I speak, of course, of Minecraft. If you've never heard of it, hop on the inter-tubes and head to www.Minecraft.net. Wait, I guess you're already on the inter-tubes, so just click that link. There, you can find a free, java-based version of the game that you can play right in your browser. You can buy the full game for about $13, (which is completely worth it, by the way), but all of the essential features exist in the free version.
But what IS Minecraft? I'll counter this question with one of my own: Do you enjoy playing with Legos? I'm going to assume you said "yes" (If you didn't say yes, I kind of want to punch you in the face, but I suppose it's a punch to the face that you're entitled to). Minecraft is, for lack of a better explanation, a gigantic, immersive lego set. This is the world of Minecraft:
It's composed entirely of differently-skinned, pixelated cubes, and is randomly generated every time you start a new game (complete with trees, water sources, mountains and caves). At its heart, the game is essentially a collosal construction tool. In the free version of the game (which is available in single and multi-player), the world is freely morphic. left-clicking deletes the block which you are looking at, while right-clicking places a block of variable appearance. You can build just about anything that you can imagine, be it a house, a copy of a real-life building, or a piece of abstract art. On the flip side, you can tunnel hundreds of feet into the ground and discover massive subterranean caverns. Also, lava.
When we first discovered this, me and several of my dormmates logged onto a server and promptly wasted a couple hours just building stuff. Someone built a beach-side house. I made a hot tub, and then began on a wizard tower. Others busied themselves with constructing a massive "skybridge" that spanned the entire world. It was decided unanimously that the house needed a structure to mark its location, and so began the construction of a giant golden penis reaching into space (it more resembled a yellowish staircase, but it's the thought that counts). A couple of random people joined, contributed their own creations, and, for a time, things were good.
But then, disaster struck. A denizen of the internet, calling himself "Tempodrop," logged on to the server. A few moments later, he made his way to the top floor of my tower (Which I was just finishing up). I fancied that he was admiring the building. He looked around for a bit, and turned to a wall. A block disapeared. And another. And another. I typed at him furiously, but to no avail. he scampered about my tower, destroying the structure I had put so much time into. Soon, all that was left was a haphazard collection of blocks floating in mid-air, barely recognizable as some sort of tower. I fell to my knees, raised my arms to the heavens, and muttered "fuck."
After that, we set up our own server-- lovingly named "Punchdome") --so that we could kick and ban any ruffians that attempted similar antics. It's a wondrous place, full of man-made volcanoes, a deathstar, an underwater tree house, and a remade wizard tower (complete with a basement, which was accidentally flooded and is now full of water, sadness, and broken dreams). One user made a ridiculously extensive system of tunnels that led to all the different structures, and repeatedly creeped people out by popping up right next to them and then vanishing.
Minecraft is a refreshingly unique game. Were many games focus on intense competition as a selling point, Minecraft is peaceful, even soothing in its gameplay. And as far as a conduit for creativity goes, you can't get much better than this. Give it a try- make an account, join a server and build something. Hell, join the Punchdome (if it's up, which isn't often), and see some of the things we've made. Just don't break our stuff.
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