Minecraft, Java (Windows/Linux/Mac...)

Developer: Mojang Specifications
Year: (still in development)
1 Player locally, online multiplayer (server software available)

Rather unusual, to review a game still in development, but access to the current alpha is available if you pre-purchase.


Minecraft presents, from a first person view, a world of plains, hills, islands, oceans and caves. A world where everything is made up of boxes, from the terrain to the creatures inhabiting it. A world which has been randomly generated for you. A world which you can alter.

Unlike the earlier Creative mode (currently available as Minecraft Classic), you don't just have free reign to build and destroy however you like - The present alpha version represents the Survival mode, where you need to gather resources and create tools in order to accomplish anything. If you want to place a block, you need to have such a block in your inventory. If you want to get wood, dirt or sand, you can do that with your hands, but if you want to start dealing with stone or mining for materials (coal, iron, gold, diamond...), you're going to need to make a few pick-axes.

Creating objects in Minecraft is relatively easy - on your inventory screen is a 2x2 grid where you can place items you've picked up. Arrange the right objects in the right positions, and you can make stuff. One log can thus be processed into four blocks of lumber, which can then be turned into a workbench from which you can craft the items which require its 3x3 grid.

There are many sorts of objects you can create with the right materials and patterns - torches, axes, shovels, books, bread, bricks, buckets... even a record player! You can also create several sorts of armor, and weapons with which to protect yourself. And unless you set the difficulty to 'peaceful', you'll need them.

It's called Survival mode for a reason: there are plenty of things in it which can kill you. Beyond natural hazards such as burning to death in lava, or drowning in water, there are various monsters - lumbering Zombies, jumping Spiders, archer Skeletons, and explosive Creepers. A recent update even allowed Skeletons to ride Spiders, creating a rather formidable foe. Even so, groan of a zombie or the hiss of an unseen Creeper can rather raise one's tension.

If a monster does get the better of you, it's not the end. Your inventory will drop where you stood, and if you can find your way back after respawning, you may be able to retrieve it.  This is hardly helpful, however, if you died so far from the start that you're unsure of the way.


Despite all of this - the resource gathering, the item creation, the monsters out to foil you - there is currently no real objective to the game; creating tools to help you mine or harvest, only serves to let you make more stuff to help you mine, harvest, survive or build.  The only goal of the game is to find the entertainment it can offer - to explore cave systems, to build structures, to hoard all the cool stuff you've found/made and keep it safe from the creepers who would blow it all up.

While this may not be everyone's cup of tea, I found it oddly compelling, and I recommend you give it a shot - while the game is still in alpha, you can buy it for about €10. (The price will eventually raise to €20.) Or if you still need to see what you're getting into, you can try the Classic creative mode or a really early test of Survival mode. Do be aware, though, that these do not represent the current state of the game - it's much deeper than those would indicate.


It's worth remembering that the game is still in development - bugs get patched pretty quickly, new things get added and every week or so, and it is the developer's intention is to have multiple play-modes in the finished game, including Creative, Survival, and an as-yet-unseen Adventure mode. So buying now will, over time, give you access to more gameplay than what I've described above.