the stone, collecting it, building something, then starting all over again.

A castle in the snow from the server I play on.

The different biomes (such as jungles, deserts, and forests) add even more variety and interest. There is just something about the game that is beautiful and awe-inspiring despite it's blockiness. The environment is randomly created, so the incredible mountain outside your door exists only in your world.

All-in-all a solid game, just don't get (too) hooked.

-MA 3.12.13