Critical analysis of minecraft- Games design

Minecraft is a survival based game where the player must survive against the monsters that spawn each night. Building a home for yourself anywhere in the world you have entered, the player now has to venture far and wide to survive and conquer unknown lands, travelling to different biomes and encountering different mobs along the way. Minecraft is a game where in you can do about anything from living in a survival to a creative world of just building anything you like, you can even join other players in multiple servers that host minigames and much more.

Game Controls

The game mechanics of Minecraft is fairly easy for ages all around. With its basic arrow keys to move and its single button to jump along with its touch screen feature that allows players to directly place blocks and attack in the exact location they want. However these controls can be customized to fit the players needs.

Controls for those who are playing on consoles or PC are still fairly easy and can still be adjusted if the player is not happy with the controls. 

Graphics

Over the years Minecraft has changed its graphics, changing its texture packs from dull hues to more saturated bright colours, to more realistic features .

In its 1.12 build its change in texture and additional building blocks were the highlight of the update, it was highly seen with the dyed wool item within the game that ranges up to 16 different colours now with a completely different look, with a more vibrant and pleasing look. Then there was the added item named concrete which when placed together makes the borderlines of each other disappear with a smooth finish. With its growing updates it has also introduced the option of buying texture packs to completely change the games look as well as the customization of your own characters skin which can either be bought from their official store or downloaded from the internet.

Sound effects

With its originally designed mobs such as the creeper, enderman, guardian and etc. The developers have specifically designed their own sounds to ensure that the sound each mob compliment sits own design. The nature sound effects the game differ from each biome, from the sound of grass crunching with each step, to the crackling sound of lava  in the heat driven deserts. The default background music the game provides is soft and calm, which gives off a pleasant and relaxing experience for those who are just looking for a place to wander off to and have an adventure.

Disadvantages

However, although Minecraft has many advantages there are also cons to the game.

Minecraft can expose kids to bullying and exploitation. Since the game can be played online on multiplayer servers, some of which can be quite violent. Players attack to kill other players and steal their hard earned virtual possessions, or destroy the buildings they have worked hard to build. This practice of stealing from other players or wrecking their creations is referred to as "griefing" in the Minecraft community. These types of attacks can often be more stressful for kids to handle than more realistic violence of call of duty or other war games.

Many children get very caught up in playing Minecraft. It can be difficult getting kids to stop playing at the end of there allotted time. In more extreme cases, children will push to play Minecraft to the exclusion of other activities and leading to big battles with their parents.

Conclusion

Overall I think Minecraft is really fun and enjoyable because of the endless creativity game, with its graphics, sound effects and game control it's easy to play.

It's suitable for any ages so not just kids, adults too I think this because the games competitiveness is a bit complicated for younger individuals to understand. The game requires creativity of the user at it is based on the fantasy of the player to create the desired world.