Image by Evenecer Andujar on Alpha Coders and remixed by the author

Minecraft, a sandbox-style video game developed by Notch (Markus Persson) in 2009. A game where the player can explore an infinite procedurally generated world made out of 3D blocks. A game in which the sky is the limit and players can build anything they desire with a plentiful array of building blocks and interactive animals, monsters and even a rudimentary electrical wiring system.

Minecraft is a game that transcends time. It is arguably the most successful game of all time, and due to its infinite terrain generation and regular updates and innovation, it has remained surprisingly evergreen over all these years. I still remember the first time I stepped into a Minecraft world over ten years ago. The feeling of excitement over building my first house out of wood and staying indoors while the monsters outside roamed free and then stepping outside the next morning to start building my empire. The feeling was unbeatable.

This COVID-19 quarantine has truly brought Minecraft back to life for many of my close friends and myself included. We all haven’t played in over five years, and now suddenly we have found ourselves starting a multiplayer server and building and exploring a whole new world.

It has been amazing to witness how when we are all constrained, stuck inside and yearning for the world, Minecraft has been there to offer an infinite and vivid virtual world to explore and take advantage of.

Minecraft screenshot by Henri Le

At the University of Pennsylvania, students have made quick work of building a virtual version of their college campus called ‘PennCraft’ to make life feel a little bit more normal in their time away from School. These virtual campuses sprung up all over the world in places ranging from elementary schools in Japan to large colleges in the US and seem to be successfully filling the pandemic shaped hole in people’s hearts. Minecraft has clearly been helping people stay mentally healthy and happy while staying at home and keeping the world safe.

Google Trends chart to analyse interest in Minecraft over time

It is clear from the above Google Trends chart that this has not just been an isolated phenomenon I experienced in my circles, but rather this has been a worldwide trend. The novel coronavirus has pulled social groups apart in real life, and immersive sandbox games like Minecraft have stepped in to fill the social interaction gap that many of us are yearning for.

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