This is what we do around the water cooler at work now: we talk Minecraft. We talks about the underwater tunnels we built. About the castles in the sky someone else put together. About the huge Earth someone recreated.
The best way I can describe Minecraft is to say that it is a computer game that is like a huge living Lego world. This world, made up of oceans, mountains, beaches, and land is randomly generated – every game is unique for everyone. This world goes through a day-night cycle. During the day, this Lego-like world will be inhabited by blocky reproductions of ducks, cows, and pigs. At night, by chunky monsters.
There is no goal, other than to do whatever you want. There is no quest to fulfill. So in my case, I built myself an underwater base, with windows to look out into the pixelated abyss. Like nearly all things in Minecraft, I “crafted” the glass for my windows: I gathered sand from the beach, put it into a furnace I made, along with some coal that I had mined. The pick for my mine was fashioned out of wood that I had collected by chopping up trees. You get the idea.
When I heard others describe to me the premise of the game, it didn’t sound like fun. But as more and more people talked about it, I decided to give it a go. I have to say, it’s the best $15 I’ve ever spent. You can try it out for free at the official website (minecraft.net), with the older “Classic” version of the game. Check it out. It’s well worth it.
For a better explanation and pictures, check out the blog post here.