So over the weekend, I went to Chic-Fil-A for the first time, because the first one ever in my area recently opened. When I got there, the line ended up going 20 people out the door, and the drive-through line had to have its own crossing guard. I walked into the line, and proceeded to wait for 30 minutes, anxious to see what all the hype was about. After all of that waiting, I finally got my food and went outside to eat (because all of the tables, chairs, and counters were already full of people). And it was totally delicious.
How does this connect to video games? Recently, an indie game called "Minecraft" reached the public eye, and became over-crowded, eventually resulting in a spontaneous free weekend while the creator upgraded his servers. Chic-Fil-A totally reminded me of it, and I decided to tell the very few people who read my blog about it.
What is it? Minecraft is like playing with legos from the perspective of a lego person, and is made by only one person. When you start a new game, an enormous, blocky world is randomly generated and you have to explore, mine, and craft things to survive the attacks of monsters, who come out at night.
Among these monsters is the notorious "Creeper" : a scary looking cactus that walks around, and tends to sneak up on you and explode- ruining all of your hard work and fucking you up in the process.
Why should I be hype about it? The thing I like most about Minecraft is that it is good at creating a variety of feelings, if you play the single player survival mode. One minute a player can be peacefully chopping down trees and building a house, and the next minute feeling a sense of exploration as he enters a cave or climbs up a cool looking mountain. These are all good feelings, but the best one that this game creates is, surprisingly, horror. And the horror isn't scripted- it all occurs naturally. This video showcases it pretty well, and even features the aforementioned creeper:
Honestly, this game has probably scared me more than any other video game, and it doesn't even try to. The fact that the player dies with ease really adds to the intensity and shock factor of the game. It really makes you think twice about exploring all over the place- something that I've never seen any other game do before.
In addition to the intense survival experience, Minecraft is also a good game for building and showing off creations to other people. In the game's creation mode, you can build anything from a rollercoaster to a replica of earth. One person I know even built a variety of pokemon gyms, which I thought were pretty awesome:
There is also online play for both modes- although the multiplayer survival mode isn't truly playable yet, because you can't be hurt. In the meanwhile, creation mode can get you your multiplayer fix.
It would take me a really long time to adequately explain minecraft, and all of its intricacies, but it is only 13 dollars, so I highly recommend that you go check it out here. Also, you should look up how to survive your first night on youtube, because if you don't know the basics then you will most likely die.
Well, thanks for reading. I hope that I can start posting more regularly in the near future, but until then, go play some minecraft.
