The Allure

      What is the allure of this game? It is a question I have to ask myself every time I explain this game to my friends or parents. Why do I like a game with minimalistic graphics who has no story, no goal? What is the drive to keep moving forward? It is something that at first glance is hard to answer. I didn't have an immediate answer, nothing just popped into my head. With other games it is simple, such as Call of Duty. In it your main drive is to “kill” people for enjoyment. For a lot of games there is that simplistic motivation you can give. Now that isn't the only motivation and I know that, but you still have a quick answer. Minecraft isn't like that; it is a game that takes awhile to explain.

      Minecraft has no real storyline, yet people play it for hours. I have played it personally more than any other game. Minecraft doesn't need this storyline, it lets players make up their own challenges. They might see a large mountain off in the distance and be like I want to conquer that and build a house up there. So they build up for several days and strive through several set backs cough creeper cough. But finally they reach the summit and start building their house only to realize they need more stone. This sets them on another goal, and this just leads to chain-reaction each goal requiring you to set another goal to achieve. This is epitomized in mod packs such as Tekkit where each step requires tons of pieces to complete. However not all goals are self-created.

      The community pushes the game even further forward. When people run out of self-motivated goals to achieve they look to others. They see someone's plan for an automated farm and think of how awesome that would be. Or they find challenges they can complete, much like Pokemon's Nuzlocke Challenge. They use the community as a springboard to propel their game experience even further. This doesn't just include imitation, but people actually use others' projects to have fun. What I mean by this is adventure maps and maps such as The Survival Games. And that doesn't even include the fun of servers which introduce a player vs. player experience. The community provides extra additional content (free of cost for once) to add to the experience. However all this wouldn't be possible without Minecraft's biggest allure.
Creativity, that would be the thing I would answer. With some though I would eventually say that simple phrase. Minecraft limits itself in graphics and storyline to promote creativity. I have been amazed at how much this game has pushed me to be creative. I have built things I didn't think I was capable of. It has made me embrace my creative side, something I didn't know existed. This is not just the case for me. The whole website this is posted on is a testament to the creativity it promotes. Every minute someone posts their Minecraft inspired piece of artwork here. It is amazing the community and fun that Minecraft has provided all through the filter of creativity.

          So all in all Minecraft is an amazing game that provides many different motivations for playing. There are several that I haven't even mentioned, and that just goes to show how much influence, how much “allure” this game has. So now if you get nothing else from this article you can at least show your parents this article when they ultimately ask “Why are you playing that game? Mario had better graphics then that.” So thank you all for reading.