the phenomenon

"Now wait a second," you say, "I thought we were gonna build." Well, we are, and you can get to it right now by skipping ahead a bit if you're impatient! But, if you're interested in the background of this mind-bending game of imagination and blocks and Zombie Pigmen you're about to undertake, here's a bit of the story of how Minecraft came to be the gaming behemoth that it is. And oddly enough, it actually starts with three entirely different games.

Rising From the Sandbox

Minecraft is what is known as a "sandbox" game. Sandbox means that the world of the game is entirely open and can be manipulated by the player. Instead of having a plot and gameplay that everyone experiences in basically the same way, sandbox games give the player some tools to change the world they see, and then they let that player decide what to do for him or herself.

Notch and His Three Inspirations

Minecraft might well be the best received and most well-known sandbox game made yet, but it was far from the first. In fact, the story of Minecraft's creation is the story of Swedish video game designer named Markus Alexej Persson and his love for three influential sandbox video games: 1997's Dungeon Keeper, a cult indie game called Infiniminer and a title with almost no graphics to speak of but an incredibly complex world, Dwarf Fortress.

While he worked away as a programmer at photo-sharing company Jalbum, Persson (soon to be called "Notch" by his fans) was enthralled with the idea of making a game that combined the elements of his three inspirations. Notch had been involved with the gaming world for a long time, having written his first game at the age of 8, not to mention working as a game designer and competing in game creation tournaments for many years. However, it was when Notch hit upon the idea of combining the styles of Dwarf Fortress, Infiniminer and Dungeon Keeper that his career as a gaming titan was to take off.

Combining the Influences

What Notch did was pretty darn close to genius: he pulled the focus on building and fantasy from Dungeon Keeper; the RPG elements, resource collecting and focus on memorable graphics over cutting-edge from Dwarf Fortress; and the block-by-block building innovation of Infiniminer and he combined them all into one game: an open-world, RPG fantasy that allowed players to destroy and build anything they wanted.

The Path to Glory

Of course, it didn't all happen overnight. Notch kept his job at Jalbum while working on Minecraft in his spare time, and the original game is a far cry from what you get now when you play it on your Xbox. At first, all you could do was build, there was little in the way of block-types and no creatures. As Notch continued to add elements, the game began to take shape and more and more players joined in the fun. YouTube and other Internet outlets spread the word like a wildfire across the web, and soon enough, there was a small but passionate fan base for the game.

Taking it Public

When people first started seriously playing Minecraft around 2009, it wasn't considered even remotely finished yet, but it was still such an engaging game that Notch was able to do quite well selling access to the pre-release version. Players who purchased it back then were guaranteed that they'd never have to pay for later versions (something which has stayed true to this day), and this combined with the low price to make it an instant underground classic. Within almost no time, people were creating things in Minecraft that the developers never dreamed of, not to mention modding the game more thoroughly than perhaps any other in video game history. Soon, though, the hardcore gamers would welcome millions of new players from the mainstream into their flocks, as the official version was released.

Minecraft Goes Big

The official release for the game came in 2011, and that's when things really took off. After only a month, the newly formed Mojang video game company, headed by Notch, had made 1 million sales of Minecraft. People thought this was insane for such an odd game from a new company, but that was just the beginning. Within a year, Minecraft had become the 6th best-selling PC game of all time with 5.3 million copies, more even than the beloved Half-Life. Again, people thought the trend had hit its peak, but no. In 2012, the Xbox 360 and Pocket Edition versions were released, shattering records and putting the game on the top sales lists for those two platforms as well.

The Sky's the Limit

Now, Minecraft has sold more than 28 million copies, putting it in the ranks with Super Mario Brothers and Tetris as one of the absolute success stories from the video gaming universe. Even the worlds of art and high-brow media have taken notice, with the Museum of Modern Art including Minecraft as one of just a few video games displayed within its hallowed halls, and with Time magazine including Notch and fellow creator Jeb as two of their 100 most influential people in the world for 2013.

The people have spoken: there's no doubt that it's a Minecraft world out there these days, and now you, reader, can join in those 28 million+ players and become part of a global phenomenon as it's happening. You've already shown you're ready by picking up this guide, so fire up that controller and sit yourself down someplace comfy. It's time you become one of us, Minecrafter.

getting started

So here you are, you've taken the plunge and bought Minecraft. You're staring at that menu screen, and you're ready to dive into this crazy world you've heard so much about.

Now, you could start up a new world and try and wing it, but trust us, that path leads to darkness (literally), frustration and, yes, death. Minecraft is a game that's at once very simple on the surface and incredibly complex underneath, and what you do when you first start out can make a huge difference in your success at crafting the world you want. That, plus it's really not much fun to die in the dark from your fourth Creeper attack in a row and lose all of your gear over and over.

To get the most out of Minecraft, you'll have a much better and less death-filled time if you know a few things about the game before jumping right in.

the menus

It only takes the push of a few buttons to start up a new Minecraft world, but the good folks at Mojang packed the Minecraft menus full of options that can make a big difference in your overall experience. Of particular importance are the "Help & Options" area and, of course, the "Play Game" button.

Help & Options

The title says it all — this is where you want to go to find everything from audio and visual settings to new skins for your avatar and mini-guides on how to deal with certain aspects of the game. Much of this can be accessed in-game, so it's not entirely necessary that you look through this or tweak...