Minecraft

If you're reading this blog, chances are you've spent countless hours perfecting your castle complete with a lava moat and a mine-cart system throughout your Minecraft world just as I have. This game has captured the imagination of millions of gamers of all ages, and has been the tool of creation for some very impressive things. It also took the crown at this year at the 13th annual Independent Game Festival. Not only that, it is also wildly successful and has quickly become a cult legend. At the time of this writing 6319969 people have registered and 1830202 people bought the game.

The only problem is, after I finished burrowing out an entire mountain, building a fortress, a mine-cart system, a monster farm and a waterfall from the sky, I still felt a little empty inside. I could never build enough to feel that I was done with my creation, and I did not even know why it mattered. The game lacks any sort of direction and produced very little meaningful play. Priced at $20, plus an international trade fee, I think I deserve at least a side of plot to my entrée of exploration.

Still technically in its beta phase, this game still has the potential to earn my respect. According to this article written in October of 2010, the creator says he has a plan to create a narrative to the game to drive the player forward. I'll give this game another chance when that day truly comes, but for now, my competitive nature probably would have cast it's igf vote to Messhof's Nidhogg. If only I could afford to travel to one of their competitions.