Minecraft Free Long Weekend!

Minecraft is free for a while right now.

That should fill you with excitement, but also a sort of vague dread at the fact that you’re definitely going to lose $10 a few hours from now.

What’s that you say? “I have not heard of Minecraft, I don’t care about stupid indie games. They’re tiny and dumb and ugly and I prefer shooting beautifully rendered aliens. Anyway, what the hell is Minecraft?”

This is Minecraft:

This is Minecraft:

This is Minecraft:

Basically, Minecraft is a game where you gather resources from an infinite, randomly generated world. Using those resources, you make tools. Using those tools, you gather more resources from more difficult to reach areas, and then you make better tools to gather more resources… and the whole time you alter the world to your choosing.

The interface is very simple. You mine by left-clicking, and interact/place things by right-clicking. You build tools by arranging sticks and stones on your workbench. For instance, a “T” shape will make a pick-axe that will mine stone, which you can’t do with your hands (you can of course chop down trees with your hands because obviously). Everything is made of blocks of some material, and everything can be broken down, gathered up, and placed however you like. Which is how you get from A to B to C in the above pictures.

For instance, in my game I found myself in a snow-covered land full of hills with sheer cliffs, trees, and frozen ponds. I set out to chop down a few trees, and look for a nice place to live. I found a beautiful cave at the top of one of the hills with an easily defensible front, a waterfall nearby, and an opening in the back looking out onto a picturesque blocky vista.

I cut the logs I’d gathered into lumber, built a wall and a a workbench, and then built a door for my soon-to-be house. At night the zombies came, obviously, but my wall was enough to keep them out for the night and they lit on fire as the sun rose.

From there, I’ve dug out my cave, gone on forays to nearby forests for lumber, built a furnace to smelt metal and cook meat from the pigs that I found, and a big storage chest to keep my loot safe. I’m currently focused on delving into the deep cave system I broke into while digging deeper in my cave, and trying to root out the skeletons that seem to have bred there so I can mine for iron and gold without being murdered.

My plan is to hollow out the mountain I’m on, and turn it into a multi-level citadel from which I can oversee my nearby mining operations, though I may simply set out for adventure when I have sufficient equipment. After all, there’s always something new and interesting over the horizon.

Minecraft is a game that rewards your inventiveness and sense of adventure by constantly providing you with the raw tools you need to enjoy both. Plus, the full version allows multiple people to exist in the same world, so you and your friends can finally build Castle Awesome like you planned when you were eight.

It’s basically a Turing test. If you play around with it for a bit and don’t experience childlike glee, you’re definitely some kind of horrible mechanical thing designed to eat joy and spit out fear. Go try the full version while it’s free!