Why My Stepfather Should Play Minecraft

Yes.  This post is specifically for you, Stepfather.  I know you're not currently playing Minecraft, and I'm about to attempt to tell you why you should.

An aqueduct.  In Civ V, it retains 40% of food after growth.

Minecraft (minius-craftius) opens with you, alone in a world populated with trees, deserts, oceans, mountains, snow, etc.  You are alone, and have nothing.  You must build yourself a shelter before the night falls and zombies, skeletons, spiders, and (the ever feared) creepers spawn and attempt to eat your succulent man-flesh.

Luckily, nearly everything in the world can be broken down by your fists (trees, sand, soil) or appropriate tools that you craft (stone, coal, iron ore).  So you'll be able to create a modest home with a couple torches before night falls.

Playing Minecraft is a very zen experience (except for when you accidentally stumble upon a nest of zombies).  While the mobs - Minecraft slang for the creatures who spawn at night - are certainly an ever looming threat, the point to playing the game is to build whatever you want.  Would you like to have a cobblestone sky walkway connecting your various homes so that you can traverse the world without having to worry about mobs on the ground?  You need only build it.  Instead, consider an interconnected subway of carts that ride on redstone powered rails.  You are limited to only your imagination.

More after the jump...


Minecart tracks!

Because there are few rules associated with the game, it has won the hearts of many, and I feel that (again, excepting those rare occasions when I must RUN FOR MY LIFE) the game provides a very mellowing experience.  This is the sort of thing, Stepfather, that will lower your cholesterol, and introduce a creative outlet for you.  Do you dream of castles with pressure-plate activated arrow balistas?  Or would you prefer to create pastures and fields of crops and open a cake dispensary?  It is your choice!

Also, specifically in thinking of you, Stepfather, the game allows you to use redstone to create AND, OR, XOR, NOT switches to create complicated operations.  This is the sort of thing that is right up your alley.

The game costs 14.95 Euro, since the developer Notch is from over there.  That's about $21 by today's rate.  Technically, you're buying the game in its Beta, so it is cheaper than if you wait a couple months.


Can't we all just get along?