15 years of Minecraft: Celebrating the game that ignited the imagination across generations

Of all the many games loved and hated, have there ever been any like Minecraft? Mojang’s blocky little game might not seem like much, but it’s one of the few games out there that unite people across generations and backgrounds in their love for it.

15 Years of Minecraft Magic

The first time you venture into the uniquely personal “world” that Minecraft creates for you, you’re not sure what to think. There are trees around, a grassland, maybe even a mountain and a river. But the graphics are… well, less than impressive. Everything is blocky, like a 90s console game running on 8-bit resolution. What’s everyone so hopped up about?

You plough on, giving the game a chance to prove it’s worth the hype. You walk to the nearest tree and discover you can cut it down for its wood – the first resource that ever shows up in your inventory. It’s nothing special, and you start to get bored. But then the little square sun sets in the sky as a little square moon appears on the other side, and things start to get interesting. For most, there’s a good chance you won’t survive your first in-game night, which is only 12 minutes long in real-time.

How did this happen? How did this peaceful setting suddenly become a den of giant spiders, skeletons, zombies, and unnamed creatures in the shadows? You go online, watch a few tutorials, and now you’re hooked. It turns out that Minecraft is an Eden of potential, and the resources at hand can be used to make anything the mind’s eye can conjure.

Castles that reach the clouds? Viaducts criss-crossing mountain ranges? Cathedrals that will put their Roman counterparts to shame? It’s all possible, if not easy. “Builds” as they’re called in Minecraft take time and effort, and will quickly make you realise how limited your imagination can be if you’ve gone years without exercising it.

But that’s the beauty of it. Unlike first-person shooters, racing games or even quest-based adventures, Minecraft is the sort of game that is entirely what you make of it. Children love it because it’s a sandlot where anything is possible. Adults adore it because it’s an excellent way to unwind. Even if you’re just dabbling, Minecraft allows you to choose your style. Its ‘Survival Mode’ allows you to progress through the levels of being a wood-based explorer, to a stone-age farmer, to a diamond-and-gold bartering conqueror, all while fending off the dark creatures of the night.

If something more idyllic is what you’re looking for, then the game’s ‘Creative Mode’ transports you to a paradise of creative possibility, where the only limit is your imagination. It doesn’t matter whether you want to make a pen for your pigs or a fortress for an abode – there’s a sense of satisfaction, an unmatched feeling of commitment that comes with watching the sun set on a build you took many in-world (and possibly real) days to complete.

For 15 years since Minecraft was first launched in May 2009, the game has been bringing people together in their love for the beauty of its worlds. You can stroll through a forest of cherry blossom trees or explore an abandoned mine with the hope of uncovering long-lost treasures. And through it all, the beautiful, melancholy, now iconic music of the game keeps you company.

It’s not all peace and serenity of course. Maybe because of its beautifully panoramic backdrops, the appearance of hostile “mobs” (read: monsters) in the game is enough to give you the fright of your life. Experts of suspense and horror have tried and failed to recreate the sheer dread of turning around to watch a green Creeper about to explode next to you. But that’s just a part of the game.

Some people have used Minecraft for greater purposes than its creators could have dreamed. Online servers created for multiplayer gameplay have blown open the bounds of possibility. Teachers have used it to explain concepts to students. Conservationists have used it to raise environmental awareness. Parents of differently abled children have found success in using it to help their children overcome the challenges of autism. What is perhaps the most impressive achievement has been the creation of a magnificent open-for-all digital Uncensored Library, commissioned by Reporters Without Borders, where more than 300 banned books from around the world find a safe haven for people who want to access them but can’t in their own countries.

Be it ambitions large or small, everyone walks out of Minecraft with more than they ever expected to get from the unassuming game. Veteran Minecraft players will tell you there’s more than one important lesson to be learnt through the many inevitable failures you’ll encounter in it.

Always pack only as much as you need – never more, lest you find something valuable on your journey and need to bring it home, and never less, lest you be found wanting valuable resources to pull yourself out of a literal hole. Don’t underestimate the value of a bucket of water.

Don’t be stingy with the kind of weapons you carry. And never stay out unarmed after dark.

But that’s the beauty of a game. If you die, you respawn – having lost everything you had on you, that is. For beginners and purists who don’t resort to the in-game cheats, it’s a frustrating process of taking two steps forward and one step back, but it’s here that Minecraft teaches you one of the most valuable lessons of all – adversity gives all endeavour meaning. Without the risk of death, the possibility that you’ll lose everything, the achievements, triumphs and the game itself cease to have meaning. Use cheats to regain lost possessions too often, and you’ll soon lose interest in playing the game altogether.

Like most games, Minecraft too has an End. But reaching that point doesn’t mean the game is over. Defeating the Ender Dragon and ‘winning’ the game is just another achievement because life in the game still goes on. The cows and sheep still graze in the pastures, the dog you tamed sits patiently at home, and the sun still rises, waiting for you to set off on your next adventure or create your next build.

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15 years of Minecraft: Celebrating the game that ignited the imagination across generations