I don’t play Minecraft, I use it

“She'll be back. I've never seen anyone pick it up that quickly before. Reality is not going to be enough for her now. When she comes back…when she comes back you're going to have her building mazes.” – Inception (2010)

Frequently on the weekends, more specifically the evenings of my less-than-productive 48 hours each week, I find myself using Minecraft. The game’s creator Markus Persson, or Notch, I’m sure, would be happy with this recognition, for I’m participating in the on-going craze surrounding his once-little project. But what he doesn’t know, is that I’m not playing his game, at least not completely, or maybe not at all. The sound meter stays at sub-20 percent levels, and the difficulty remains on “peaceful”. I dedicate little brain power, if you can allow me to measure my attention that way, to Minecraft, yet I’m having more fun than I would otherwise. As to why I choose to spend my time with Minecraft this way is because to me, it is not completely a game, but rather a pseudo-game, if you will.

These uneventful evenings I mentioned previously, consist of building, experimenting, and listening. No, I did not lie to you, all the sound that Minecraft makes will only emit at very low, almost whisper like qualities. Instead of listening to the tranquil soundtrack accompanying me while I level an entire mountain, a podcast takes its place. Whether it’s gaming related, technology related, or even Yahoo! questions related, it serves a purpose. It gives me something to do while I use Minecraft.

So, there I am, punching down trees, laying down foundations, or god forbid, digging straight down, with a steady flow of information and insight in my ear, and creation under my hands. This is how I use Minecraft. As you can see, I’m hesitant to call it playing, because the majority of my tale in Minecraft doesn’t involve exploration or monster slaying; no, it is about building, and lots of it. “You’re doing it wrong”, other Minecraft players would tell me, and to them, I may be, but they haven’t made the jump yet, the plunge where its pseudo-attributes become apparent.

I’ve dubbed Minecraft a pseudo-game, because it was designed that way. Of course, I can’t speak for Notch, but when the hotly-anticipated Adventure Update’s most compelling features were additional terrain formations like ravines, and rivers, I get the feeling that Minecraft was never meant to be a game.

In Survival Mode all players start with nothing. Over time you work your way up the levels of efficiency: dirt, wood, stone, steel, diamond, and eventually redstone. The process of climbing up the ladder is something all players will experience, and is known by most to be one of the best experiences Minecraft can offer. Once you’ve reached builder-status, or conquered scarcity, the game becomes something else. This is exactly when I turned off the challenge, and turned off the game in Minecraft.

Sure, I could play Creative Mode, but where’s the fun in that? Giving me the freedom to fly around breaking blocks in one strike, and never having to think about scarcity, or the choice to flip the switch to the other side is disheartening. There’s no goal. The core of my experience hinges on the thought of usefulness. I build structures in Minecraft as if someday I’ll make the decision to up the difficulty level and dive sword-first into the infested subterranean levels of my world. In other words, I like to know that the choice is there, even though I may never make it.

Survival Mode without the enemies, without the mineral-craving, grants me the ability to do what I want, when I want to. It’s a world that never closes, and always welcomes me inside it. I could build a 16-bit processor, or a replica of the Chichen Itza. I could even build a giant water-slide. I could do any of these things, because nothing is telling me I can’t. I get to make the choice between using Minecraft, or not.

Minecraft is two things: a journey, and a sandbox with the notion of a game. I choose to use Minecraft as a stimulant while I listen to people talk about subjects that I enjoy. Others will use it to appease their inner-architectural minds, taking advantage of the near limitless possibilities in Minecraft’s world, much like in dreams. Everyone else will continue to monotonously force themselves to find the scraps of discovery left, looking in every corner for an ounce more of it, waiting for Notch to add a small morsel more in each update. But, the game they want to play, and think they’re playing, ended a long time ago.