Minecraft

Minecraft is a 2009 sandbox indie and arcade video game title created by Swedish programmer Markus "Notch" Perrson and later published by Swedish company, Mojang AB. Markus Persson was inspired to create Minecraft after he and a few friends played Infiniminer. The first published video of Minecraft was called "Cave Game". Only later on did it become Minecraft. In October 2014, Microsoft purchased Mojang AB and the rights to Minecraft for 2.5 billion dollars, followed by Notch retiring from the company. According to Jeb, Minecraft (PC) has 1.9 million copies sold as of March 27.

Overview
Upon starting the game, the user is greeted with a login screen. To play, the user would have to input their login information: this includes the user's username, or if the user has signed up for a Mojang account, that user's email and user's password. After logging in, the user is greeted with the Minecraft launcher. The Minecraft Launcher allows for customizability, and modifications in Minecraft. It also displays news about Minecraft updates, and bug fixes. The launcher will take you to the Minecraft main menu screen. The menu screen is composed of buttons, and texts that allow for easy access to Minecraft's features. The four menu features include (as of version 1.7.9):
 * Singleplayer: Allows the user to create custom worlds, and load previously created world.
 * Multiplayer: Allows the user to interact with other users via custom Minecraft servers, or interact using Minecraft's built-in LAN feature (which allows singleplayer worlds to be played with other users via a local area network)
 * Minecraft Realms: Allows the user to play custom, miniature Minecraft servers, often created with the intention of playing a mini-game. Invitation is required from the owner.
 * Options: Allows the user to customize Minecraft's in-game features.

The player first spawns in the Overworld. The overworld consists of Biomes, such as extreme hills, or the ocean biome. The Overworld is intended to generally resemble the terrain of earths lithosphere. Although the overworld tends to be littered with impossible natural structures.

The player upon spawning, is free to explore the overworld. However without equipment, such as a sword, or sustenance such as Porkchops, is limited on how much they can trek.

Gameplay
The player has a hunger bar and a health bar. The hunger bar if full can slowly recharge the health bar, but not vice-versa. If either of the bars reaches zero, the player is at risk of death, either from starvation, lack of health, or other instances of death. The hunger bar normally decreases slowly. However, activities such as sprinting or mining can lower the bar faster than usual. Usually foods such as Porkchops and Steak can fill the hunger bar back to healthy levels, and can be acquired by simply punching the animal to death.

But for long-term survival, the player is recommended to take or build a shelter. Building a shelter is a critical first part to exploring a world. Shelters are important, as they can protect the player from hostile mobs, and can serve the same purpose as a home in real life. Most shelters take the form of houses such as to the right. Houses are favored often because of their simplicity, and the short amount of time necessary to build. The player usually starts mining after the house is made. Mining is a very important part of Minecraft, hence the name.

Mining
Mining is a key part of Minecraft's gameplay. Mining is important to experience the full extent of what Minecraft has to offer. Mining is also important for long term survival, as you need metal ores to craft armor, better swords, and much more. However, metal ore is only usually found underground. as most of Minecraft centers around the mining experience. Mining is necessary to acquire the resources needed to build portals that can access the Nether, a hell-like world, and to fully explore the expanse of Minecraft. There are many ways to go about mining in Minecraft. Some ways are more common than others. Below listed are two strategies Minecraft players commonly use, please note these don't cover all the tactics.

Mining tactics
Cave Mining: This is one of the most commonly used mining tactics used by players. Usually cave mining is the easiest, as it requires minimal effort for the player, and entrances to caves are usually found all over the surface. Cave mining usually consists of picking blocks off the walls of the cave, coal and iron are the most common ores, but if the cave goes deep enough, gold ore can be found. Cave mining is also slightly dangerous as the average sized cave has multiple openings and one cave might lead to other caves, or ravines. Players can easily get lost in a labyrinth of caves and ravines. It is very easy to die, and lose items forever without a way to find them. This can be avoided if the player sets landmarks.

Strip Mining: Strip mining is often used to find valuable ores like diamonds, as it is easier than hollowing out an entire chunk. Strip mining however requires plenty of resources such as stone or iron to build pickaxes, and plenty of patience. Usually the player mines underground then when he or she reaches bedrock starts strip mining. The player usually mines in one straight line, stripping through the ground, hence the name strip mining. Usually these lines are separated by a one block wall, though that's not often the case. Strip mining is not recommended for mining common ores like coal or iron. It is recommended that for major strip mining operations to bring plenty of torches to serve the purpose of preventing hostile mobs from spawning, and to create a guide way in case the player is lost. It is also recommended that if the player is mining between the 0 and 16th layer that he or she bring a bucket of water, as oftentimes the player might run into a lake of lava. It's good to bring a furnace and a crafting table with you so you can smelt items and craft new items without having to run up and get them.

Minecraft Releases

 * Minecraft was made publicly available for PC on May 17, 2009 as Classic.
 * An Android version was released on August 16, 2011.
 * An iOS version was released on November 16, 2011.
 * Minecraft was officially released for PC on November 18, 2011 as Minecraft 1.0.
 * An Xbox 360 version was released on May 9, 2012.
 * A PlayStation 3 version was released on December 17, 2013.
 * A Fire OS version was released on April 2, 2014.
 * A PlayStation 4 version was released on September 4, 2014.
 * An Xbox One version was released on September 5, 2014.
 * A PlayStation Vita version was released on October 14, 2014.
 * A Windows Phone version was released on December 10, 2014.
 * A Windows 10 version was released on July 29, 2015.
 * A Wii U version was released on December 17, 2015.
 * An Education Edition of Minecraft is currently in the works and is expected to be released in Summer 2016.

Other Versions of Minecraft

 * Classic Version (For PC/Mac)
 * Demo Version (For PC/Mac)
 * Free Version (For PC/Mac)
 * Pocket Edition (For iOS, Android, and Windows Phone Devices)
 * Pocket Edition Demo (Removed)
 * Amazon Fire TV Edition (For Amazon Fire TV)
 * Xbox 360 Edition (For Xbox 360)
 * Xbox One Edition (For Xbox One)
 * PlayStation 3 Edition (For PlayStation 3)
 * PlayStation 4 Edition (For PlayStation 4)
 * PlayStation Vita Edition (For PlayStation Vita)
 * Raspberry Pi Edition (For Raspberry Pi)
 * Windows 10 Edition (For Windows 10 and HoloLens)
 * 4K Edition (For PC, it was made in a competition)
 * Pocket Edition 3D (For old Nokia phones, it is an unofficial port)
 * Wii U Edition (For Wii U)
 * MinecraftEdu (For educational usage)
 * PSP Edition (For PSP, it is an unofficial port)
 * Minecraft: Story Mode (standalone game produced by Telltale Games, in collaboration with Mojang AB)

Trivia

 * As of 1.6, Minecraft requires a special downloadable launcher that can be accessed straight from a PC's desktop.
 * Minecraft was originally called "Cave Game".   This was inspired by one of his earlier games called Ruby Dung.
 * Many unused textures such as a Ruby, Gears, and furniture can be seen in the game's texture files.
 * The PC Gamer Demo was different to other demos as it had some exclusive features. One of the features was that cows had the PC Gamer Demo logo on their skin.
 * Minecraft's price has risen over the years, originally being $20.00 USD and now is $26.95 USD.
 * There are some things that are removed in the game and no longer be found in the game's code and can only be found in the older versions. For example: Human, Beast Boy, and Rana.
 * There have been multiple demos/trials for most editions of Minecraft.