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# Tech Time: Everything To Know About Minecraft

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vukn8eMe.m3u8" -->
## Video: Tech Time: Everything To Know About Minecraft

[Watch (HLS stream): Tech Time: Everything To Know About Minecraft](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vukn8eMe.m3u8) (2:09)

![Tech Time: Everything To Know About Minecraft](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vukn8eMe/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2016-02-18. TIME's Tech Editor, Alex Fitzpatrick tells you everything you need to know about this sandbox game._


---

Jul 27, 2023 7:39 PM UTC

---

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---


## Transcript

[ BLANK_AUDIO ] If you have kids or a younger brother or sister you've probably seen them playing a game called Minecraft. At first glance, Minecraft looks a lot like digital Legos. But there's much more going on here. Here's what you need to know. [ MUSIC ] Minecraft players use digital cubes to build all sorts of 3D constructions from castles to air craft carriers. It's a great example of a sandbox game meaning a game that lets players build and explore without objectives like beating a boss or leveling up, you can play Minecraft like that if you want to though, survival mode challenges players to harvest resources and build their kingdom To protect themselves from monsters.

Minecraft was first released in 2011 for PC after a couple years in beta, it's now available on almost every platform you can think of, from the iPhone to Android to Playstation, Xbox, and more. It was originally developed by Swedish firm Mojang Mojang which Microsoft bought for $ 2. 5 billion back in 2014. Some hardcore Minecraft fans were initially suspicious of Microsoft's intentions, but so far those fears have turned out to be unfounded. Microsoft is even bringing the game to it's holographic mixed reality headset called the HoloLens. Today, Minecraft has sold over 70 million copies across platforms.

That's an insane number of games. The game is truly a cultural phenomenon with players spending months on intricate designs they share online for other people to come check out. What explains the game's popularity? A big part of it is a laid back playing style. With no boss battles or grinding to worry about, players are free to build stuff at a pretty casual pace. Some even say it's a calming or meditative experience. Similar to putting together a giant puzzle. Personally, my one experience playing Minecraft made me feel like I was just too old for it. I loaded it up on my iPhone for a cross- country flight, but in about an hour I got frustrated and went back to playing Angry Birds.

Maybe I'm too used to playing games with clearcut missions and bad guys to fight. Watching my younger cousins build amazing stuff in Minecraft, though, made me better understand why it's such a huge hit. Lots of casual gamers don't want to fight bad guys or spend their time looking for loot. They just want to build cool stuff and Minecraft is perfect for that. [ MUSIC ]

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