It seems lately that the buzz in the industry involves the indie game, Minecraft.  Nearly every podcast I've listened to has dedicated a third of their time relating personal experiences or talking about some fabulous building or contraption they built.  Me, I tend to get rather cynical when I hear these "endorsements", and though I don't immediately dismiss a game that garners such attention, it certainly does count as a black mark.  Or a yellow card.

I still don't know why I bought the game, though it might have had something to do with the 50% off if you buy it now sale, though I couldn't discount the whole "sandbox" feel that I heard described over and over.  I mean, I never even watched a video or read a forum post about it, I just plunged and played.

When I started playing, I don't even know what my expectations would be.  I thought that I would maybe build some stuff (maybe a giant pyramid) and quit.  After all, the podcasts I'd listened to described users designing massive replicas of the Starship Enterprise and actual working computers.  I started out on a beach and immediately tried to get a feel.  After about ten minutes I had some wood planks, sticks, sand, and a lot of dirt.  I had started on a grand dirt house when night fell.  Then I was killed.

For those who don't know, after the sun goes down, monsters spawn everywhere.  While there aren't a great variety, there are zombies (fast), giant spiders (jumping attacks), skeletons (shoots deadly arrows), and creepers (will detonate like a bomb when they get too close).  When the sun comes up, the undead creatures burst into flames, but the others persist, leaving behind the danger of a creeper blowing up as you walk around.

So the first fifteen minutes of the game are spent (once you know what you're doing) scrambling to build a shelter for the night.  You can dig down and close yourself in, you can build a shelter above ground, or you can make a high block tower away from the reach of the monsters.  This survival dynamic makes the game interesting to me, and the building and creating keeps me going.

There is so much more to it, from the building of a first suit of armor (diamond, leather, or whatever) and to your first minecart with rails made from smelted iron (sort of), to the first time you learn to create TNT or start using magma in your home.

But of course, you have to make it through the first night.

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