Minecraft redux

I haven't been putting as much time into the game as some of my friends, but I've been accomplishing a lot with my Minecraft world. As I said before, this is the best damn game I have ever played. Unlike most video games, this one actually has a sense of purpose: It's a tool for creating art. But instead of being *just* a tool, it's a tool that you have to play a game to use. If you want to make art, you're going to need resources. And to get resources, you need to spend time obtaining them. Sometimes, obtaining those resources is dangerous. You dig down deep into caverns that open wide into darkness filled with monsters or lava. You travel far afield seeking wood and sand and have to find shelter by nightfall or face the monsters that come out at night.

It's an adventure. Traveling deep into dungeons. Fighting monsters. Battling mysterious terrain. All for the reward of getting resources to build awesome things.

Speaking of awesome things, here are some of the things I've been building. I've added captions to all the pictures, so click the picture below and read through them. :)

Minecraft pics 2

Incidentally... this game is also making me think about this as a microcosm for life in general...

We start with nothing and slowly amass skills and resources to make things. We slowly learn to counter the obstacles in our lives to gain more things. The goal of our lives? To make beautiful things. Perhaps art. Perhaps families. Perhaps a beautiful experience and stories to share. And at the end, it's all as meaningless as video game data on a hard drive.

Yeah, I love this game. I'm going to keep playing it. :) Let me know what you're doing with it if you start playing, too!