Minecraft could quite possibly be the easiest idea ever. The easiest idea that has become a complicated multi-layered game in the past couple of years and with the help of the best Minecraft server hosting players are absolutely loving the game. There is nothing more entertaining than exploring, crafting, and most importantly surviving. Survival games are without doubt the best games. Of course, overall, taking into account even the complexity required to make it playable. Survival games are also the most addicting and have the biggest replay value. Minecraft is just that.
Minecraft could be categorized into many different genres but is definitely a sandbox Indie-game(Independent video game). Indie games refer to games created by either an individual or most commonly a small group of people without massive financial support from other parties.
It was all started as a project already in 2006 by Markus Persson. The game was then later developed, tweaked, and published by Mojang. Mojang was created by Markus Persson as his programming team for the game as well as other projects. Minecraft was finally released to the public on May 19th, 2009, and instantly made a massive hit. It was clear that this game will have only positive feedback from its audience.
Just like an Indie game, Minecraft was distributed via the web (and still is today). Communities of internet fans were quickly created, and without much time Minecraft, still in test Alpha version, began creating endless upgrades. Mojang was updating, working all hours, just to publish to a full-release version in by late 2011. Minecraft is also available on mobile devices as well as on the Xbox360.
So what is Minecraft? What’s the game all about?
Minecraft, just like the name suggests, is a game where you can mine resources, and then build and craft with them. Starting a game you are instantly placed in a random spot on a generated map. The whole world is made of blocks that by digging, or mining, or collecting, you gain a specific resource. With this resource, such as wood, you have the option of either placing the block(s) or crafting an item. By placing the block(s) you can build structures and eventually shelters, castles, etc. Then you can explore the world, dungeons, caves, the world is your oyster. So as you can see, the possibilities, also academically and creatively, are endless!
What is the Academic potential?
Minecraft worlds are made up of mostly blocks (commonly compared to a big world of Lego bricks). Because you can rearrange and build your own blocks from gathered resources, the potential is amazing. The whole nature of the Minecraft basic gameplay could be regarded as 100% academic. Other physics and logical outcome elements of the game such as electrical circuits, switches, etc. also allow the player to create technical projects.
As stated above, the Minecraft community is vast. Blogs, videos, and forums are all over the internet. The main one, Planet Minecraft is a network with the idea of joining all the players’ ideas from all over the world, where everyone can share and therefore learn new creations. Watch out however, you’d be surprised how many adults are included in the Minecraft community!
One of the most important aspects of the game is the multiplayer mode. Here, on one server, Minecrafters from around the globe join specific servers (hosted privately or bigger ones needing more professional hosting). These players can then play with each other, all in one world. When they leave, their progress is saved to the host and they can rejoin anytime. These servers are mainly surveillance by admins and are a community of their own.
