Room: MINECRAFT PACKS ANDREAT.

The Minecraft Story Mode Complete Adventure Includes:

• All five episodes of Season One
• All three episodes of the Adventure Pass

Be the Hero of a Grand Adventure in the Minecraft Universe!

Embark on a perilous quest across the Overworld, to the End, and beyond. While at EnderCon in hopes of meeting Gabriel the Warrior, you and your friends discover that something is wrong… something dreadful. Terror is unleashed, and you must set out on a quest to find The Order of the Stone if you are to save your world from oblivion. With a team of friends at your side, and a troubled land in need of heroes, your decisions – what you say and do – drive the story around you, so choose wisely!

All eight episodes in the series on one disc for the first time, all five episodes of Season One and all three episodes of the Adventure Pass.

Features:

• Created by award-winning adventure game powerhouse Telltale Games, in partnership with Minecraft creators, Mojang
• Featuring the voices of Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D), Brian Posehn (The Sarah Silverman Program, Mission Hill), Ashley Johnson (The Last of Us, Tales from the Borderlands), Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights, X-Men), Martha Plimpton (The Goonies, Raising Hope), Dave Fennoy (The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series, Batman: Arkham Knight), Corey Feldman (The Goonies, Stand by Me), Billy West (Futurama, Adventure Time), and Paul Reubens (Tron: Uprising, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse)
• You will drive the story through the decisions you make: what you say to people (and how you say it), and what you choose to do in moments of thrilling action will make this YOUR story.

Additional Episode Features (Episodes 6-8):

• Episode 6 features YouTube Minecraft legends Captain Sparklez, Stampy Cat,LDShadowLady, StacyPlays, and DanTDM
• The all-star cast also gets another new addition in Episode 7, with Yvette Nicole Brown (Community) as Harper, PAMA’s creator in hiding
• The all-star cast gets two more new additions for Episode 8: ‘A Journey’s End?’, with Jim Cummings (Winnie the Pooh, Darkwing Duck) as Hadrian, the leader of the Old Builders; and Kari Wahlgren (Rick and Morty, The Fairly OddParents) as Mevia, the Enforcer.

I’ve spent countless hours chipping away at blocks, gathering the necessary materials to complete the next masterpiece that would otherwise only occupy my mind’s eye. I’ve also spent just as many hours exploring, spelunking and slashing my way through monsters with bravado. My character – my entire Minecraft world – constantly evolves into whatever I want it to be. I tell my own stories, I write my own destiny and I bring my fantasies to life one brick at a time.

Minecraft stands out not only for the way it inspires me creatively, but also because of its unique aesthetic. Look, I know the visuals look dated and a bit silly, but few games have visuals so endearing and charming. I know I’m not the only one who feels that way either, or else Minecraft’s graphics wouldn’t be so iconic. Could you take a texture from Gears of War, Halo or Uncharted, put it on a shirt and have players identify it? I doubt it. The looks just work, giving the game a super unique appearance that’s memorable, and brings up a bit of nostalgia in me for 8-bit era games.

I love creating in Minecraft, but my gratification is due, at least partially, to the fact that I have to earn everything. Survival Mode generates a random world with nothing to your name, forced to gather resources in order to construct food, shelter and tools. By the time I crafted and installed a wooden door in my first mud hut I felt a sense of ownership . Other games let you buy a home with the money you earn, but none of them really challenge you to forage for the materials and build it yourself. When I look at my home and see every piece of furniture and wall is exactly where I wanted it, I love it all the more or change it at my whim. From the moment my home was built, my mission was clear: tunnel into the earth in order to get whatever I needed to carve out a fortress in my little part of the world.

Creating items in Minecraft is one of the most important actions you do. The problem, though, is the necessary information isn’t found in Minecraft. The first time I beat my way through some trees and gathered wood, I had no clue what to do with it. Thankfully, like many Minecraft players, I had a mentor who pointed me to the various online forums, communities and wikis. I have pages that I return to all the time, often tabbing out of the game itself when I can’t remember exactly how to craft an item. For many this is just a rite of passage, but mostly it’s an obtuse way to handle crafting. I’d love for the recipes to be integrated into the game somehow, even if I had to find them throughout the world. There’s not much of a sense of accomplishment in reading a wiki and just following instructions verbatim.

Even after you find a good resource, it still takes a lot of effort to learn everything. The sheer amount of recipes and items you work with in the game is intimidating and time consuming to learn. Many games have poor documentation, but Minecraft has none at all, and what’s available isn’t easily digestible.

But Minecraft is still more than fun enough to warrant the learning curve. The addiction, though, really begins as you craft items and gain mastery over your surroundings. Suddenly night time, when monsters spawn and take over the unlit portions of the world, isn’t as scary. I mean, it’s always a bit scary, but having a sword in hand – even a simple, wood one – instills a sense of power. Like a caveman whittling their first spear or stoking their first fire, building simple tools and torches in Minecraft makes me feel safer, like I am the master of my fate because I have the power to create the items that can save me.

