Tag Archives: MineCraft
Despite the many merits of Minecraft, I dislike the current state it’s in because it’s too sandboxy for me. Without any clearly defined goals set for myself to push through, Minecraft’s effect wasn’t that strong on me. I ultimately get bored playing the game after less than 30 minutes.
That said, disliking the game doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate what Minecraft’s effect on me was.
While it could be said that my first Indie game purchase was Torchlight (Torchlight is, in fact, the first game I ever purchased through Steam, and my second Steam-enabled game after The Last Remnant), Minecraft was what really brought independent game development to the forefront of my game-loving mind.
Minecraft’s popularity and media coverage made many gamers take notice of independent developers and their many offerings, whether it be a storekeeper’s RPG in the form of Recettear, a roguelike like Dungeons of Dredmor, or a FPSS (First Person Santiy Survival) thriller such as Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
Indies these days allow for exceptional gameplay experiences that do not necessarily require a high price to enjoy. Indeed, with Humble Indie Bundles and Royal Bundles available to the public these days, getting into the groove of loving low-cost, high quality gaming is proving to be a steadily popular choice among the discerning gamers out in PC and Xbox 360-land.
Even now, Minecraft is probably the biggest example of what indie gaming is, but since there’s no formal definition for what an indie game is, I doubt it actually holds the title of biggest indie game in a person’s heart.
That game probably goes to whatever awesome game is out at the moment. It’s a fickle way of thinking, perhaps, but it also means there’s a lot of love to go around. While The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Saint’s Row: The Third are going to be the AAA hits I look forward to playing in the near future, it’s the indie games that’ll keep me company when the money is tight and gaming urge is strong.
Who knows? Minecraft may even get randomized quests for fun before 2012. At least, I hope it gives me a reason to play it again. I could use a good excuse.
The above title tells it all. If you want to know more though, the whole story (with pictures of the fiance) is available through Couch Athletics.
Thanks to Notch, the creator of MineCraft, for posting this on his Twitter.
My First Night in Minecraft
I spent my first night in Minecraft huddling inside a small hole waiting for the sun to come out. I watched as zombies and skeletons passed by me, and prayed that, despite the darkness and my lack of torches, no spiders would spawn in front of me.
Eventually, however, I peeked out of my hole and found myself face to face with a skeleton archer, who proceeded to pelt me with arrows. I was trapped, and died helplessly in an open grave of my own creation.
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Strangely enough, it was a satisfying, tense experience that made me want more. In certain respects, the tension I felt was the same one I had when I was playing Darkfall, except the penalty for dying wasn’t as severe and the crafting here is far more fun.
Sorry for beginning with the ending there. Let me first introduce MineCraft for the uninitiated. MineCraft is a open-world sandbox PC game that was created by Markus Persson (aka Notch). The game places the player in a randomly generated world where he has free reign to gather materials and craft items that will help him to stay alive in the world when night comes, as night brings the spawning of monsters in places without light.
The objectives in this current version, MineCraft Alpha are relatively simple, but people with the time and creativity to mine and craft have managed to create astounding things in the game. As it stands, one can try the game for free currently on the MineCraft website though, once the authentication and payment servers are back up, Notch will begin charging people again to download and play MineCraft.
As for me, I think I’ll keep playing this game, and when it levels up and becomes a final release, I will be proud to have been one of the people who helped make it that way.
In the meantime, here are some links for you to follow if you’re interested in MineCraft.
Some Coverage of MineCraft from Rock, Paper, Shotgun
Follow Games and Geekery
