This post originally appeared on an old blog on Oct 15, 2011. It’s part of a series of posts which I’m “recovering” from the archives.

Remember when Minecraft was the hot new thing? Until the recent battle royale games came along it was the hot thing for quite a while. Past me extols its virtues and sets some challenges, few of which I have ever completed.

[edited lede 2019]

Who Said Gaming Ruined Your Mind?

It’s a well known phrase that if you play too many videogames you ruin your mind. This is hardly true. Only repetitive gaming does this. If you Vary what you do then you should be fine. One of the many available games allows you to do this. That game is:

 

Minecraft has the ability to push your mind to its limits and still be an enjoyable form of gaming. However, it happens to be one of those things that you either hate or love. It can stimulate your mind, or if its what you want, go and kill some zombies. Here’s how to stimulate your mind in Minecraft.

 

• • Redstone:                       Minecraft is a block placing game with a twist. It has what you’d expect like stone, sand etc. but it also has Redstone. This acts as a conductor of electricity, and allows you to make circuits. And i mean circuits, not just a switch for a door, but huge ones. Here, an 8-bit computer can calculate Sums and was built in Minecraft.. It can challenge you in any way. My Challenge: make a central locking system for a house, with Redstone indicator.
  • Mines and Strongholds:                       Minecraft generates worlds based on “seeds”, or a string of numbers that defines its layout. In these, it will spawn certain caves that are linked together with mineshafts. These can be very disorientating and inherently challenging to navigate. It also spawns strongholds that contain many chests. My challenge: find a mine shaft or stronghold and locate all of the hidden items.
  • Community:                        Minecraft’s Community is very strong, both in game and out. An example can be seen on the Yogscast channel. They have amassed over 1M followers, a lot of this due to Minecraft. In game, servers often have huge settlements where people have banded together to form communities. My Challenge: Form a Town and help it grow on a server.
  • Mobs:                               These are the community-driven name for the monsters and other NPC characters that can attack, or remain docile in the game. Trying to kill these can be a challenge, especially with the new rules introduced in the latest beta. Similar to other games, It takes a lot of skill to be able to fight them but here, especially with creepers, it can cost if you don’t. MC Challenge: Snipe a skeleton from 50 blocks.
  • Architecture:                    Minecraft offers you a wide range of blocks and tools that will allow you to create huge, detailed structures. It is almost limitless the amount you can build. So, my challenge: Build a castle. But not just any castle, build a good one, with proper castle staircases.

So, in short, what I’m getting at is Minecraft offers you lots of opportunity and you can get a limitless game play time. So Quote me on this: “A Five Star Game”, and enjoy! Get Minecraft: www.minecraft.net