Minecraft. It's taken the gaming world by storm, and it's tiny Indie development team have generated millions of dollars in the past few months. It is known widely by the majority of gamers, and it's mention in conversation usually sparks an exchange of stories about each others' creations and adventures.
Minecraft is a sandbox game. The objectives are, beyond surviving the creatures of the night, incredibly open ended. Until recently, you could not actually 'win' in Minecraft, although an update has brought us a final boss fight. Finishing Minecraft is still, however, outstandingly difficult and isn't really the point of the game.
After having owned Minecraft for some time, however, you may be getting bored of the survival aspect. You may now be thriving, with a farm providing infinite food, a mine giving you endless rare ores and traps killing any enemies that stray near your home. You may have lost the challenging slant to the game and find yourself with nothing to do. Well, here are some ideas to play the game in a whole new way, no downloads required. You may just find yourself falling in love with Minecraft all over again.
Speed Building - An idea to add a competition element for you and your friends. Using a newly implemented element called 'Creative' mode, you can fly around your Minecraft world, placing any block you like with no need to collect them. This idea requires three people minimum and works like so - you quickly erect a big wall to obstruct each others' view. Then, an elected judge gives the two builders a category to build in (such as 'Pirates' or 'Happy') and half an hour to build anything they like within the time constraints. The judge then decides a winner. You can have as many builders as you like, but its best to have 2 the first time you try this, to get used to it.
Apocalypse - Survive underground after a cataclysmic disaster throws radioactive nuclear waste around Minecraft! After a pretend nuclear fallout, the only safety is an underground bunker. There are several variations on this method of pay online, but the one I did with my friends worked like this - We had one week (of Minecraft days, not real days!) on the surface to collect resources. Then, by day 8, we had to be living solely underground in a self-sustaining home. You can venture up to the surface for just one day by wearing full iron armor, which must be discarded afterward because it is now radioactive. When I played, we had an underground tree farm, wheat farm, cow farm, church, mine shaft, storage room and more. See if you can survive!
The Nomad - Minecraft world consist of biomes - forest, desert, hilly, ice, and others. These are very distinctive and you will know when you cross from one biome to another. Certain biomes are useful for certain reasons: Plains are easy to build on, swamps are rich in mushrooms and clay, deserts contain lots of cactus and sugar cane. However, in Nomad play, you must constantly stay on the move. Permanent homes are impossible, as each Minecraft day, you must move to a new biome, and not one previously visited. So no backtracking! You must constantly press forth, trying to scarcely stop to collect resources. See how many days you survive before being killed or not successfully moving to a new biome.
Hopefully, these ideas can let you see Minecraft with fresh eyes and rediscover that excitement it gives you when you start a world, and have endless lands to explore. There are more ideas littering forums and sites online with many more ideas for ways of playing Minecraft. I hope that I have rekindled your enjoyment in a truly brilliant game.