I've been meaning to do a post on Minecraft for a while. The game is absolutely ingenious, and here's why:
1. It's written in Java. I remember back when any game developer would scoff at Java as a noob language for people who didn't want to do real programming. Point any of those scoffers to Minecraft's multi-million dollar profits, and they'll shut up right quick. While it's no Id Tech 5, it gets the job done, and has one very important benefit: Java is multi-platform. Minecraft can be played natively on any OS with OpenGL a suitable JVM. That means I'm playing it on Linux without a hitch.
2. It's a true sandbox. A lot of games tout themselves as sandboxes, but then only deliver a little pile of sand on top of a lot of cement. The world of Minecraft can literally be dismantled down to the bedrock, and rebuilt in whatever fashion the player wants. The game delivers the experience of an unlimited set of Legos, but to scale with the player, so you can walk around inside your creations.
3. The world is procedurally generated, and is a joy to explore. There's a few key things to note here. First, every world is different, so your experience changes with each world you play. Second, with mountains and forests and cave systems and chasms, there are truly gorgeous bits of scenery to discover. Every time I start a new Minecraft world I am driven by the thrill of exploration. Third, because the world is procedurally generated from a limited number of assets, the majority of the content created by the developers was programmatic, rather than artistic. Instead of being bogged down with hours of modelling and texturing, the devs spent time writing algorithms that would generate an effectively unlimited amount of compelling content.
These last two points, and especially the last part of this last point, are where the true ingenuity of Minecraft lies. Instead of pouring millions of dollars and countless man-hours into producing a blockbuster AAA title with fancy graphics and marketable characters, the creators of Minecraft made a game that makes itself. Minecraft gameplay is centered around the player establishing their own objectives, and essentially entertaining themselves. Minecraft content is procedurally generated, making the experience different and compelling in every new world the player enters. Combining these things with the fact that the game is playable on any OS, on almost any system, and it's easy to see why the game is so successful.
