Unique gameplay offers creativity, hours of content

The world has seen hundreds of video games come out over the past decade or so, but none have been truly as unique as Minecraft, a game that saw an official release on Nov. 22 after a year of development and eager waiting.

The game started out as a project developed by one man. After a year of beta testing in which computer gamers worldwide had been following along, there are now more than 16 million registered Minecraft users, having generated more than $23 million in profits. Minecraft is so popular due to its originality in gameplay, its seamless simplistic visuals and of course the $20 it takes to purchase the game.

Minecraft is a game completely comprised of 8-bit blocks in a 64-bit graphics world. It is played in a first person system. The user enters a randomly generated world made up out of blocks, put together to construct an environment complete with caves, trees, oceans, minerals, deserts, mountains, animals, and anything else that can be found in real life basically.

When searching for something to criticize about Minecraft, a true flaw, it looks as if there is none. How would it be possible to criticize a game that is barely anything to begin with? Minecraft is such a game of bare essentials there really is no flaw within it. True, not everyone likes or plays Minecraft, but that's just preference. Any technical glitches found in the game will be fixed with your next friendly neighborhood patch.

Minecraft is a game of simplicity. But simplicity, thrown into a large, manipulable world, sprouts an infinite amount of possibility.  

The player is given the choice of ultimate freedom, since there is no objective to the game the player is free to choose what is most important to get done.

That's when the craft in Minecraft really begins. One must start by mining for resources. Obtaining things such as wood, stone, dirt, and sand allows the player to craft tools. Crafting things such as pickaxes, and shovels aid the player on their journey toward creating a suitable environment to live in.

Having taken six months to build, the world has a proportional ratio of one to one. Meaning that it is life size, in the Minecraft universe anyway. It takes a good 10 hours in game to walk from one end to the other.

Creativity in Minecraft really shines. Since the player lays down each block personally, it creates a real sense of "craftsmanship."

Most games give quests and objectives. Those two things themselves create the sense of, "Oh, this game is important because I must beat the quests."

The rewards given from those objectives are what create a game's sense of importance.

But Minecraft has none of that, its sense of importance is created by the player through time.