Minecraft: Endless creativity

29-Nov-2022

“Minecraft” may be one of the rarest games that can transcend generations. It is not only popular with different demographics but also easily recognized in contemporary pop culture. Its longevity is truly a remarkable feat, a testament to its serotonin-stimulating, highly addictive nostalgic factor.

Markus “Notch”, Persson created “Minecraft” in 2009. Jens “Jeb” Bergensten, Mojang's chief developer, took over the development after it was officially released for iOS and PC in 2011. Mojang sold its game and company to Microsoft in 2014 and changed gears.

“Minecraft”, with more than 200,000,000 sales on multiple platforms, is still the most popular video game. Players can discover their true creativity through the infinite sandbox gameplay. It also has over 130 million monthly active players who enjoy and appreciate the little bit of escapism it provides.

Imagine this — 98. 99. 100% — plop. Your world is unlike any other. You gaze around at the wonder of the creation all around you. Reality can be made from blocks or foraged with blocks. There is no structure to limit your autonomy. There are no divine agents to stop your will. This world is your story, and you are the protagonist.

My very first time logging onto a new world was when I had nothing. Cubic trees, cubic oceans, and cubic animals were all I saw. It was simple, maybe even primitive, but there was an appeal to this form of minimalism, unlike popular first-person-shooters or MMORPGs that tirelessly tried to reach realism.

This felt more real than the real world, where the sun governed day and the moon night. I was able to take full control of the situation. My role was that of a blacksmith and farmer by trade, but I was also an architect and a warrior by design. I built my shelter, gathered my food, and crafted my necessities. This allowed me to survive against mobs and monsters. This was a huge achievement for a ten year old who wanted to be competent in something and escape from reality.

Back then, “Minecraft” was only available in single-player or multiplayer modes. There were two modes for single-player, survival and creative. Hardcore mode is a type of survival in which the game settings have to be set to the highest difficulty. Permadeath occurs when a player dies. To spice up the single-player experience, “Minecraft”, has added more game modes such as spectator mode and adventure to its game-mode lineup.

Multiplayer mode was best suited for “Minecraft” servers. With unique server addresses, players could log in to popular servers such as Hypixel, Mineplex, and Desteria. There are many mini-games on these servers, including parkour, spleef and prop hunt. Others were dedicated fantasy worlds in which politics and established factions were the main focus of the game. Some servers were created by fans to replicate pop-cultural worlds such as “Pokemon”, “Avatar” and “The Last Airbender.”

Mojang launched “Minecraft Realms” in 2013. This subscription-based hosting service eased the pain for people who had to manually set up online servers from their home and within their internet service provider's restrictions. This allowed for the expansion of multiplayer, which was a great way to build a relationship with your users, especially in light of the recent pandemic.

Mojang releases updates periodically that address bugs and glitches in the game. Sometimes they react to fan feedback. For example, the Village Pillage update for “Minecraft”, which marked the tenth anniversary of the game's creation, in 2019, added more creatures and expanded the innate gameplay. The Nether Update of 2020 was the most recent update. It added four biomes and mobs that have distinct interactions. With such a large community, “Minecraft” strives to be an evolving game. Fans are on the edge of their seats when it announces the Caves and Cliffs update, which is due out in the summer.