Play in the Minecraft Sandbox

Minecraft is a sandbox game. A sandbox game is an open world: "An open world is a type of video game level design where a player can roam freely through a virtual world and is given considerable freedom in choosing how or when to approach objectives" (definition courtesy of wikipedia, wikipedia.org).

My twelve year old son is a Minecraft guru. He plays it everyday as soon as his chores and homework are completed :) . He's created some of the coolest buildings then turns around and burns the whole thing down. Boys!

This is Minecraft from my sons own experience....

You play this game in either Survival, Adventure, or Creative mode. The goal is to create bigger and better things like statues and buildings. Some real Minecraft enthusiasts have gone so far as to create the infamous Taj Mahal in great detail!

This is a link to some of the incredible Minecraft creations.

The average Minecrafter does not create the Taj Mahal. Mining and using the ore mined to make things and building a farm with animals is the norm.

In Creative mode, it's free flying. Unlimited blocks, instant block breaking and invulnerability.

In Survival mode you have to mine for Ore, cut trees for wood and defend yourself to avoid death! When the sun starts to set, you have to have protection. I created my house with a bedroom underground first. When the sun starts to set, I make a mad dash for my bed or the Zombie's will surely get me!

In Adventure mode it is designed for pre-built buildings that you can download and play. They are designed around a plot created by the builder.

It takes about ten minutes from the sun setting until the sun rises again. When the sun rises again the Zombie's are gone and you can go about your building as usual. But when that sun starts to set again, at the end of the day, you better have your bed made or the Zombie's will be out to get you again!!

I've been playing Minecraft for three years. It can be addicting. I like being able to create my own world and fighting off Zombies that try to kill you when the sun goes down. It's all so cool. It is a pixelated game, but that doesn't take away from the realistic feeling of the game.

Large biomes are generated randomly. There are twelve biomes:

1. Ice Plains - This is the Antarctica of Minecraft biomes. Cold, a lot of snow, and the mountains are large. This biome is helpful for its surplus of snow.
2. Plain - Like the name implies this biome is fairly plain. There are plenty of rolling, grassy hills here.
3. Swampland - The swamp is a mainly water biome that is the only place that lily pads and a creature called "Slime" spawn. Both of which are useful.
4. Extreme hills - A personal favorite of many due to it being a wonderful sight for the in-game world.
5. Desert - Like a real desert it is fairly scarce and useful only for its surplus of sand.
6. Forest - This biome is rather useful due to its large amounts of collectible wood.
7. Jungle - A biome full of enormous trees with many hanging vines and dense packed trees.
8. Taiga - This biome snows often and a main location to find wolves that may be tamed.
9. Mushroom Island - On this island only mushrooms spawn naturally. As well as mushroom mutated cows and trees.
10. Ocean - The ocean is vast and deep, full of the only sea life so far in the game, Squid.
11. Hell/Nether (Hell/Nether only visitable via a portal) - The Nether replicates a hellish world made of infinite burning blocks and a vast pit of lava. It is full of hellish demons to conquer and resources to scour.
12. Sky - Also known as The End - The only known way to beat the game is to defeat the Ender Dragon located in the End.

Each of the listed biomes have their own Mobs form, frequency and weather. As you trek through each biome the environment will begin to change and you'll find yourself entering another random biome. For example: If you're in the Ice Plains the snow will begin to thin out and you'll notice your surroundings beginning to change to the next biome. If you don't care for the environment you're entering you do have the option to go back and not go into that biome.

The game is still in Beta, so the sooner you get it, the less it will cost.

I bought mine at update 1.5 for $18.00, in 2011. Now it's at update 10.3 and it's $25.00. In just 8 updates the price rose dramatically $7.00. So, if you're interested in getting Minecraft, get it now and start creating your world!