Minecraft (game)

Minecraft is a popular video that uses simplistic, block-like graphics to create an immense open world that can be manipulated by players. The game was created by Swedish programmer Markus “Notch” Persson who released an early version to the public in 2009. The game caught on, and after several improvements, a full version was released in 2011. Minecraft is an example of a “sandbox” game, in which players have nearly complete freedom to interact with their environment, similar to how a child plays in a sandbox. Players can choose a number of different game modes, including one where they must craft tools and supplies to survive and another that allows them to build elaborate structures and entire virtual worlds. The game can be played on a variety of platforms, such as personal computers, game consoles, and mobile devices. After its original 2009 release, Minecraft eventually became the second highest-selling video game in history.

Background

In the mid-2000s, Markus Persson was a programmer and web designer who worked for several of Sweden’s top video game companies. Persson was unhappy working with larger companies and wanted the freedom associated with smaller, independent game studios. He took a job as a designer for the photo-sharing software company Jalbum with the intent of working on developing games in his spare time.

Persson had an idea for a game where the player could build whatever they wished, similar to the interlocking LEGO blocks he had played with as a child. He was working on a concept inspired by two strategy games from the late 1990s: Dungeon Keeper and RollerCoaster Tycoon. In Dungeon Keeper, the player constructs caves and creates monsters and traps to protect the treasure inside from adventurers seeking to plunder it. RollerCoaster Tycoon was a simulation game in which the player creates and manages an amusement park.

With this framework in mind, Persson became fascinated with a game called Dwarf Fortress, an independent title released in 2006. Players in Dwarf Fortress must assign tasks to a group of dwarves to help them build and manage a fortress colony. One dwarf may be tasked with cutting down trees, another given the job of mining ore, and another assigned to protect the fortress. What set Dwarf Fortress apart was its simple graphics that allowed a larger focus on strategy and gameplay. Rather than detailed three-dimensional figures, elements were represented by symbols and letters. For example, the dwarves looked like colored smiley faces and giant spiders were represented by a grey letter S.

Overview

As Persson was in the process of developing his game, he came across a mining-based strategy game called Infiniminer. The game world was constructed out of block-like elements that could be taken apart and rearranged into new environments. Because the developer made the source code of Infiniminer available to the public, Persson was able to use it as a base for his own idea. In fact, when Persson first posted an online video of the earliest version of Minecraft, he referred to it as an “Infiniminer clone.”

The first working version of Minecraft was released for free online on May 17, 2009, and although it was filled with glitches and often crashed, it soon gained an enthusiastic following. By mid-June, Persson began selling the game and was at first amazed that it sold an average of seven copies a day. However, as the sales continued to rise, he realized he could quit his job at Jalbum and devote himself full-time to his new project. Persson founded his own company, Mojang, and worked at reducing coding glitches and improving the gameplay. In 2010, he introduced the game’s crafting system in which two or more individual items can be combined on a crafting table to create a whole new item.

In November 2011, Mojang released a full version of Minecraftto the public, with the original 2009 version rebranded as Classic Minecraft. Initially, the game was only available for download on personal computers, but within a few years, versions were made available for mobile phones and home video game consoles such as Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo. Persson sold Mojang to Microsoft in 2014 for $2.5 billion in a deal that included the rights to Minecraft. In 2024, the game had an estimated 170 million active players worldwide and had sold more than 300 million copies, making it the second best-selling video game in history, behind Tetris.

Unlike most modern games, Minecraft has an intentionally pixilated look that does not try to smooth over its blocky, rough style of graphics. Players can begin a new game by being dropped into a world filled with forests, mountains, hills, and lakes randomly generated by the computer. From that point, it is completely up to the player on how to proceed. The game does not provide players with instructions on what to do next, although some Xbox and PlayStation versions do come with a tutorial. Players must dig into or chip away at the world to produce raw materials that can be crafted into items such as pickaxes and weapons. Animals and monsters called mobs, a term short for “mobile,” can also be killed or tamed to gain materials. For example, killing a spider can produce silk, which can be combined with wood to make a bow and arrow. Other materials can be mined or crafted to create blocks to build houses and other structures.

Players can choose from a number of different playing modes, but each one is structured around the concept of an open world, an environment without boundaries that can be uniquely shaped by the player. In survival mode, the player must harness the elements in the environment to build shelters, find food, and create weapons to battle hostile creatures. One of those creatures, an exploding green, block-headed monster called a creeper, has become a sort of unofficial mascot of the game. If a player suffers too much damage from mob attacks or fails to find enough food, they will die.

In creative mode, a player does not suffer any damage or face hunger from lack of food. Instead, the player can wander through the world with an unlimited amount of materials to create or destroy any structure they please. They can also mine additional materials from the ground or by killing mobs. Players can create elaborate buildings, vehicles, aircraft, amusement parks, or even entire cities. Minecraft also offers a multiplayer mode in which a number of players can interact in a shared world.

Bibliography

Goldberg, Daniel, and Linus Larsson. Minecraft: The Unlikely Tale of Markus “Notch” Persson and the Game that Changed Everything, translated by Jennifer Hawkins. Seven Stories P, 2013.

Landin, Per. “What Is Minecraft?” Minecraft.net, 5 June 2023, www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/what-minecraft. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.

"Minecraft." Active Player, 2024, activeplayer.io/minecraft/. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.

"Minecraft Parents' Guide." Minecraft, 12 Dec. 2023, www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/parents--guide-minecraft. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.

Selway, Jake. "Minecraft: All the Different Versions Explained." Game Rant, 9 Feb. 2023, gamerant.com/minecraft-all-game-versions-explained-bedrock-java-pocket/. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.

Sirani, Jordan. “Top 10 Best-Selling Video Games of All Time.” IGN, 12 Aug. 2024, www.ign.com/articles/best-selling-video-games-of-all-time-grand-theft-auto-minecraft-tetris. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.

Thompson, Clive. “The Minecraft Generation.” The New York Times, 14 Apr. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/magazine/the-minecraft-generation.html. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.