Beyond safety, crafting creates a whole new set of goals in Minecraft. I crafted items as needed (tools and torches), but eventually I expanded my repertoire to include superfluous pieces. To finish my first stone keep I had to craft stairs and ladders; simply jumping up a simple series of platforms was unbecoming of the king of the land, after all. Crafting slowly became something I did less to survive, and more to complete the next big project I set out for myself. Creating panes of glass didn’t really give me an edge in my world, for instance, but it did make the viewport of my scale Star Wars AT-AT look a lot more badass. Crafting even gets more complex if you want it to. You can create tools and buildings or elaborate self-powered rail systems, taking you from the stone age to the 20th century,, and making you feel like the fate of my world lies squarely in my hands. It’s exhilarating, and instills a sense of power that I rarely feel in games.

After I secured a plot of land in my world, my intentions during a session with Minecraft changed. Each session became an adventure, wherein I challenged myself to go exploring for the next crucial component parts needed for the next recipe. These self-imposed quests are why I sometimes venture into the Nether, a hellish other world where monsters – who just so happen to drop precious materials – live. Other times I venture into dark caves, donning crafted armor and enchanted weapons so that I can tackle whatever enemies I come across. I don’t know what exactly I’ll find, or what terrors I’ll face, but I do it all in the name of finding precious blocks – and the thrill of the experiencing the unknown.

That thrill, that experience of unplanned and unpredictable adventure, makes every session with Minecraft exhilarating. Sometimes I might end up spending the evening doing mundane activities like farming or hunting for food, but other nights I might end up stumbling upon a gigantic, randomly generated mine that’s full of monsters and treasure. Because each world is procedurally created, I never know just what I’ll stumble upon next. One day my character may be a simple builder, the next he’s a dungeon conquering hero who slays horrors in the dark.

Of course, adventuring is always better with friends, and Minecraft’s multiplayer is great fun if you can get it working. It isn’t broken or a completely buggy mess, but requires a lot steps to get started compared to most games. If you want to start a game you’ll need to download additional software, and go through all kinds of online tutorials to get it working. Players who just want to join a game have to know the server’s I.P. address, since there is no server browser built into the game. Still, annoyances and tedium aside, if you have the option to play with others you definitely should; exploring, adventuring and building up epic structures is a lot more fun with friends. Besides, if you’re going to spend hours of your life building gigantic monuments, you might as well have someone else to show them to. You can post them in online videos, but it just isn’t the same as having your friend right next to you sharing in your accomplishment. Or, even better, having them log on after a period of inactivity to be stunned at the marvels you’ve built in their absence.

If you’re not the type to play with others, and you don’t want to earn all your materials, you can always jump into Creative Mode. In this world you’re invincible, and have access to every item in the game. It’s great if you want to, say, create a gigantic Wampa from Star Wars, but it doesn’t give me the same sense of reward or accomplishment I get when playing Survival since I don’t have to earn the blocks or fend for my life while doing so. Many blocks take considerable effort to acquire (some even make you journey into monster filled labyrinths), so when I build them in my Survival Mode it’s a lot more impressive. Still, it’s a fun distraction.

Minecraft Explorer Pack Includes:

• Base Game
  
• Explorer Pack DLC
  

Explorers Pack DLC Includes:

• Chinese Mythology Mashup
• Natural Texture Pack
• Biome Settlers Skin Pack
• Battle and Beasts Skin Pack
• Campfire Tales Skin Pack

About the Game

Build with your imagination! Minecraft, the best-selling game on Xbox 360, is now available on Xbox One. Create and explore your very own world where the only limit is what you can imagine – just be sure to build a shelter before night comes to keep yourself safe from monsters.

With the widest range of downloadable content on console, players will never run out of new worlds to explore with four player split-screen on one console or up to eight players over Xbox Live.

All the same amazing features as Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition, along with new features including:

• Share the experience with 4 players split-screen on one console or up to 8 players over Xbox Live.
• Bigger worlds, faster draw time, and greater draw distance
• Native 1080p at 60 FPS
• The widest range of downloadable content on a console

I’ve spent countless hours chipping away at blocks, gathering the necessary materials to complete the next masterpiece that would otherwise only occupy my mind’s eye. I’ve also spent just as many hours exploring, spelunking and slashing my way through monsters with bravado. My character – my entire Minecraft world – constantly evolves into whatever I want it to be. I tell my own stories, I write my own destiny and I bring my fantasies to life one brick at a time.

Minecraft stands out not only for the way it inspires me creatively, but also because of its unique aesthetic. Look, I know the visuals look dated and a bit silly, but few games have visuals so endearing and charming. I know I’m not the only one who feels that way either, or else Minecraft’s graphics wouldn’t be so iconic. Could you take a texture from Gears of War, Halo or Uncharted, put it on a shirt and have players identify it? I doubt it. The looks just work, giving the game a super unique appearance that’s memorable, and brings up a bit of nostalgia in me for 8-bit era games.

I love creating in Minecraft, but my gratification is due, at least partially, to the fact that I have to earn everything. Survival Mode generates a random world with nothing to your name, forced to gather resources in order to construct food, shelter and tools. By the time I crafted and installed a wooden door in my first mud hut I felt a sense of ownership . Other games let you buy a home with the money you earn, but none of them really challenge you to forage for the materials and build it yourself. When I look at my home and see every piece of furniture and wall is exactly where I wanted it, I love it all the more or change it at my whim. From the moment my home was built, my mission was clear: tunnel into the earth in order to get whatever I needed to carve out a fortress in my little part of the world.

