Minecraft: Your Own World Made Of… Cubes

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Minecraft is a real phenomenon in the world of computer games it had never witnessed before. Inspired by such games as Dungeon Keeper, Dwarf Fortress and Infiniminer, in the May of 2009 Markus “Notch” Persson gave birth to an extraordinary game with “blocky graphics” that burns into memory at least and has already gained enormous popularity with millions of gamers worldwide. This sandbox & survival game offers a creative approach when a player is able to create his own virtual world full of dangers and adventures he is to go through during gaming.

Minecraft Gameplay & Modes

All in all, Minecraft is about handling blocks (mainly cubes). These are 3D objects that can be placed in different sequences forming Minecraft reality: environment, water, buildings and so on. Players can pick up these blocks while freely walking about the whole Minecraft world. There are four game modes available for players.

In Survival Mode natural resources (wood, stone and so on) play an important role in maintaining a gamer’s life – gamers get an opportunity to craft certain items and blocks to hunt animals, protect themselves against hostile creatures (for example, build fortified shelters), etc. Many dangers await gamers ranging from monsters’ attacks to a simple death caused by starvation or drowning. The gamer’s condition is indicated by bars that correspond to health and hunger. It’s in your interests to always keep them filled.

Gamers can play in Hardcore Mode, a kind of Survival Mode, characterized by the highest level of difficulty playing.

For those who would like to act as a world’s creator there is Creative Mode. Just open the inventory menu and you’ll see all types of blocks your own world can be composed of. By handling them you can create your own reality, whether it be a desert or a big city with a city hall in the center. Moreover, you can freely fly over the entire world and have all the privileges of the God – no hunger, no health at all! It’s only your desire to create which drives you.

Adventure Mode deals with maps, locations and adventures crafted by users themselves. The mode resembles Survival Mode with a few differences in the gameplay. A mapmaker can impose his own limitations.

And of course, if you want to share your gaming experience with other players, you can take full advantage of Multiplayer Mode. There are more than 200 000 servers that bring thousands of thousands gamers together every day.

Platforms

The PC platform was the very first to accommodate Minecraft that can now be run on multiple OS (Windows, Linux and OS X). The PC version has proven to be the greatest success, with 14 millions of copies already sold worldwide.

Besides the main Minecraft version, gamers still can play Minecraft Classic online for free, though it offers only Creative Mode features without any computer creatures. Another version Minecraft 4K is a newer game version with a greater set of features, but still rather limited compared to the main version.

Xbox 360 owners also can enjoy playing Minecraft. Now the console version is very close to the PC one.

Android Market offers some handheld versions of the game making it possible to play Minecraft on a big number of smartphones and tablets.

The rumors about the Minecraft release for PlayStation Vita were officially confirmed at Gamescom 2013.