Minecraft has actually been playable since last year May, but for some reason eluded the attention it deserved from the mainstream games press (MyGaming included), until last week when it was announced that the one man development team consisting of Markus Persson has raked in around €600,000 (R5,760,000) from the game, with over 1 million registered users.
It has been available in various flavours, but is now limited to two versions; Minecraft Alpha and Minecraft Classic. Minecraft Alpha costs €9.95 (R95) and allows you full access to everything the game currently has to offer. Alpha is being updated regularly.
Minecraft Classic is free, but is no longer being updated, and offers a more limited gameplay experience.
Players experience the 3D block world of Minecraft from a first person perspective, and they can navigate the terrain using a traditional movement scheme. Players are dropped on a deserted island, and the core focus is survival. This is achieved in a variety of creative ways, and players must interact with the environment to create tools and structures.
There are various monsters that roam the wilderness, and night time is particularly dangerous. It is therefore important to build a shelter for safety. This is done by gathering resources like wood, coal and stone, which can be used to fabricate tools and building blocks. Some of the things that can be created include hammers, axes, minecarts, railway tracks, planks, bricks, buckets and chests. There are also plants and animals, which can pose a threat, but can also potentially, be hunted or even farmed.
There is also a health bar which becomes depleted from being attacked by monsters or falling great distances. The health bar can be replenished by eating food.
The game’s draw card is creativity, and there are few limits to what can be created, depending on the player’s imagination and intended investment of effort and energy. Players have created complex traps which use the game’s physics system, and even basic electrical circuits and logic gates.
The world of Minecraft is procedurally generated, and spawns as players explore its surface. It can supposedly be up to 8 times the surface area of earth.
The game can be played alone in single player mode, or online, and we even have our own South African Minecraft server – 41.185.60.28.
The game is expected to move from alpha to beta in the next few months, and its creator Markus Perrson plans to continue updating and supporting it for as long as there is an active playerbase.
You can play the free Classic version, as well as grab the constantly updated Alpha version on the official Minecraft website.
How to survive your first night in Minecraft – by paulsoaresjr
Discuss Minecraft on the MyGaming forum.
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