Minecraft (PC)

Minecraft is an independently published sandbox building game. Originally created by Markus "Notch" Persson, this "little game that could" has already racked up 3 million units in sales and it continues to grow in popularity. Given the main objective of the game - mining - and its blocky graphics, the first question that comes to the mind of many newbies and observers is "What makes this game so appealing?"

The secret to Minecraft's appeal  boils down to two factors - customizability/modding and the Minecraft community. The game has been designed to allow quite a bit of modding and this feature has spawned tons of add-ons. Also, the community actively trades and shares these mods. The end result is a game that has less to do with what Notch thinks the game experience should be but more of an open platform where the community itself creates pieces which other community members then use, enjoy, improve on, and share.

Minecraft is all about building. Turning ideas to reality and changing one's environment. You can choose to let your world remain a nondescript blocky landscape or you can choose to rebuild it based on the limits of your imagination and the depth of whims. Minecraft is still currently in Beta. The current version has a health meter and players have to gather their resources but many features are due to be added such as another dimension. Minecraft was developed for PC and ported exclusively for Xbox 360.