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Five Reasons to Download Minecraft

Posted on August 4, 2011

minecraft crafting tableMinecraft. Maybe you’ve heard of it? If you have and relish it as I do, I salute you.

If you haven’t or maybe you’re just wondering what all the buzz is about, I’m hoping this little post will shed some light on what’s possibly the biggest indie success of all time.

Before I get started, I’ll cover just a little bit about what Minecraft is.


What is Minecraft?

Minecraft is an open sandbox game, which means you’re not directed on what to do or how to do it. There’s no princess to save or arch-villain to kill. The game world is wide open and waiting for you to explore and use your imagination.

You’re main interaction with the game involves mining, crafting, and constructing with different kinds of “blocks.” Can you imagine a towering stone castle in the distant horizon? You can build it. You can build pretty much anything you can imagine, but before you lay down the first block of stone, you’ll have to do a bit of mining. And if your imagination isn’t enough incentive to start digging, maybe the zombies will once the sun goes down.

Reasons to Download Minecraft

If my little introduction has whet your appetite, hopefully the following list will send you over the edge.

Play the Beta, Get the Full Game. Lots of people don’t realize that Minecraft is actually still in beta testing. By purchasing the game now at a discount, you get to play it now before it’s officially released later this year. Also, you’ll get the full version when it’s released (and all the updates in between). It’s quite a deal. Play a really fun and addictive game before its full release, get a discount, and get all the updates and the full version when it comes out.

There are Millions Minecraft Players. Don’t think for a single moment that you’re getting into an obscure game that nobody plays. As of this writing, sales for Minecraft are just shy of 3 million. Yes, that’s million. Nearly 10,000 people bought the game in the past 24 hours. You’re not alone, friend, which brings me to my next point.

Minecraft is Multiplayer. Minecraft is lots of fun in singleplayer, but if you spend any amount of time building something really neat, you’re going to want to show it off to someone. Minecraft has a component that can be installed on a public or private server, allowing many players to coexist in the same world. You can work together to plan and build a mega-structure, explore, or spend some time checking out the stuff other players have made. If you need some time to yourself, you can always pick a direction, start walking, and build your own little place on a distant mountain.

Minecraft is Infinite. Unlike pretty much any other game, the world of Minecraft doesn’t have an end. The game dynamically generates new terrain as you travel into previously unexplored parts of the world. You can walk in any direction infinitely, though, I’m betting you’ll get tired of just walking for hours and hours and want to settle down somewhere, mine for resources, and build use your imagination.

The great thing about the infinite maps is that you’ll always have a new place to explore, but you’ll also have a place to call home. Once a chunk of land has been generated, it will become static and always stay the same (unless you decide to get out a shovel and pickaxe and make some modifications yourself).

Markus Perrson, aka “Notch”. Minecraft is being developed by a group of individual developers, but the guy who started it all is affectionately known as Notch. He has a reputation for being one of the most friendly and likable developers on the planet. He tweets, posts, and shares on Google+ regularly. It’s a personal touch that you rarely find in other games.

One of the things I’ve really enjoyed about Minecraft is being part of the developing process. I haven’t contributed code or made game-changing suggestions, but I’ve played for a while now and witnessed the changes and additions Notch has blogged about over the past year. It’s really neat to read about an idea or new feature and then see it unfold in the next version.

Download Minecraft

Are you ready to give Minecraft a try? Great! I’m sure you’ll have a blast. If you need a little help or just want to learn more about the Minecraft world, check out the Minecraft Wiki.

Already a fan? Let us know in the comments.


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