Tomas Muelling (Steve):

Sometimes an escape is needed from the world that we all know so well. An escape to a place, a place made of blocks. I know what you’re thinking, and no it’s not Lego land, this is Minecraft!

Suddenly everything becomes clear. A world appears around me and it is time to get to work because no time can be wasted. There are only seven minutes between me and some evil monsters who want to murder me for my glorious possessions. My game of Minecraft begins.

 You can never have enough wood, that’s what I always say. Getting this wood means I can have a pick ax faster and that means stone tools and all of this leads up to a glorious house and diamond! That is my goal: diamond. I can use diamond to build a nether portal and travel and get all the goodies it holds. First I’m going to need a small house. No time can be wasted so digging a hole in the side of a hill should work, that way I can mine all through the night and not have to worry about getting lost in this endless world.

Mining through the night is tedious; I have to find a cave to really increase my progress and that is just the luck of the draw. So for now I’ll just dig until I happen upon one. This takes a while and I need food if I am going to be able to continue so it’s time to return to the surface.

I’m looking around for some key animals, I need sheep first and pigs second. Upon finding the sheep I murder them for their wool, it only takes three so that I can make a bed and feel a little more comfortable about dying. Once this is done I collect meat, cook it with some of the coal I found earlier and I am now ready to continue my adventure in the deep dark recesses of this blocky world.

I continue digging and soon enough I find a cave, but unfortunately I am now surrounded by monsters! I valiantly fight the monsters off and collect resources in the nearby area. I explore every little part of the cave before mining, just to make sure that my back is covered. So I then collect my resources. I really don’t feel like traveling back up to make better tools so I build a furnace and a crafting table right there on the stone floor of the cave. After creating more tools and iron armor I dig and dig and eventually find diamond, enough to make a pick.

With my new tools I can make a portal to the nether to get glowstone and blaze rods and just think of the possibilities! I loot everything I can find and I now return to my small dirt shack. I think it’s finally time for an upgrade.

With all the excess materials from my mining I begin to build the most fantastic of mansions! A grand staircase, watchtowers, and a massive bedroom! Just think of the possibilities! But of course I thought I had more material than I really did so I end up stripping the surrounding area for everything it has. Eventually, after all my hard work, my massive mansion is complete!

At this point there isn’t really much to do left but fight the ender dragon. This takes forever and I got bored so I decided to give up (don’t judge it got boring and I already did enough…). Maybe I will just start another game later, which sounds like a good idea. Well Minecraft was fun but I have better things to be doing, goodbye.

Vickie Bonnema (Stevette)

As the world around me loads in blocks, I take time to breathe. I am entering a world where there are more than monsters to fight, but castles to build. In this sandbox game, anything goes. I glance around me once my vision is free of black spots and immediately jump in joy. So many possibilities!

In an instant I’m off, exploring quickly the forest and lake I’ve spawned next to. I collect flowers and a few seeds I’ve found in the grass when I notice that the sun is sinking quickly. Hesitantly, I begin the slow process of collecting wood. Punching my way through trees takes me too many minutes, as it is already dark before I can manage more than three pieces. Nervous now, I glance around this shadowy world as its face changes from cheery to foreboding. I just know something bad is going to happen.

I hear a small rustle behind me. I turn. There’s a green cactus with an unhappy black face painted on its front crawling quickly towards me. I scream and my left fingers panic, causing me to shuffle back and forth. I hold my soprano note in panic while loosing my grip on my mouse, trying to find an escape route. Too late. Boom. Dead.

New game. This time I’m determined. Shivering with fear, but still willing and somehow encouraged by the adrenaline pumping through me. That was terrifying. Terrifying video games, I realized, are fun! Before retrying, I actually do some research. I gather basic facts, how to build a crafting table, a sword, how to make food and harvest wheat.

I quickly turn on some techno music and retry the world, wasting no time as the world is loading to mark where things are and map out a battle plan in my head. I am able to move. Go.

I run to the trees. Punch. I build a crafting table. Make an axe and a pick. I dig into the ground, digging straight down to get to the stone. I gather enough to make a sword and a pick. I then run to the nearest hill, digging into the side of it to create a makeshift cabin. The sun is already sinking. I shout a series of “no”s in excitement and terror, I am not fond of meeting my green little friend again. To my relief, I dig out a little hovel and manage to barricade myself in the dirt. Unfortunately, it is completely dark. I spend my night unhappy and hungry in a cave where wheat doesn’t even grow.

I figure this out eventually, also learning how to dash out of my hovel to avoid my green little friends falling on me from above. Playing it safe, I spend a good dozen day cycles collecting wood and securing the perimeter, also trying to grow wheat. Until I have a good dozen loaves of bread, I’m fine in my rabbit hole, thanks.

I actually find myself digging, eager to build a castle and to find precious jewels. I want to have the best armor and weapons before I even step foot in a cave. This is easier said than done, unfortunately.

Weeks turn to months. I haven’t left my computer room in hours. I’m super hungry and have to go to the bathroom. My eyes burn as I resist the urge to blink to give myself that extra millisecond to look out for mushrooms and the occasional frowning cactus. He’s actually kind of cute, that “Creeper”. I spend the rest of my time trying to corral one of the little things into a cage to keep as a pet. Unfortunately, I’m too terrified to find a way to get myself near one. Eventually, I swing my first sword at one of the things. It hisses and jumps back and, like a baby, I scream and dash away. But he didn’t blow up. Invigorated, I approach again, hit, and run away. I laugh to myself. He isn’t blowing up! Now braver and bolder, I hit him twice. He falls over, releasing a screech of pain before disappearing in a gust of glowing orbs and a grey dust.

I feel like a crocodile hunter; so proud, so brave, incredibly strong and wise in the ways of beasts. I pick up the experience and dust, which turns out to be gunpowder, and a new glint arises in my eyes. I can use this to make TNT… and I can use TNT to blow up mountains! My new goal escalates, turning me into an ambitious maniac intent on blowing up every mountain I see and killing every creature that passes me.

Minecraft has turned me into a valiant warrior who fears nothing and will stop at nothing to win this endless sandbox game.

Disclaimer: I spend my Minecraft hours making cakes, harvesting pumpkins and cutting down trees to finish my happy bakery kingdom. I am not a fearless Creeper hunter who keeps them as pets and blows up mountains. I’m sorry it didn’t turn out that way.