Minecraft: People have a lot of free time

As should be obvious my post as a seeker is about minecraft.  This indie game involves players wandering a blocky countryside shaping it as they see fit to create structures, mine resources, and survive monster attacks.  It has been mentioned before by Cole in an earlier post.  What I find interesting is the vast numbers of you tube videos and pictures posted on the internet of people’s creations.

I was curious as to the numbers of these videos and people had used the game to create.

There are 680,000 videos on You tube that result from a search for “minecraft” and about 9 million image results for a Google image search.

I think the reason behind this prolific creation of minecraft artifacts is based in the enjoyment people derive from the game.  There is not really a point to this game besides creativity.  Sure it is fun to survive from monsters and find minerals but those elements are quickly “groked”.  What players really enjoy is the creativity of the game.  As an artist can derive pleasure from other people enjoying his/her work so the players of minecraft like to display their “art” for others enjoyment.  The game is limited only by players creativity.  Here are some things people have done.

More “normal” game creations: The Earth, Roller Coaster, Huge Castle

More “unique” ideas: 16 bit ALU computer, Zombie Dance Party

I thought this was interesting because it was basically trying to add a story to the game.

So to wrap up I find it fascinating what people are doing with Minecraft and how they are presenting their ideas online and shaping the game as a result.

Cow Launcher!