Rating: NNNN
Not all the best games are to be found on the shelves of your local big-box store. The quality of inde-pen-dently produced games has grown to the point where many are worth comparing to their big-budget cousins. The major advantage for these indies is they can take risks the big studios can’t, and in many cases these games are a labour of love rather than a line item on a budget with projected profit- margins.
[rssbreak]
One of the breakout games this year is a strange little gem called Minecraft. In a pixel-friendly world, you mine materials to make more materials and then you build stuff. What kind of stuff? How about a working CPU, a life-size Starship Enterprise or a giant statue of Deadmau5. The official website (www.minecraft.net) says only this about the game: “Minecraft is a game about placing blocks while running from skeletons. Or something like that.” In addition to the construction element that seems to have captured the imaginations of most, more typical combat elements require you to protect yourself from baddies.
Everything about this game is inde-pen-dent – even the multi-player. Rather than host its own servers, users can host their own private or public Minecraft servers where you work together to explore and build in the randomly generated worlds. The game runs as a download or in a browser and has so far sold more than 600,000 copies.
The most frustrating thing about Minecraft is its complete lack of instructions or guidance. To start figuring things out, you’ll likely need some outside help, and you’ll find that in places like the Minecraft Wiki (minecraftwiki.net) or even one of various iPhone apps.
If you’re tired of the all the sequels dominating the retail market this season and want to dig into something a little deeper, Minecraft is well worth your time.
