The endless supply of common and rare materials to build with is both an outlet for creativity, and a built-in incentive to explore. The procedurally generated landscape is broken into biomes with their own ecosystems and minerals. If you don't want to starve to death-and yes, hunger is a game mechanic-you better learn how to find and prepare food.īut Minecraft is far from an empty, homogenous world. If you don't want to cower in a dark hole every time the sun goes down, then you better build a nicer house. If you want to gather materials faster, you need to craft tools, which requires arranging materials in special configurations in either your inventory or on a special Crafting Table.

Dirt, rocks, and trees break into distinct cubes that you can reassemble building-block style. If you want shelter, you need to gather materials by mining the landscape around you. In this world, your only advantage over a hostile landscape is the ability to build, so if you don't want to die, you need shelter. At your disposal is nothing but your hands and an inventory, and night is approaching with all its terrors. The only difference is you're not crying (yet) and your default character is not nude and covered in goo. The first time you play, you enter Minecraft as helpless and confused as a newborn child. Swedish developer Mojang avoided the sky-high prices of major game releases by selling copies of Minecraft long before it was 'finished.' New features continue to come out at a fairly regular pace. I've been playing Minecraft since 2010, and I am still shocked at how much the game has changed and continues to change over time. Each version of the game is slightly different, though the fundamentals are universal. You can even play on a Raspberry Pi, if you're into that sort of thing. Minecraft looks great on a high-end gaming PC, but the rest of us surely appreciate how well it performs on even a standard desktop computer. The game is currently available for $26.95 for PC, which I'll review here. Because of its fun, creative play, and the creations it has inspired, it's an Editors' Choice and easily among the best PC games.ĭo you own an electronic device? It can probably run Minecraft. It has no story, no particular genre, no characters, no dramatic cutscenes, and graphics that could politely be called 'retro.' Instead, Minecraft lets you shape the blocky world around you with your digital hands, and has proved surprisingly compelling to a legion of fans. How to Set Up Two-Factor AuthenticationĪcross the spectrum of games, the enormously successful Minecraft both defines and dominates a category of its own.How to Record the Screen on Your Windows PC or Mac.How to Convert YouTube Videos to MP3 Files.How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill.How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone or iPad.How to Block Robotexts and Spam Messages.

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