Creating items in Minecraft is one of the most important actions you do. The problem, though, is the necessary information isn’t found in Minecraft. The first time I beat my way through some trees and gathered wood, I had no clue what to do with it. Thankfully, like many Minecraft players, I had a mentor who pointed me to the various online forums, communities and wikis. I have pages that I return to all the time, often tabbing out of the game itself when I can’t remember exactly how to craft an item. For many this is just a rite of passage, but mostly it’s an obtuse way to handle crafting. I’d love for the recipes to be integrated into the game somehow, even if I had to find them throughout the world. There’s not much of a sense of accomplishment in reading a wiki and just following instructions verbatim.

Even after you find a good resource, it still takes a lot of effort to learn everything. The sheer amount of recipes and items you work with in the game is intimidating and time consuming to learn. Many games have poor documentation, but Minecraft has none at all, and what’s available isn’t easily digestible.

But Minecraft is still more than fun enough to warrant the learning curve. The addiction, though, really begins as you craft items and gain mastery over your surroundings. Suddenly night time, when monsters spawn and take over the unlit portions of the world, isn’t as scary. I mean, it’s always a bit scary, but having a sword in hand – even a simple, wood one – instills a sense of power. Like a caveman whittling their first spear or stoking their first fire, building simple tools and torches in Minecraft makes me feel safer, like I am the master of my fate because I have the power to create the items that can save me.

Beyond safety, crafting creates a whole new set of goals in Minecraft. I crafted items as needed (tools and torches), but eventually I expanded my repertoire to include superfluous pieces. To finish my first stone keep I had to craft stairs and ladders; simply jumping up a simple series of platforms was unbecoming of the king of the land, after all. Crafting slowly became something I did less to survive, and more to complete the next big project I set out for myself. Creating panes of glass didn’t really give me an edge in my world, for instance, but it did make the viewport of my scale Star Wars AT-AT look a lot more badass. Crafting even gets more complex if you want it to. You can create tools and buildings or elaborate self-powered rail systems, taking you from the stone age to the 20th century,, and making you feel like the fate of my world lies squarely in my hands. It’s exhilarating, and instills a sense of power that I rarely feel in games.

After I secured a plot of land in my world, my intentions during a session with Minecraft changed. Each session became an adventure, wherein I challenged myself to go exploring for the next crucial component parts needed for the next recipe. These self-imposed quests are why I sometimes venture into the Nether, a hellish other world where monsters – who just so happen to drop precious materials – live. Other times I venture into dark caves, donning crafted armor and enchanted weapons so that I can tackle whatever enemies I come across. I don’t know what exactly I’ll find, or what terrors I’ll face, but I do it all in the name of finding precious blocks – and the thrill of the experiencing the unknown.

That thrill, that experience of unplanned and unpredictable adventure, makes every session with Minecraft exhilarating. Sometimes I might end up spending the evening doing mundane activities like farming or hunting for food, but other nights I might end up stumbling upon a gigantic, randomly generated mine that’s full of monsters and treasure. Because each world is procedurally created, I never know just what I’ll stumble upon next. One day my character may be a simple builder, the next he’s a dungeon conquering hero who slays horrors in the dark.

Of course, adventuring is always better with friends, and Minecraft’s multiplayer is great fun if you can get it working. It isn’t broken or a completely buggy mess, but requires a lot steps to get started compared to most games. If you want to start a game you’ll need to download additional software, and go through all kinds of online tutorials to get it working. Players who just want to join a game have to know the server’s I.P. address, since there is no server browser built into the game. Still, annoyances and tedium aside, if you have the option to play with others you definitely should; exploring, adventuring and building up epic structures is a lot more fun with friends. Besides, if you’re going to spend hours of your life building gigantic monuments, you might as well have someone else to show them to. You can post them in online videos, but it just isn’t the same as having your friend right next to you sharing in your accomplishment. Or, even better, having them log on after a period of inactivity to be stunned at the marvels you’ve built in their absence.

If you’re not the type to play with others, and you don’t want to earn all your materials, you can always jump into Creative Mode. In this world you’re invincible, and have access to every item in the game. It’s great if you want to, say, create a gigantic Wampa from Star Wars, but it doesn’t give me the same sense of reward or accomplishment I get when playing Survival since I don’t have to earn the blocks or fend for my life while doing so. Many blocks take considerable effort to acquire (some even make you journey into monster filled labyrinths), so when I build them in my Survival Mode it’s a lot more impressive. Still, it’s a fun distraction.

This edition includes:

• Minecraft Base Game
• Battle & Beasts Skin Pack
• Battle & Beasts 2 Skin Pack
• Natural Texture Pack
• City Texture Pack
• Fantasy Texture Pack
• Festive Mash-up
• Halo Mash-up

Minecraft updates
With free regular game updates, creating with Minecraft is always fresh and exciting every time you play. Updates may include new mobs, items, blocks, status effects, and more.

Compete with friends
Mini games are a fun way to challenge your friends in split screen or online. Discover new ways to play Minecraft with the Mini games included in the game updates.

Build with your imagination
Create and explore your very own world where the only limit is what you can imagine—just be sure to build a shelter before night comes to keep yourself safe from monsters.

