Voiced by Natalie Gadeikis, Staff Writer
Written by Darrel Washington, Staff Writer
Do you remember 2012? The year of “Gangnam Style,” “Call Me Maybe,” The Hunger Games, and London’s Summer Olympics? But wait! There was also a really big game that year, a game that contained limitless possibilities, mass multiplayer capabilities, and villagers who homes we all destroyed. Minecraft rose to popularity in 2012 and grew to become the best selling game of the 21st century as well as the second best selling game of all time after Tetris.
When Minecraft broke onto the scene in 2011, it was instantly loved by gamers. It didn’t grow and start picking up traction until the next year. With more and more players falling in love with the game every day, it was only a matter of time until Minecraft made its way into the Youtube community. This was what assisted the growth of the game. The Minecraft Youtube community became filled with videos of gameplay, in-game skits, original animations, music parodies, and cringe compilations from Minecon, Minecraft’s official annual convention.
I hated Minecraft. I thought it was nothing more than a lame game with bad graphics. It wasn’t until I actually watched videos and tried the game out for myself that I realized why everyone was playing this game. It was a game of infinite possibilities. The game had no objective, but that didn’t matter. I could do whatever I wanted. Whether that be making a farm, a castle, or even a giant picture of Morgan Freeman.
But it didn’t stop there. Another thing about Minecraft is that, unlike with other games, its developers actually encouraged cheating and adding your own modifications, or mods, to the game. Mods can be added to the game and increase the player’s experience by adding such features as machines, more animals or enemies, changing various gameplay physics, and so much more. In rare occasions, the game developers will like a fan’s game mod so much that they will add it to the game.
While Minecraft may sound great and widely loved, it still receives much hate. After some research, it turns out that the main three arguments against the game are that it’s for kids, it makes no sense, and it’s boring. These reasons may seem true at first, but once the game is given a chance, it is realized that these are not the case.
Firstly, while a majority of the game’s players are of the younger demographic, this does not make it a “child’s game.” Second, Minecraft does make sense, a lot in fact. It’s commonly accused of not making sense because it has no story. While this is the case, this also is a good thing because this opens the possibilities of the player to create their own lore around the world they create in game. Finally, yes, Minecraft can be boring. That’s an undeniable fact considering everything can get boring after a certain point. But the thing about Minecraft is that if you get bored with building your own world, there are public servers filled with minigames and more created by other players.
Minecraft. The game that is more than a game. While it’s a source of fun, it can also be a source of therapy with its relaxing music along with the beautiful scenery the player enjoys while they spend hours building homes and farms. This game deserves more love and to be given another chance at popularity.