Minecraft

In most MMO games (massively multiplayer online), you can be a powerful warrior, wizard or a modern, full spectrum soldier and you can do battle with countless foes, in a virtual world, with or against other players from around the world. Originally created by Markus "Notch" Persson as an indie game and later developed and published by Mojang, Minecraft quickly became a hit, since its early Alpha stage. Instead of focusing on shiny graphics and epic battles, the game focuses on creativity and exploration. You can get lost in a huge world, with other real people, where you have to gather resources, craft items, build structures and survive. The blocky graphics and low-res textures make this game playable even with low-end hardware, so anyone can enjoy it.

You don't have to go through a lengthy installation process to play Minecraft. After creating an online account and paying a subscription, you just need to download a 257 KB executable and run it. You can use your credentials to log in and play online or you can play offline or on a local network.

The entire world is composed of 3D blocks, which can be harvested for resources. Playing from a first person perspective, you have to left click in order to hit a block, with your hand or with an equipped tool or weapon. You will gather different resources, depending on what kind of blocks you hit. For example, you can acquire wood if you destroy a tree's blocks. Certain materials are easier or harder to harvest. It takes only a few hits to harvest a dirt or sand block, but it will take more hits to harvest wood or stone. You can also use different tools, made of wood, stone, iron and so on, which help you harvest faster. You can build anything you want with processed materials, by placing them on the ground or on top of each other. All you have to do is equip the materials and right click.

Gathered resources can be crafted into building materials or tools, in the player's inventory or on a workbench. Harvested or collected items are displayed in separate slots. Dragging certain items to one of four crafting slots will generate a new item in a different slot. For example, you can drag a piece of wood in order to create planks. You can also combine multiple items to create better and more useful items. You can also create crafting tables, furnaces and other equipment, to process different types of materials.

The virtual world is huge and you can venture anywhere you want, from the highest mountain to the deepest cave. Speaking of caves, building or digging a shelter should be your first priority when you start a fresh game. Dangerous creatures will roam the land during the night and you can't fight them with basic tools. While waiting in your shelter, you can mine deeper and find ores and other important resources. You can smelt the ores to create solid metals, which in turn can be used to create weapons, armor and other items.