Is ironically purchasing an ironic game with ironic money actually ironic? That's what Markus "Notch" Persson wondered when he unveiled his new simulator game, Cliffhorse.

Just as its name suggests, the painstakingly simple title follows a galloping horse through valleys and peaks, across grass, and under palm trees, with no particular goal in sight.

The Minecraft creator admitted in a Reddit post that he built the "early access" title in about the same time as it takes to wash a load of whites.

"I was watching PewGeminiLive streaming a blind playthrough of Skyrim, and kept jokingly referring to the game as 'Cliffhorse' because of the hilarious horse physics," Notch said. "After a while, people started saying I should make that game, and I said sure. About two hours and a bunch of free Unity assets later, Cliffhorse was done."

The free-to-download, PC-only game was released on Saturday, but with a twist: If you want to contribute some money to the project, you'll have to pay in Doge-based cryptocurrency.

As of Sunday, the game made 280,000 Dogecoin, which amounts to about $100, according to Notch.

We live in a world where Cliffhorse makes the news. Thank you for the publicity! What does it mean? Nobody knows. :) — Markus Persson (@notch) June 9, 2014

Notch called his new title "a 'haha only serious' take" on embarrassing minimum-effort greenlight games, like Goat Simulator.

So, for an added dose of parody, "it seemed to me like the 'haha only serious' angle of Dogecoin was the perfect match for it," Notch wrote on Reddit. "I also threw in a loving jab at paying for early access, which is how Minecraft got here at all."

Cliffhorse is available online. But the website specifically states that there is no guarantee of future updates.

For more on Dogecoin and other cryptocurrencies, check out PCMag's slideshow above. Also see Minecraft: A Guide for 'Old' People.

Further Reading

PC Game Reviews