Build amazing things
Explore randomly generated worlds and construct all sorts of structures—from the simplest homes to palatial castles.

Creative or Survival
Play in Creative Mode with unlimited resources or mine deep into the world in Survival Mode, crafting weapons and armor to fend off the dangerous mobs.

I’ve spent countless hours chipping away at blocks, gathering the necessary materials to complete the next masterpiece that would otherwise only occupy my mind’s eye. I’ve also spent just as many hours exploring, spelunking and slashing my way through monsters with bravado. My character – my entire Minecraft world – constantly evolves into whatever I want it to be. I tell my own stories, I write my own destiny and I bring my fantasies to life one brick at a time.

Minecraft stands out not only for the way it inspires me creatively, but also because of its unique aesthetic. Look, I know the visuals look dated and a bit silly, but few games have visuals so endearing and charming. I know I’m not the only one who feels that way either, or else Minecraft’s graphics wouldn’t be so iconic. Could you take a texture from Gears of War, Halo or Uncharted, put it on a shirt and have players identify it? I doubt it. The looks just work, giving the game a super unique appearance that’s memorable, and brings up a bit of nostalgia in me for 8-bit era games.

I love creating in Minecraft, but my gratification is due, at least partially, to the fact that I have to earn everything. Survival Mode generates a random world with nothing to your name, forced to gather resources in order to construct food, shelter and tools. By the time I crafted and installed a wooden door in my first mud hut I felt a sense of ownership . Other games let you buy a home with the money you earn, but none of them really challenge you to forage for the materials and build it yourself. When I look at my home and see every piece of furniture and wall is exactly where I wanted it, I love it all the more or change it at my whim. From the moment my home was built, my mission was clear: tunnel into the earth in order to get whatever I needed to carve out a fortress in my little part of the world.

Creating items in Minecraft is one of the most important actions you do. The problem, though, is the necessary information isn’t found in Minecraft. The first time I beat my way through some trees and gathered wood, I had no clue what to do with it. Thankfully, like many Minecraft players, I had a mentor who pointed me to the various online forums, communities and wikis. I have pages that I return to all the time, often tabbing out of the game itself when I can’t remember exactly how to craft an item. For many this is just a rite of passage, but mostly it’s an obtuse way to handle crafting. I’d love for the recipes to be integrated into the game somehow, even if I had to find them throughout the world. There’s not much of a sense of accomplishment in reading a wiki and just following instructions verbatim.

Even after you find a good resource, it still takes a lot of effort to learn everything. The sheer amount of recipes and items you work with in the game is intimidating and time consuming to learn. Many games have poor documentation, but Minecraft has none at all, and what’s available isn’t easily digestible.

But Minecraft is still more than fun enough to warrant the learning curve. The addiction, though, really begins as you craft items and gain mastery over your surroundings. Suddenly night time, when monsters spawn and take over the unlit portions of the world, isn’t as scary. I mean, it’s always a bit scary, but having a sword in hand – even a simple, wood one – instills a sense of power. Like a caveman whittling their first spear or stoking their first fire, building simple tools and torches in Minecraft makes me feel safer, like I am the master of my fate because I have the power to create the items that can save me.

Beyond safety, crafting creates a whole new set of goals in Minecraft. I crafted items as needed (tools and torches), but eventually I expanded my repertoire to include superfluous pieces. To finish my first stone keep I had to craft stairs and ladders; simply jumping up a simple series of platforms was unbecoming of the king of the land, after all. Crafting slowly became something I did less to survive, and more to complete the next big project I set out for myself. Creating panes of glass didn’t really give me an edge in my world, for instance, but it did make the viewport of my scale Star Wars AT-AT look a lot more badass. Crafting even gets more complex if you want it to. You can create tools and buildings or elaborate self-powered rail systems, taking you from the stone age to the 20th century,, and making you feel like the fate of my world lies squarely in my hands. It’s exhilarating, and instills a sense of power that I rarely feel in games.

After I secured a plot of land in my world, my intentions during a session with Minecraft changed. Each session became an adventure, wherein I challenged myself to go exploring for the next crucial component parts needed for the next recipe. These self-imposed quests are why I sometimes venture into the Nether, a hellish other world where monsters – who just so happen to drop precious materials – live. Other times I venture into dark caves, donning crafted armor and enchanted weapons so that I can tackle whatever enemies I come across. I don’t know what exactly I’ll find, or what terrors I’ll face, but I do it all in the name of finding precious blocks – and the thrill of the experiencing the unknown.

That thrill, that experience of unplanned and unpredictable adventure, makes every session with Minecraft exhilarating. Sometimes I might end up spending the evening doing mundane activities like farming or hunting for food, but other nights I might end up stumbling upon a gigantic, randomly generated mine that’s full of monsters and treasure. Because each world is procedurally created, I never know just what I’ll stumble upon next. One day my character may be a simple builder, the next he’s a dungeon conquering hero who slays horrors in the dark.

