I’ve spent the last 6 years digging deep into the world of Minecraft on my PS4. It is by far the game I have played the most on the console. I also own the game on my Android phone, tablet, PS4, PS3, Wii U and PC (Windows 10 and Java versions). Needless to say I love this game. I have poured countless hours into each version. I even have the single player campaign known as Story Mode.
It didn’t take long for me to discover what I love so much about the game. In creative mode I treat is like a game of Sim City where I get to make my own rules. I also do “God mode” where I start with a completely flat world of just bedrock and build my own solar system with constellations, planets and the like. I have also been known to make a flat world that I create my own biomes, some based on real places others fantasy versions.
There is more to the game than creative. I also play the game as an RPG in survival mode. In this style of game play I seek level up my character, fight monsters and build a dungeon/castle to store my treasures.
But the limitless possibilities of the game also afford me another game play mode. I sometimes set up a map in Survival Mode that I play my own little version of Harvest Moon. I tend to clear a space to build a tiny little farm and then I proceed to live a virtual life in game.
In the six years I have also discovered another form of game play, also in survival mode. I call this my own version of The Sims. In this style of play I will create a small suburb complete with streets, businesses, taverns and the like and populate it with Villagers. Then proceed to simulate my own virtual sim world where I go to the store, swim in the pool and take road trips.
The game might be designed to be a light version of “My First RPG” or it could be seen as a comprehensive substitute to “LEGO” building, but if you use a little imagination and apply yourself, while also forgoing a social life, you can transform the game into so much more.
For me, it’s become my whole virtual world. Oh sure I still play the real Sims 3, paid all that money for the game and expansion packs ya know. I also enjoy a fully fleshed out hard core RPG like Diablo 3, Final Fantasy 15 or even Dragon Age. And I do in fact own at least one version of Harvest Moon and more than one LEGO game. Yet, I continue to return to Minecraft day in and day out.
After spending time watching the PS5 reveal recently I think I might take a break from Minecraft and allow myself the opportunity to enjoy some of the other games I have in my actually vast video game library that includes nearly 1000 games.
Stephanie Bri 