What is Minecraft? How do you play it?

I've been playing Minecraft for years, and I'm a huge fan. Since the new Windows 10 version, it is also possible to play together with players who use another platform (such as Android or iOS). Ideal for us, because unfortunately we don't have a surplus of computers lying around, but luckily we do have a few Android tablets.

What is Minecraft

Minecraft is a digital game developed by Swedish company Mojang, and is available for most platforms. It is best known for its block-built game world and very recognizable graphic style.

The modes:

Survival Mode

The game, in itself, is very simple. You start it up, create a new world and are immediately placed in the middle of it, with only one goal: to survive.

There is no story, no introduction, no manual or tutorial. The game drops you at a random place, in a randomly generated world and leaves you completely to your own devices as a player. After a bit of fiddling with the controls, you soon realize that you can hit a tree with your fists, and that you get wooden blocks. Further experimentation shows that you can process those blocks into planks, which you then convert into sticks. Then you make a workbench, and you can make a primitive ax with which you can cut trees faster.

Y ou are completely absorbed in it.

Before you know it, however, the sun has disappeared behind the horizon, and you are welcomed into your new world by nocturnal inhabitants. The nocturnal residents are not kind to you. After narrowly surviving your first encounter with a lone, growling zombie, you'll quickly build a makeshift shelter out of clay blocks and whatever wood you have left. There you will hide for the rest of the night in a small, dark corner, hoping that the growling and hissing that can be heard outside your 'safe' walls will soon come to an end.

Minecraft monsters.

Just when you think your ordeal will never end, the sun greets the day again. Then you will be startled by the sound of howling zombies and other unimaginable creatures. They burn in the light of the new day. When peace has returned, you carefully break open a piece of your hiding place. To check whether the coast is as safe as it seems.

This is how your 2nd day in Minecraft begins, and in good spirits, you decide not to be surprised anymore. You are going to work on a better shelter so that the next night will be better. You make that promise to yourself before you attack the trees again, armed with a wooden axe.

Creative Fashion

You can also play the game in u201cCreative Modeu201d. In this mode you have unlimited access to all blocks and items in the game, you can fly and you are invulnerable. The dangerous, hostile world suddenly turns into a large playground. There you can build to your heart's content, and experiment with everything the game has to offer.

The game in this mode is most like playing with Lego blocks. There is a plethora of different blocks available for you to build to your heart's content, and people have already realized an incredible amount of cool, creative, complex and even gigantic projects.

Adventure Mode

Finally, there is the u201cAdventure Modeu201d in which you cannot place or break blocks. This one is meant to be played in worlds that others have designed, with the necessary puzzles and adventure.

Important to know

The cross-platform feature (playing together across multiple platforms) is only available for Minecraft Pocket Edition (MC:PE). The version for Android, iOS and Win 10. MC:PE has not been around as long as the classic version of Minecraft.

The classic version goes further in terms of features than MC:PE and only allows to play together with other Minecraft Classic versions. That's why it costs more. What is interesting to know is that purchasing a license for the classic version is also a license for the Win 10 version. Pay attention! This is not a license for the Android or iOS version, you have to purchase them separately.