Of course, adventuring is always better with friends, and Minecraft’s multiplayer is great fun if you can get it working. It isn’t broken or a completely buggy mess, but requires a lot steps to get started compared to most games. If you want to start a game you’ll need to download additional software, and go through all kinds of online tutorials to get it working. Players who just want to join a game have to know the server’s I.P. address, since there is no server browser built into the game. Still, annoyances and tedium aside, if you have the option to play with others you definitely should; exploring, adventuring and building up epic structures is a lot more fun with friends. Besides, if you’re going to spend hours of your life building gigantic monuments, you might as well have someone else to show them to. You can post them in online videos, but it just isn’t the same as having your friend right next to you sharing in your accomplishment. Or, even better, having them log on after a period of inactivity to be stunned at the marvels you’ve built in their absence.

If you’re not the type to play with others, and you don’t want to earn all your materials, you can always jump into Creative Mode. In this world you’re invincible, and have access to every item in the game. It’s great if you want to, say, create a gigantic Wampa from Star Wars, but it doesn’t give me the same sense of reward or accomplishment I get when playing Survival since I don’t have to earn the blocks or fend for my life while doing so. Many blocks take considerable effort to acquire (some even make you journey into monster filled labyrinths), so when I build them in my Survival Mode it’s a lot more impressive. Still, it’s a fun distraction.

Creators Pack includes:

• Adventurer’s Dream Mashup and Winter Mini-Games Festival by Noxcrew
• Relics of the Privateers by Imagiverse
• PureBDcraft Texture Pack by BDcraft
• Pastel Skin Pack by Eneija, and Wildlife: Savanna by PixelHeads

Build with your imagination! Create and explore your very own world where the only limit is what you can imagine – just be sure to build a shelter before night comes to keep yourself safe from monsters. Play on your own, or with up to 4 players split screen, or 8 players online.

Create your very own world and build to the limits of your imagination.
Explore mighty mountains and living oceans of infinite worlds, amazing community-made maps, servers, thrilling minigames and more!
Survive online with friends who are on console, mobile, and Windows 10, or share the adventure at home in split-screen multiplayer.

Release Date: 20th September 2017
Platform: Xbox Live
Region: Worldwide
Language: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish

I’ve spent countless hours chipping away at blocks, gathering the necessary materials to complete the next masterpiece that would otherwise only occupy my mind’s eye. I’ve also spent just as many hours exploring, spelunking and slashing my way through monsters with bravado. My character – my entire Minecraft world – constantly evolves into whatever I want it to be. I tell my own stories, I write my own destiny and I bring my fantasies to life one brick at a time.

Minecraft stands out not only for the way it inspires me creatively, but also because of its unique aesthetic. Look, I know the visuals look dated and a bit silly, but few games have visuals so endearing and charming. I know I’m not the only one who feels that way either, or else Minecraft’s graphics wouldn’t be so iconic. Could you take a texture from Gears of War, Halo or Uncharted, put it on a shirt and have players identify it? I doubt it. The looks just work, giving the game a super unique appearance that’s memorable, and brings up a bit of nostalgia in me for 8-bit era games.

I love creating in Minecraft, but my gratification is due, at least partially, to the fact that I have to earn everything. Survival Mode generates a random world with nothing to your name, forced to gather resources in order to construct food, shelter and tools. By the time I crafted and installed a wooden door in my first mud hut I felt a sense of ownership . Other games let you buy a home with the money you earn, but none of them really challenge you to forage for the materials and build it yourself. When I look at my home and see every piece of furniture and wall is exactly where I wanted it, I love it all the more or change it at my whim. From the moment my home was built, my mission was clear: tunnel into the earth in order to get whatever I needed to carve out a fortress in my little part of the world.

Creating items in Minecraft is one of the most important actions you do. The problem, though, is the necessary information isn’t found in Minecraft. The first time I beat my way through some trees and gathered wood, I had no clue what to do with it. Thankfully, like many Minecraft players, I had a mentor who pointed me to the various online forums, communities and wikis. I have pages that I return to all the time, often tabbing out of the game itself when I can’t remember exactly how to craft an item. For many this is just a rite of passage, but mostly it’s an obtuse way to handle crafting. I’d love for the recipes to be integrated into the game somehow, even if I had to find them throughout the world. There’s not much of a sense of accomplishment in reading a wiki and just following instructions verbatim.

Even after you find a good resource, it still takes a lot of effort to learn everything. The sheer amount of recipes and items you work with in the game is intimidating and time consuming to learn. Many games have poor documentation, but Minecraft has none at all, and what’s available isn’t easily digestible.

But Minecraft is still more than fun enough to warrant the learning curve. The addiction, though, really begins as you craft items and gain mastery over your surroundings. Suddenly night time, when monsters spawn and take over the unlit portions of the world, isn’t as scary. I mean, it’s always a bit scary, but having a sword in hand – even a simple, wood one – instills a sense of power. Like a caveman whittling their first spear or stoking their first fire, building simple tools and torches in Minecraft makes me feel safer, like I am the master of my fate because I have the power to create the items that can save me.

Beyond safety, crafting creates a whole new set of goals in Minecraft. I crafted items as needed (tools and torches), but eventually I expanded my repertoire to include superfluous pieces. To finish my first stone keep I had to craft stairs and ladders; simply jumping up a simple series of platforms was unbecoming of the king of the land, after all. Crafting slowly became something I did less to survive, and more to complete the next big project I set out for myself. Creating panes of glass didn’t really give me an edge in my world, for instance, but it did make the viewport of my scale Star Wars AT-AT look a lot more badass. Crafting even gets more complex if you want it to. You can create tools and buildings or elaborate self-powered rail systems, taking you from the stone age to the 20th century,, and making you feel like the fate of my world lies squarely in my hands. It’s exhilarating, and instills a sense of power that I rarely feel in games.

