I've tried really hard to avoid Minecraft, lots of people at Barcamp were going on about and I knew if I picked it up then my exams would suffer. Besides, I never really liked Lego and I don't really like "sandbox" games either. When given the opportunity to do anything it's easier to do nothing. Anyway, a friend nagged me to death to get it and I've been playing it for a couple of weeks.

If I had written this blogpost about 4 days ago I would have said that while I kinda saw the appeal, I really didn't get it. I can be a bit reckless when I play games which is probably why I'm not great at them. I died a lot falling off stuff, drowning in stuff and thinking I could defeat creepers with a block of dirt and a cheeky smile. Mining is horribly boring. Exploring caves is all well and good when/if you can find them, but just picking a spot and going mining loses its appeal really quickly. I had all these ideas about what I wanted to build and looking up the vast horde of materials I'd need was just depressing. Multiplayer is better but I felt really dependent on my friend to do everything for me and I'd just about had enough.

What changed was the idea of a more sensible project. So yeah, my water rapids rollercoaster was nigh-on impossible, but what about a tower? Ooh yeah it could be multi-story, and have a balcony and we'd need some stairs and windows and skylights. And now I get it. My tower is mostly dirt and stone, and it's not that attractive or well designed. But I built that. It has jack-o-lanterns outside. And now it has a moat and a minifarm and a forest out back and it's mine. We found a massive cave and spent an afternoon exploring that and it was epic. Digging is for chumps.

It's all about chance. It's all about making these discoveries, which as awesome when they happen but crushing when hours of digging and mining just get you a bag of rocks. You need a project. An achievable project that will slowly grow and spawn into that awe inspiring idea you had all along. I still have issues, you don't regain health by sleeping or over time and it would be cool if you could paint stuff, rather than sticking dyed wool everywhere. Minecraft's real genius is stealing your time and giving it back to you in that one moment of sheer joy and pride when you step back and look at what you've done.

"That's mine."