<p>There is something to be said for there being a slew of newer games out, as it is the busiest season for videogame releases, and games like Minecraft continue to remain strong. In fact, Minecraft is still the <a href="http://majornelson.com/2012/11/28/live-activity-for-week-of-november-19/">third-most played game on Xbox 360</a> according to the latest Xbox Live charts. In a way, that is incredible considering that there have been so many major, anticipated titles released within the past month or two, yet little Minecraft continues to be the game that everyone is going back to. If you look at the indie charts, you’ll see that most of the popular Xbox Live Indie games are just cheap rip offs of Minecraft, so I think at a certain point there need to be some serious questions as to why Minecraft is such a popular game.</p>
<!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.99 -->
<div class="quads-location quads-ad135805 " id="quads-ad135805" style="float:none;text-align:center;padding:0px 0 0px 0;" data-lazydelay="3000">

</div>

<p>In my mind the answer is crystal clear as to why Minecraft is one of the most popular games available now, and that is because Minecraft is a game that relies heavily on the gamer’s creativity and allows them to play the game however they see fit. In an age of heavily-scripted games with famous screenwriters, star-studded voice acting casts and millions and millions of dollars of development money thrown at them, it is nice to see a rather simple yet imaginative game thrive in a world of big budget, AAA titles. Players are spit out in a world that is chock full of resources, animals and nature, nothing else. It is up to them to shape their world and play the game as they see fit.</p>
<p>You could definitely argue that some of the game’s monotonous tasks such as mining for resources or farming is a part of that addiction factor, but the openness of the game keeps drawing players back. It shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone that the concept of “openness” would draw players in, as we’ve seen a giant run on open-world games since Grand Theft Auto and there really is no end in sight for those. In a way, players have spoken with their dollars, as much as they like multiplayer shooter games, space marines and games with a big budget, they like being able to use their minds.</p>
<p>more games should challenge players to play the game how they see fit and even reward players for creativity. Sure, it can be a daunting task to create something and then to leave it to the end consumer to decide what to do with it, but it helps to create a more intelligent community of gamers in the end. I remember growing up and the crusade that parents and teachers had against gaming, as it was a “waste of time” and they saw it as a less-than-noble way to spend our time. Games like Minecraft can help change that stereotype, which still persists to this day, and help gaming to continue to make that big push into the mainstream.</p>
<!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.99 -->
<div class="quads-location quads-ad135804 " id="quads-ad135804" style="float:none;text-align:center;padding:0px 0 0px 0;" data-lazydelay="3000">

</div>

<p>Do you want to see more games that reward a player’s creativity, or are you more for a fixed-narrative type of game?</p>

