Most of the people that know me, know that I don’t like to pay for stuff. That also applies to one of my hobbies, playing computer games. This recently changed, when last week, I bought a copy or a licence for Minecraft.

As you can read on this site, I’m a big LEGO fan and already had a look at a preview of the game and read quite some positive feedback on the many blogs that write about Minecraft.

For the ones that did not hear about it yet, Minecraft is a construction game placed in endless worlds where you have to mine materials, which you can then use to build things. You can build almost anything you can think of. From houses to tools, potions and I even saw people setting up machines, circuits and other things. This is where I saw the similarity between Minecraft and LEGO.

There are 2 main ways of playing the game, in Creative mode, or in Survival mode.

The Creative game mode allows you to build and destroy blocks in a manner in which you can build any sort of structure you would like. Players are given an infinite amount of most blocks to build with and no health or damage to worry about.

Survival mode is the game mode of Minecraft in which players have to collect resources to build structures, battle monsters, fight hunger, and explore the land. To survive you need food, you can farm or you can hunt, but the most important aspect is that at night, monsters come out!  This means that when you start a game, you have to prepare for your first night directly.

I have been playing Minecraft now for about a week and absolutely love it! The learning curve is not to steep and you find yourself building quite fancy stuff quickly while fighting off your first monsters with a wooden sword.

The community around Minecraft is enormous. There are loads of tutorials, forums and other resources available to help you get started. Especially the Minecraft Wiki is a great resource for anyone starting.

The above screenshot is from a Game session in creative mode (hence the fancy sword) where I tested my new Tardis Avatar Skin. It is quite easy to create your own Minecraft skin. You can use an online skin editor, or use the template to edit the standard one.

If you like this one, please feel free to download it here:  You can then import it through the profile page when you log in to the Minecraft website.

Remember, don’t dig tight. And don’t let the Creepers bite.

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