What is Minecraft?
Minecraft is a sandbox video game developed by Mojang. The game was created by Markus "Notch" introduced with java.
In Minecraft, players explore a blocky, 3D world with infinite terrain, and may discover and craft new items and resources. In this game , there are “mobs” which are essentially evil creatures which can kill you or damage the structures you create. However, there is an option to turn off mobs allowing you to focus primarily on creating and building.
Minecraft Is practically a blank canvas for anyone to let themselves create anything they would like, using textured blocks, although Minecraft is made of thousands of blocks, it transforms into a beautiful scenic view, with a magnitude of different colours and contrasts, players always have a large variety of blocks to use when creating the scenic art that they desire. Not to mention, creators and fans releasing new texture packs to make it more realistic. In my opinion, Minecraft is one of the most artistic games out there, as previously mentioned about it being a canvas, many people have created extraordinary art pieces on it, with art tournaments taking place on the virtual game. I vividly remember being a 12 year old, starting up the popular game for the first time, bewildered by how realistic it really can become, it truly astonished me , of course being a 12 year old girl I had no clue on what to do so I spent hours on end just exploring creative, creative is a more relaxed choice in the game where you do not have a health or hunger bar and have all the resources, i.e. building materials, food, weapons at just one click of a button. So, it was easy to get to grips with the controls and how to build. I would let my art side go wild and create massive theme parks in which I would spend days, maybe even weeks on, of course, it does not really teach you any actual skills however, it can better your more mathematical sides in which you must make sure to use the right number of blocks for a wall.
Figure 1, “Ferris wheel” Image taken from: https://www.planetminecraft.com/project/minecraftmini-theme-park/
As said earlier, Minecraft truly is a beautiful game, with vast landscapes stretching as far as you desire and a multitude of blocks to go along with It. It is a game where you can let your wildest dreams and desires loose and come to life. It's where you can let your imagination run free. Building such beautiful landscapes which only take the simplicity of using 64-bit graphics to a new level that thousands of players use to create masterpieces. Minecraft itself is an art form.
Minecraft has changed so much from when it was first released. At first all the game was a 64-bit flat world with trees and grass and has now changed into a massive open world adventure sandbox game where it is possible to play with your friends and make a community, it is turned into a luscious open book that the player can write themselves and shape the world into their own liking. It has developed so much not just as a game itself but as a community. With the game being so open world and vibrant it brings in players of all ages that manage to enjoy this simple yet complex game where they can share ideas and enthusiasm about the artwork they want to build and put into a reality. The game is genuinely an amazing thing that all players have learnt to love. It has brought together so many people of different ethnicities and cultures that come together to create wonderful masterpieces. The game itself has developed immensely from it just being possible to play on your computer to being able to play it anywhere. The game developers have gone to the extent to bring the Minecraft world to real life with the addition of “Minecraft earth” which lets the player create Minecraft structures in real life using their phones. As well as that, they have also introduced VR into Minecraft, to give that player a more realistic play style.
Recently, the creator of Minecraft had an interview and mentioned “I think it is both the freedom the player gets, making it fun to both build and to watch what other people have built, and the random level generator that generates somewhat interesting levels to explore. I frequently get surprised and see something I’d never imagined.” This shows that even the creator made the game for it to be an art piece, to build and watch others. Content creators also massively helped such as “StampyLongNose” a youtuber who helped bring Minecraft to light with his amazing builds and his artistic mindset, in my opinion I think that a community helps bring the art into the game and makes it more and more truly into a canvas and an art gallery where you can show off your builds and designs to other players and even collaborate to make massive structures.
Figure 2, “River bend”. Image taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-gt8SUbd8U
Summary
Overall, in my opinion I think that Minecraft is art as it really does help those who want to express their creativity, on an online, safe and fun game. In my own personal experiences, I have found that it truly is amazing, it gave me that sense of freedom and allowed me to create whatever I wanted, as previously stated, I created real life amusements and castles, it helped me express my artistic side and helped me understand gain a like for art. Without a doubt, the multi award winning game truly is one of the most beautiful pieces of art I have ever come across.
By Charlotte McClay
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