Minecraft is a sandbox building video game which allows players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D world. It is currently in development, originally by creator Markus "Notch" Persson and now by his company formed from the proceeds of the game, Mojang Specifications. Minecraft has been developed on the Java platform. The gameplay is inspired by Dwarf Fortress, Dungeon Keeper, and Infiniminer.[3][4] The game is divided into two main modes, Alpha and Classic, where Classic is focused entirely on construction while Alpha additionally contains enemies, a health meter, and additional features and items. Alpha is the currently updated version of the game.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minecraft
http://www.minecraft.net/
While reading through the Indie Circlejerk thread a certain game kept coming to mind, and sure enough, before too long its name came up. After searching the forum, what was said in that thread seems to still be last word on the subject, and so here is a thread devoted to Minecraft.
I have played the game quite a bit, and I have to agree with icycalm's assumption that, no, it indeed does not fit into the circlejerk ilk. I'd also have to assume that the creators of Minecraft did not intend to create a work of "art" or have any other sorts of pretentious aspirations; it appears quite clear to me that they first and foremost set out to make a video game. That is perhaps the most important distinction.
The other distinction that I feel must be made is that Minecraft does not come across as "indie," though its production is most certainly independent. "Indie" has of course come to mean something else entirely, its own genre really, which refers to a certain "flavor" and has absolutely nothing to do with whether the product was an independent work or not. So in this way, Minecraft does not feel "indie" in the slightest. Its aesthetics are not self-conscious or showy, but rather effecient and representative of the game's core design. (Its pixelated look and grid-based gameplay might make for good discussion in the Aesthetics & Mechanics thread.)
I personally find Minecraft extremely addicting. Entire nights have been spent in my randomly-generated and essentially infinite world when I had presumably only been playing an hour or two. Exploring this world is my favorite part of the game, and I often wonder if perhaps Nintendo were a more radical company, the Zelda games might have evolved into something similar. Although the combat isn't nearly as fun as a Zelda game, and I actually prefer playing the game with enemies turned off. They only impede my exploration, and since the controls and the first-person perspective are not exactly suited to medieval weaponry, I feel no dissatisfaction towards removing them and by extension all traces of challenge from the game.
That is my one substantial criticism against the game: the "gamey" parts are not very rewarding. I've heard some people refer to Minecraft as a sort of strategy game in which the player must build fortresses to protect himself and his materials from enemies -- essentially a tower defense game. I find no joy in viewing or playing the game in this way. The other way I've seen Minecraft most often billed is as a sandbox-styled creation game. My problem with this angle is that, though it is undoubtedly fun and very rewarding to construct all sorts of creations in Minecraft, the game is not at all well equipped for this. At least not nearly as well as a game like SimCity or Roller Coaster Tycoon (the latter being, I believe, another cited source of inspiration along with Dwarf Fortress). The issue is, again, the first-person perspective. While the experience of embodying a lone construction worker crafting his own structures and makeshift scaffolding is unique to say the least, I've fallen off an unfinished bridge or other colossal undertaking far too many times to pretend that the game would not benefit from an optional isometric viewpoint. If I remember correctly, Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 had the ability to switch between first-person and the usual isometric perspectives, and possibly even Theme Park before it.
But as evidenced by the huge amount of Minecraft creations already shared all over the Internet, there are many ways to play and enjoy the game. I'm interested in what the other members here have to say about it.
