Why Minecraft Works (Design Concepts)

Why Minecraft Works (Design Concepts): "

Why’s This Here?

I don’t review games. But I do study games, and to that end, I have an interest in dissecting them to figure out what makes their designs work.

Since discussing a game’s features requires no specialized skills or background knowledge, it seemed suitable to share here as a Beginner post.

Background

If you already know Minecraft, skip ahead. If not, here is some information to give context to the rest of this entry:

• The world is made entirely of 1-meter cubes.
  
  
• Any of those cubes, except bedrock at the very bottom, can be removed or moved, enabling the player to reshape the world.
  
  
• As far as the player can wander in any direction, more terrain will be randomly generated.
  
  
• Day/night cycles pass.
  
  
• Aggressive enemies spawn when and where it’s dark.
  
  
• Underground there are cave systems with lava, iron ore, diamond, and a few other minerals.
  
  
• Above ground there are trees, hills, animals, streams, oceans, cliffs, sandy beaches/deserts, cacti and clay.

Play tends to start out something like this:

1. The player spawns with no supplies.
   
   
2. Punching trees drops logs, which can be used to create a workbench, a weak wooden pickaxe, and a few other basic supplies.
   
   
3. The wooden pickaxe can be used to break stone, which can be used to make stronger stone tools. Stone pickaxes are then used for coal, iron ore, etc.
   
   
4. Coal and wood are combined to make torches, which cast light to prevent enemies from spawning in otherwise dark areas.
   
   
5. Combinations of materials produce a variety of other objects.
   
   
6. The player dies a few times, learns a few things, tries out a few different kinds of projects. Time passes.
   
   
7. The player then builds the Taj Mahal, or something very much like it.
   
   
8. The Tetris effect kicks in, causing the player to have Minecraft dreams.

My Narrow Experience

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