You start, empty-handed, at the beginning of a supposedly, peaceful day in a strange, cube-based world; a world you have created. You can explore your world by running with the W-A-S-D keys, and you can punch the ground with a left-click. Everything else seems a bit of an oddity, but, as soon as you place your first block with a right-click as you construct your home, you soon realize, the enormous potential that Minecraft offers to you.

There is more to Minecraft than moving through the landscape in a first-person view. Three broad aspects play a role in the game. The first, are the mundane things, which are easiest to interact with: the blocks, the items, the animals, and plants. Players can generally harvest what they need from these by right-clicking, and they recieve materials in return. Farming and animal husbandry are the apex of this part of the game.

The second is magical: your character, or items can be enchanted with magical properties. Potions, brewed from various elements in the game, beef up your character, while items can be enchanted from a magical table - which provides stronger enchanments when surrounded by bookshelves.

The third, and the most intricate aspect is redstone: an in-game system for creating electrical circuits. With redstone, players can build automatic doors, hidden ones, too, complex animal harvesting devices, and even fully functioning computers in-game. It is difficult to comprehend for many first-time players, but it is certainly rewarding for you, if you can make the personal investment to learn.

Mojang began selling copies of the game before it was finished, offering players frequent updates and thereby avoiding the years-long development cycle, and ludicrous prices of most major game releases. The developers also actively engage with their audience to get a sense of where the game should go, tweaking it with each new update.

New features also add enticement for lapsed players to return. After not playing for some time, the promise of pet dogs and cats lured me back for many more weeks at a time.

While Minecraft is humble and enjoyable, it can also become tedious and repeat itself in the eyes of a player; harvesting materials, and mining through dangerous caves, collecting more material for a specific something. And while this is true, I can appreciate a great game when I see one.

Minecraft is a must play, and truly a game unlike any other.