Who thought mining was so much fun?

   I already know what you're thinking. Mining in a video game has to be one of the worst ideas ever right? We all remember what Runescape was like. Sitting there for ages doing nothing but clicking a rock could possibly be a better alternative than listening to a Glee album on repeat. However, I not only found a game that gets mining right, but also uses it to make one of the best video games I have ever played. That game is Minecraft

   I'm pretty sure many of you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. It's understandable, I would have never found out for the game if one of the people I subscribe to on YouTube didn't do a video series about it(The one and only SeaNanners). I immediately assumed it would be a somewhat shallow game being that it's not only independently produced, but also had terrible graphics. However, when I tried the game for the first time, I was hooked.

   After all this introduction, you probably want to know what the game is about right? Well, I wish I could answer that question myself. The free version just places you on a massive island and allows you to place blocks of all sorts of different materials to build things. You have everything from stone to sand, and also some multicolored blocks that are dyed. You can also build things(or destroy things) with other people as well! The free version was entertaining, but I became kind of shallow due to the lack of possibilties. That's when I found out there was a premium version.

   The premium version of the game is what really got me hooked. When you put down the 10 euros ($14 USD, the guy operates in Sweden), you get a WHOLE lot more to do. Also, the premise of the game is completely changed. The game basically assumes a story that you're supposed to be a castaway on an island. You can dig into different materials to create things such as axes, boxes, and all sorts of things. These all become crucial to your one major goal: Survive.

   The island is incredibly peaceful when the sun is up, but when the sun goes down...well, I just hope you're not afraid of things that go bump in the night. All these crazy monsters come out of nowhere looking to make your life a living hell. If you build yourself a shelter, you will be completely safe from these zombies. As great as this sounds, I found myself running for my dear life from all sorts of creepy-crawlies trying to kill me.

   I think this is where the game really shines. The atmosphere the game creates draws you into the game like a magnet. After creating all your fantastic things, you wouldn't want to lose them due to death after all the hard work you put in. When you're life is almost zero, the lingering threat of death becomes a constant reminder that the last ten minutes you spent building everything will be for nothing. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention something. These monsters can blow your shelter up while making creepy noises.

   I really wish there was just some way I could show you all the experiences I've had with this game. There's been many times while trying to fix my house at night, an exploding monster snuck up behind me, moaned, and then BOOM! My house was in shambles. How could I forget the addictive nature of combining random things in hopes of making something to survive and actually come up with something completely different? With all the fantastic experiences and addictive design of this game, I can highly recommend it to anyone bored for 14 dollars. However, I feel as if though I should warn you all before hand about the one bad side-effect of this game: you may have a fear of exploding things should you go outside at night.

(For those of you interested, here's the website to help get your addiction started: http://www.minecraft.net/ )