As someone who is keenly interested in all things gamedev and indy gaming related it was pretty much destined that I would end up playing Minecraft, Despite this I tried to stop myself due to its widely noted extreme addictiveness. However in the end the draw to try it out was simply too strong after watching one too many awesome Minecraft adventures on youtube. Below is the video aftermath of my month long Minecraft construction spree.
For me Minecraft represents the first sandbox type game without a strong central narrative that I’ve really ever been interested in, and putting on my gamedev hat it’s also the first game to really sell me on the idea of procedural content and player created narratives. Up until playing Minecraft I’ve always felt that open world games were somewhat lifeless, dull, and pointless (this includes games that try to shoehorn a narrative over the top such as the Grand Theft Auto). Minecraft turns this into a strength rather than a weakness. Minecraft places you in the middle of a desolate, lonely and beautiful world and challenges you to make sense of your surroundings and remake the world as you see fit, and unlike other open world games you are given the tools to do so in a real and meaningful sense.