<div class="essb_links essb_counter_modern_right essb_displayed_bottom essb_share essb_template_default4-retina essb_1048627342 print-no" id="essb_displayed_bottom_1048627342" data-essb-postid="13899" data-essb-position="bottom" data-essb-button-style="button" data-essb-template="default4-retina" data-essb-counter-pos="right" data-essb-url="https://www.explosion.com/13899/minecraft-proves-that-more-games-should-reward-creativity-in-players/" data-essb-fullurl="https://www.explosion.com/13899/minecraft-proves-that-more-games-should-reward-creativity-in-players/" data-essb-instance="1048627342"><ul class="essb_links_list"><li class="essb_item essb_link_facebook nolightbox essb_link_svg_icon"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.explosion.com%2F13899%2Fminecraft-proves-that-more-games-should-reward-creativity-in-players%2F&t=Minecraft+Proves+That+More+Games+Should+Reward+Creativity+in+Players" title="Share on Share" onclick="essb.window(&#39;https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.explosion.com%2F13899%2Fminecraft-proves-that-more-games-should-reward-creativity-in-players%2F&t=Minecraft+Proves+That+More+Games+Should+Reward+Creativity+in+Players&#39;,&#39;facebook&#39;,&#39;1048627342&#39;); return false;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="nolightbox essb-s-bg-facebook essb-s-c-light essb-s-ch-light essb-s-bgh-dark essb-s-bg-network" ><span class="essb_icon essb_icon_facebook"><svg class="essb-svg-icon essb-svg-icon-facebook" aria-hidden="true" role="img" focusable="false" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="16" height="16" viewBox="0 0 16 16"><path d="M16 8.049c0-4.446-3.582-8.05-8-8.05C3.58 0-.002 3.603-.002 8.05c0 4.017 2.926 7.347 6.75 7.951v-5.625h-2.03V8.05H6.75V6.275c0-2.017 1.195-3.131 3.022-3.131.876 0 1.791.157 1.791.157v1.98h-1.009c-.993 0-1.303.621-1.303 1.258v1.51h2.218l-.354 2.326H9.25V16c3.824-.604 6.75-3.934 6.75-7.951"></path></svg></span><span class="essb_network_name">Share</span></a></li><li class="essb_item essb_link_twitter nolightbox essb_link_twitter_x essb_link_svg_icon"> <a href="https://x.com/intent/post?text=Minecraft%20Proves%20That%20More%20Games%20Should%20Reward%20Creativity%20in%20Players&;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.explosion.com%2F13899%2Fminecraft-proves-that-more-games-should-reward-creativity-in-players%2F" title="Share on Tweet" onclick="essb.window(&#39;https://x.com/intent/post?text=Minecraft%20Proves%20That%20More%20Games%20Should%20Reward%20Creativity%20in%20Players&;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.explosion.com%2F13899%2Fminecraft-proves-that-more-games-should-reward-creativity-in-players%2F&#39;,&#39;twitter&#39;,&#39;1048627342&#39;); return false;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="nolightbox essb-s-bg-twitter essb-s-c-light essb-s-ch-light essb-s-bgh-dark essb-s-bg-network" ><span class="essb_icon essb_icon_twitter_x"><svg class="essb-svg-icon essb-svg-icon-twitter_x" aria-hidden="true" role="img" focusable="false" viewBox="0 0 24 24"><path d="M18.244 2.25h3.308l-7.227 8.26 8.502 11.24H16.17l-5.214-6.817L4.99 21.75H1.68l7.73-8.835L1.254 2.25H8.08l4.713 6.231zm-1.161 17.52h1.833L7.084 4.126H5.117z"></path></svg></span><span class="essb_network_name">Tweet</span></a></li><li class="essb_item essb_link_pinterest nolightbox essb_link_svg_icon"> <a href="#" title="Share on Pin It" onclick="essb.pinterest_picker(&#39;1048627342&#39;); return false;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="nolightbox essb-s-bg-pinterest essb-s-c-light essb-s-ch-light essb-s-bgh-dark essb-s-bg-network" ><span class="essb_icon essb_icon_pinterest"><svg class="essb-svg-icon essb-svg-icon-pinterest" aria-hidden="true" role="img" focusable="false" width="32" height="32" viewBox="0 0 32 32" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M10.625 12.25c0-1.375 0.313-2.5 1.063-3.438 0.688-0.938 1.563-1.438 2.563-1.438 0.813 0 1.438 0.25 1.875 0.813s0.688 1.25 0.688 2.063c0 0.5-0.125 1.125-0.313 1.813-0.188 0.75-0.375 1.625-0.688 2.563-0.313 1-0.563 1.75-0.688 2.313-0.25 1-0.063 1.875 0.563 2.625 0.625 0.688 1.438 1.063 2.438 1.063 1.75 0 3.188-1 4.313-2.938 1.125-2 1.688-4.375 1.688-7.188 0-2.125-0.688-3.875-2.063-5.25-1.375-1.313-3.313-2-5.813-2-2.813 0-5.063 0.875-6.75 2.688-1.75 1.75-2.625 3.875-2.625 6.375 0 1.5 0.438 2.75 1.25 3.75 0.313 0.313 0.375 0.688 0.313 1.063-0.125 0.313-0.25 0.813-0.375 1.5-0.063 0.25-0.188 0.438-0.375 0.5s-0.375 0.063-0.563 0c-1.313-0.563-2.25-1.438-2.938-2.75s-1-2.813-1-4.5c0-1.125 0.188-2.188 0.563-3.313s0.875-2.188 1.625-3.188c0.75-1.063 1.688-1.938 2.688-2.75 1.063-0.813 2.313-1.438 3.875-1.938 1.5-0.438 3.125-0.688 4.813-0.688 1.813 0 3.438 0.313 4.938 0.938 1.5 0.563 2.813 1.375 3.813 2.375 1.063 1.063 1.813 2.188 2.438 3.5 0.563 1.313 0.875 2.688 0.875 4.063 0 3.75-0.938 6.875-2.875 9.313-1.938 2.5-4.375 3.688-7.375 3.688-1 0-1.938-0.188-2.813-0.688-0.875-0.438-1.5-1-1.875-1.688-0.688 2.938-1.125 4.688-1.313 5.25-0.375 1.438-1.25 3.188-2.688 5.25h-1.313c-0.25-2.563-0.188-4.688 0.188-6.375l2.438-10.313c-0.375-0.813-0.563-1.813-0.563-3.063z"></path></svg></span><span class="essb_network_name">Pin It</span></a></li><li class="essb_item essb_link_mail nolightbox essb_link_svg_icon"> <a href="#" title="Share on Email" onclick="essb_open_mailform(&#39;1048627342&#39;); return false;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="nolightbox essb-s-bg-mail essb-s-c-light essb-s-ch-light essb-s-bgh-dark essb-s-bg-network" ><span class="essb_icon essb_icon_mail"><svg class="essb-svg-icon essb-svg-icon-mail" aria-hidden="true" role="img" focusable="false" width="32" height="32" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 60 60"><polygon points="60,50.234 60,9.944 39.482,30.536 " /><polygon points="0,9.941 0,50.234 20.519,30.535 " /><path d="M1.387,8.5l21.002,21.08c0.121,0.051,0.471,0.415,0.517,0.519l5.941,5.963c0.635,0.591,1.672,0.59,2.333-0.025l5.911-5.933c0.046-0.105,0.4-0.473,0.522-0.524L58.615,8.5H1.387z" /><path d="M38.07,31.954l-5.5,5.52c-0.73,0.68-1.657,1.019-2.58,1.019c-0.914,0-1.823-0.332-2.533-0.993l-5.526-5.546L1.569,51.5h56.862L38.07,31.954z" /></svg></span><span class="essb_network_name">Email</span></a></li></ul></div>
0 Comments