After I secured a plot of land in my world, my intentions during a session with Minecraft changed. Each session became an adventure, wherein I challenged myself to go exploring for the next crucial component parts needed for the next recipe. These self-imposed quests are why I sometimes venture into the Nether, a hellish other world where monsters – who just so happen to drop precious materials – live. Other times I venture into dark caves, donning crafted armor and enchanted weapons so that I can tackle whatever enemies I come across. I don’t know what exactly I’ll find, or what terrors I’ll face, but I do it all in the name of finding precious blocks – and the thrill of the experiencing the unknown.

That thrill, that experience of unplanned and unpredictable adventure, makes every session with Minecraft exhilarating. Sometimes I might end up spending the evening doing mundane activities like farming or hunting for food, but other nights I might end up stumbling upon a gigantic, randomly generated mine that’s full of monsters and treasure. Because each world is procedurally created, I never know just what I’ll stumble upon next. One day my character may be a simple builder, the next he’s a dungeon conquering hero who slays horrors in the dark.

Of course, adventuring is always better with friends, and Minecraft’s multiplayer is great fun if you can get it working. It isn’t broken or a completely buggy mess, but requires a lot steps to get started compared to most games. If you want to start a game you’ll need to download additional software, and go through all kinds of online tutorials to get it working. Players who just want to join a game have to know the server’s I.P. address, since there is no server browser built into the game. Still, annoyances and tedium aside, if you have the option to play with others you definitely should; exploring, adventuring and building up epic structures is a lot more fun with friends. Besides, if you’re going to spend hours of your life building gigantic monuments, you might as well have someone else to show them to. You can post them in online videos, but it just isn’t the same as having your friend right next to you sharing in your accomplishment. Or, even better, having them log on after a period of inactivity to be stunned at the marvels you’ve built in their absence.

If you’re not the type to play with others, and you don’t want to earn all your materials, you can always jump into Creative Mode. In this world you’re invincible, and have access to every item in the game. It’s great if you want to, say, create a gigantic Wampa from Star Wars, but it doesn’t give me the same sense of reward or accomplishment I get when playing Survival since I don’t have to earn the blocks or fend for my life while doing so. Many blocks take considerable effort to acquire (some even make you journey into monster filled labyrinths), so when I build them in my Survival Mode it’s a lot more impressive. Still, it’s a fun distraction.

Starter pack includes:

• Greek Mythology Mash-up
• Plastic Texture Pack
• Skin Pack 1, and Villains Skin Pack

Create your very own world and build to the limits of your imagination.
Explore mighty mountains and living oceans of infinite worlds, amazing community-made maps, servers, thrilling minigames and more!
Survive online with friends who are on console, mobile, and Windows 10, or share the adventure at home in split-screen multiplayer.

Release Date: 20th September 2017
Platform: Xbox Live
Region: Worldwide
Language: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish

I’ve spent countless hours chipping away at blocks, gathering the necessary materials to complete the next masterpiece that would otherwise only occupy my mind’s eye. I’ve also spent just as many hours exploring, spelunking and slashing my way through monsters with bravado. My character – my entire Minecraft world – constantly evolves into whatever I want it to be. I tell my own stories, I write my own destiny and I bring my fantasies to life one brick at a time.

Minecraft stands out not only for the way it inspires me creatively, but also because of its unique aesthetic. Look, I know the visuals look dated and a bit silly, but few games have visuals so endearing and charming. I know I’m not the only one who feels that way either, or else Minecraft’s graphics wouldn’t be so iconic. Could you take a texture from Gears of War, Halo or Uncharted, put it on a shirt and have players identify it? I doubt it. The looks just work, giving the game a super unique appearance that’s memorable, and brings up a bit of nostalgia in me for 8-bit era games.

I love creating in Minecraft, but my gratification is due, at least partially, to the fact that I have to earn everything. Survival Mode generates a random world with nothing to your name, forced to gather resources in order to construct food, shelter and tools. By the time I crafted and installed a wooden door in my first mud hut I felt a sense of ownership . Other games let you buy a home with the money you earn, but none of them really challenge you to forage for the materials and build it yourself. When I look at my home and see every piece of furniture and wall is exactly where I wanted it, I love it all the more or change it at my whim. From the moment my home was built, my mission was clear: tunnel into the earth in order to get whatever I needed to carve out a fortress in my little part of the world.

Creating items in Minecraft is one of the most important actions you do. The problem, though, is the necessary information isn’t found in Minecraft. The first time I beat my way through some trees and gathered wood, I had no clue what to do with it. Thankfully, like many Minecraft players, I had a mentor who pointed me to the various online forums, communities and wikis. I have pages that I return to all the time, often tabbing out of the game itself when I can’t remember exactly how to craft an item. For many this is just a rite of passage, but mostly it’s an obtuse way to handle crafting. I’d love for the recipes to be integrated into the game somehow, even if I had to find them throughout the world. There’s not much of a sense of accomplishment in reading a wiki and just following instructions verbatim.

