When my good friend Mike finally got me into Minecraft, I went into it like someone who decides to take up recreational heroin. Of course, that was also the reason why I resisted buying it for so long: I knew it was insanely addictive. And now that I have it, it is exactly as addictive as I had expected, although in a good way (unlike heroin, in case someone thought this was a convoluted endorsement of hard drugs). Now, I find that anytime I have trouble writing or am just feeling too tired, the lure of the game beckons me. However, despite the slight loss in productivity, I still don’t feel that lingering feeling of regret when I finish playing, like that sour feeling you get when you eat an entire bag of gummy bears in one sitting (hypothetically). Here’s why:
Here is how I imagine the real Green-Walled Tower.
1. It’s Totally Creative: drool… This is the kind of program I have been looking for for a long time. This is the reason that I want to have a room full of Legos someday. A very long time ago, I had a Lego computer program that was similar, except nowhere near as powerful. After one house, the landscape started disappearing as the computer ran out of memory. But now, I can create almost anything that comes into my mind. And believe me, I can come up with some pretty freaky stuff. The only sticking point is time, since I like things big and you still have to place every block individually. Currently I’m working on a setting from the first novel I ever wrote. It’s a pool, surrounded by five temples, on top of a fortified hill, in a huge city in a deep cleft of a valley. After about an hour or so, I’m almost finished the pool.
2. It’s Open-Ended: I’m using both the creative mode to make the aforementioned pool/city, but also playing in survival mode, where you have to find food and not get killed by monsters. It is way better than most games because you can manipulate everything . Currently, I’m at the bottom of an abandoned mineshaft with monsters all around. In a normal game, I’d have to fight my way out to get back to my house and recharge. Not in Minecraft. There, I can block off a shelter, dig it out bigger, make a crafting table and make more weapons and armor, even smelt ore into metals, all while I’m stuck at the bottom of a mine. I can make my own staircases or ladders, dig straight in any directions or basically do anything I want.
The upper room, where the creative magic happens.
I realize I’m late in the game (as usual with technology; I just got a smart phone a few months ago) and that over half the world has already played Minecraft. But to those few out there who haven’t played it, I would just say that it’s awesomely creative and awesomely addictive. I’m still exploring what I can do, but I would like to make stories and set them in a Minecraft world that I create, recording the whole thing on video. So we’ll see. You never know what will come out of the Green-Walled Tower.
The Green-Walled Tower 
September 9th, 2013 at 11:01 pm
Your tower looks great. The kids all play. I really haven’t yet. The one time I checked it out, I was mostly stuck on a cliff, trying to chop down trees…and I think a goat headbutted me.
September 10th, 2013 at 2:00 am
When the kids get all their chores and homework done, they can play Minecraft. When they mouth off or fail to complete tasks, they get banned from the game. Seems to work.
September 10th, 2013 at 7:33 am
When the addictive qualities come in handy. 🙂 I hear my nieces and nephews are crazy into it too.
September 10th, 2013 at 5:52 am
Do you remember Zork from back in the 80’s when the screens were green and the game only had words? (Sorry, I have no idea how old you are.) I was hooked on it! So you can imaging how I get hooked on things today… I spent 10 months finishing every level of Super Mario Brothers–best money I ever spent on therapy!! I best stay away from your new suggestion!!
September 10th, 2013 at 7:31 am
I love Zork, although my sisters were more into the text versions. My favourite was Return to Zork, the first one with graphics.
September 10th, 2013 at 5:54 am
I built a light house that I fell off a few times. I ended up putting a bed in the bottom and sleeping there so that I could respawn there when I fell. Haven’t played it in over a year though. I made a massive mine right at the bottom of the world as well. Hmmm Maybe I should have made a hole all the way from the top of the lighthouse down 😉
September 11th, 2013 at 11:46 pm
Back in the day I really got into games like Civilization and The Sims. Didn’t really care about the game play so much, I just like planning and building a little world. (In Sims especially I got so tired of micromanaging the little people — “Good grief, just go pee already! What’s wrong with you?!”)
I like that your own Minecrack inspires your stories!
September 21st, 2013 at 7:25 pm
it must be fun! I think I have seen someone use a similar program, he used it for architectural intentions and interior decorations… he helped the landlord of my that time office to plan his flat
September 21st, 2013 at 9:50 pm
It is interesting for building things that I see in my head, although because everything is blocky, there are things that are hard to make. I have a set built for one of my stories. You can see it when I record the video for it. 🙂
October 8th, 2013 at 9:51 pm
[…] been trying to be very disciplined in how much time I spend on time wasters like games (read Minecraft) and online videos and I’m trying to make small goals each […]
May 6th, 2014 at 2:01 pm
[…] you may know from the post I did a while ago, I like Minecraft, mostly because it’s a open, creative outlet that is also a lot of fun. […]