Yes yes, I know what you’re asking. What the hell is Minecraft? Well I am about to explain. This post may be a little on the long side while I run through some aspects of the game.

The image above is part of the build I have at the moment, and man you have to work hard to build anything sustainable on this game, however it is great fun. When you first start Minecraft you are greeted with a randomly generated and you contain nothing. Not a single item on you and no guidance on what to do or where to go. SCARY! Below is an image of the sort of world you will start in. The world sometimes generates with snow and ice as well.

When you first start playing Minecraft you just have your fist. At first the game can be a bit difficult and some help from a small ingame guide would not go amiss. However the Minecraft forums and Wiki is a fantastic help. The first priority for me is to find some sort of shelter. Through the day you are pretty safe, however once the sun goes down all the bad things of the nigh start to appear, and at this stage you have no means of defending yourself. You get around 10 minutes of day and 10 minutes of night. You can track the time by looking at the sun in the sky to check its position.

Once you find some sort of shelter you need to hack away at a tree for wood (using your hands, hardcore!). Then you turn this wood into a crafting bench, and from this bench you can make a wooden pick. This will allow you to start digging into a hill or something to hold up for the night. But wait! The baddies can spawn anywhere it is dark. That includes your little cave! Better find yourself some coal to make some torches to light the place up. Once this is done you barricade the entrance and listen as the zombies, creepers, skeletons and spiders crawling around outside. Feeling brave? Have a quick look, just watch for the arrows! Seriously, these baddies can cause some serious problems, especially early in the game. For now, opt to protect and hide yourself.

Thats just the start of Minecraft. From here you can try harvest enough materials to build better tools and build a home. The best materials however, are right at the Earths crust such as Diamond, gold, and a material called red stone which acts as electricity. The game really is open ended, and its still only in the Alpha stage. I feel this interview with Notch (game creator) really sums Minecraft up. It’s certainly worth picking up!