Even after you find a good resource, it still takes a lot of effort to learn everything. The sheer amount of recipes and items you work with in the game is intimidating and time consuming to learn. Many games have poor documentation, but Minecraft has none at all, and what’s available isn’t easily digestible.

But Minecraft is still more than fun enough to warrant the learning curve. The addiction, though, really begins as you craft items and gain mastery over your surroundings. Suddenly night time, when monsters spawn and take over the unlit portions of the world, isn’t as scary. I mean, it’s always a bit scary, but having a sword in hand – even a simple, wood one – instills a sense of power. Like a caveman whittling their first spear or stoking their first fire, building simple tools and torches in Minecraft makes me feel safer, like I am the master of my fate because I have the power to create the items that can save me.

Beyond safety, crafting creates a whole new set of goals in Minecraft. I crafted items as needed (tools and torches), but eventually I expanded my repertoire to include superfluous pieces. To finish my first stone keep I had to craft stairs and ladders; simply jumping up a simple series of platforms was unbecoming of the king of the land, after all. Crafting slowly became something I did less to survive, and more to complete the next big project I set out for myself. Creating panes of glass didn’t really give me an edge in my world, for instance, but it did make the viewport of my scale Star Wars AT-AT look a lot more badass. Crafting even gets more complex if you want it to. You can create tools and buildings or elaborate self-powered rail systems, taking you from the stone age to the 20th century,, and making you feel like the fate of my world lies squarely in my hands. It’s exhilarating, and instills a sense of power that I rarely feel in games.

After I secured a plot of land in my world, my intentions during a session with Minecraft changed. Each session became an adventure, wherein I challenged myself to go exploring for the next crucial component parts needed for the next recipe. These self-imposed quests are why I sometimes venture into the Nether, a hellish other world where monsters – who just so happen to drop precious materials – live. Other times I venture into dark caves, donning crafted armor and enchanted weapons so that I can tackle whatever enemies I come across. I don’t know what exactly I’ll find, or what terrors I’ll face, but I do it all in the name of finding precious blocks – and the thrill of the experiencing the unknown.

That thrill, that experience of unplanned and unpredictable adventure, makes every session with Minecraft exhilarating. Sometimes I might end up spending the evening doing mundane activities like farming or hunting for food, but other nights I might end up stumbling upon a gigantic, randomly generated mine that’s full of monsters and treasure. Because each world is procedurally created, I never know just what I’ll stumble upon next. One day my character may be a simple builder, the next he’s a dungeon conquering hero who slays horrors in the dark.

Of course, adventuring is always better with friends, and Minecraft’s multiplayer is great fun if you can get it working. It isn’t broken or a completely buggy mess, but requires a lot steps to get started compared to most games. If you want to start a game you’ll need to download additional software, and go through all kinds of online tutorials to get it working. Players who just want to join a game have to know the server’s I.P. address, since there is no server browser built into the game. Still, annoyances and tedium aside, if you have the option to play with others you definitely should; exploring, adventuring and building up epic structures is a lot more fun with friends. Besides, if you’re going to spend hours of your life building gigantic monuments, you might as well have someone else to show them to. You can post them in online videos, but it just isn’t the same as having your friend right next to you sharing in your accomplishment. Or, even better, having them log on after a period of inactivity to be stunned at the marvels you’ve built in their absence.

If you’re not the type to play with others, and you don’t want to earn all your materials, you can always jump into Creative Mode. In this world you’re invincible, and have access to every item in the game. It’s great if you want to, say, create a gigantic Wampa from Star Wars, but it doesn’t give me the same sense of reward or accomplishment I get when playing Survival since I don’t have to earn the blocks or fend for my life while doing so. Many blocks take considerable effort to acquire (some even make you journey into monster filled labyrinths), so when I build them in my Survival Mode it’s a lot more impressive. Still, it’s a fun distraction.

• 1,000 MINECOINS. Use them to get maps, skins, textures packs and more from the in-game Marketplace!

Create your very own world and build to the limits of your imagination.
Explore mighty mountains and living oceans of infinite worlds, amazing community-made maps, servers, thrilling minigames and more!
Survive online with friends who are on console, mobile, and Windows 10, or share the adventure at home in split-screen multiplayer.

Release Date: 20th September 2017
Platform: Xbox Live
Region: Worldwide
Language: English, English-US, French, German, Italian, Spanish

I’ve spent countless hours chipping away at blocks, gathering the necessary materials to complete the next masterpiece that would otherwise only occupy my mind’s eye. I’ve also spent just as many hours exploring, spelunking and slashing my way through monsters with bravado. My character – my entire Minecraft world – constantly evolves into whatever I want it to be. I tell my own stories, I write my own destiny and I bring my fantasies to life one brick at a time.

Minecraft stands out not only for the way it inspires me creatively, but also because of its unique aesthetic. Look, I know the visuals look dated and a bit silly, but few games have visuals so endearing and charming. I know I’m not the only one who feels that way either, or else Minecraft’s graphics wouldn’t be so iconic. Could you take a texture from Gears of War, Halo or Uncharted, put it on a shirt and have players identify it? I doubt it. The looks just work, giving the game a super unique appearance that’s memorable, and brings up a bit of nostalgia in me for 8-bit era games.

I love creating in Minecraft, but my gratification is due, at least partially, to the fact that I have to earn everything. Survival Mode generates a random world with nothing to your name, forced to gather resources in order to construct food, shelter and tools. By the time I crafted and installed a wooden door in my first mud hut I felt a sense of ownership . Other games let you buy a home with the money you earn, but none of them really challenge you to forage for the materials and build it yourself. When I look at my home and see every piece of furniture and wall is exactly where I wanted it, I love it all the more or change it at my whim. From the moment my home was built, my mission was clear: tunnel into the earth in order to get whatever I needed to carve out a fortress in my little part of the world.

Creating items in Minecraft is one of the most important actions you do. The problem, though, is the necessary information isn’t found in Minecraft. The first time I beat my way through some trees and gathered wood, I had no clue what to do with it. Thankfully, like many Minecraft players, I had a mentor who pointed me to the various online forums, communities and wikis. I have pages that I return to all the time, often tabbing out of the game itself when I can’t remember exactly how to craft an item. For many this is just a rite of passage, but mostly it’s an obtuse way to handle crafting. I’d love for the recipes to be integrated into the game somehow, even if I had to find them throughout the world. There’s not much of a sense of accomplishment in reading a wiki and just following instructions verbatim.

Even after you find a good resource, it still takes a lot of effort to learn everything. The sheer amount of recipes and items you work with in the game is intimidating and time consuming to learn. Many games have poor documentation, but Minecraft has none at all, and what’s available isn’t easily digestible.

But Minecraft is still more than fun enough to warrant the learning curve. The addiction, though, really begins as you craft items and gain mastery over your surroundings. Suddenly night time, when monsters spawn and take over the unlit portions of the world, isn’t as scary. I mean, it’s always a bit scary, but having a sword in hand – even a simple, wood one – instills a sense of power. Like a caveman whittling their first spear or stoking their first fire, building simple tools and torches in Minecraft makes me feel safer, like I am the master of my fate because I have the power to create the items that can save me.

Beyond safety, crafting creates a whole new set of goals in Minecraft. I crafted items as needed (tools and torches), but eventually I expanded my repertoire to include superfluous pieces. To finish my first stone keep I had to craft stairs and ladders; simply jumping up a simple series of platforms was unbecoming of the king of the land, after all. Crafting slowly became something I did less to survive, and more to complete the next big project I set out for myself. Creating panes of glass didn’t really give me an edge in my world, for instance, but it did make the viewport of my scale Star Wars AT-AT look a lot more badass. Crafting even gets more complex if you want it to. You can create tools and buildings or elaborate self-powered rail systems, taking you from the stone age to the 20th century,, and making you feel like the fate of my world lies squarely in my hands. It’s exhilarating, and instills a sense of power that I rarely feel in games.

After I secured a plot of land in my world, my intentions during a session with Minecraft changed. Each session became an adventure, wherein I challenged myself to go exploring for the next crucial component parts needed for the next recipe. These self-imposed quests are why I sometimes venture into the Nether, a hellish other world where monsters – who just so happen to drop precious materials – live. Other times I venture into dark caves, donning crafted armor and enchanted weapons so that I can tackle whatever enemies I come across. I don’t know what exactly I’ll find, or what terrors I’ll face, but I do it all in the name of finding precious blocks – and the thrill of the experiencing the unknown.

That thrill, that experience of unplanned and unpredictable adventure, makes every session with Minecraft exhilarating. Sometimes I might end up spending the evening doing mundane activities like farming or hunting for food, but other nights I might end up stumbling upon a gigantic, randomly generated mine that’s full of monsters and treasure. Because each world is procedurally created, I never know just what I’ll stumble upon next. One day my character may be a simple builder, the next he’s a dungeon conquering hero who slays horrors in the dark.

Of course, adventuring is always better with friends, and Minecraft’s multiplayer is great fun if you can get it working. It isn’t broken or a completely buggy mess, but requires a lot steps to get started compared to most games. If you want to start a game you’ll need to download additional software, and go through all kinds of online tutorials to get it working. Players who just want to join a game have to know the server’s I.P. address, since there is no server browser built into the game. Still, annoyances and tedium aside, if you have the option to play with others you definitely should; exploring, adventuring and building up epic structures is a lot more fun with friends. Besides, if you’re going to spend hours of your life building gigantic monuments, you might as well have someone else to show them to. You can post them in online videos, but it just isn’t the same as having your friend right next to you sharing in your accomplishment. Or, even better, having them log on after a period of inactivity to be stunned at the marvels you’ve built in their absence.

If you’re not the type to play with others, and you don’t want to earn all your materials, you can always jump into Creative Mode. In this world you’re invincible, and have access to every item in the game. It’s great if you want to, say, create a gigantic Wampa from Star Wars, but it doesn’t give me the same sense of reward or accomplishment I get when playing Survival since I don’t have to earn the blocks or fend for my life while doing so. Many blocks take considerable effort to acquire (some even make you journey into monster filled labyrinths), so when I build them in my Survival Mode it’s a lot more impressive. Still, it’s a fun distraction.