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I dream of Minecraft most nights. (When I’m not dreaming I’m at Minute Maid Park.)

Today, though, I think I caught Minecraft having a fever dream of its own.

One screenshot can't do it justice.

Odd floating islands and dozens of looming overhangs. All the baffling oddness of Minecraft’s possible worlds magnified in one area. I walked through it fearfully; it was something new and strange. I half expected the ground to shift beneath my feet. As it was, a hidden pit saw me plummet into the darkness and lose half my health.

The game can still surprise me.

Sometimes I think it might even surprise itself.

The adventure to the north continues…

You know what I was saying in my last post about wanting monster spawns on the surface? Well, on my travels I found a big pit with a sandy bottom. I’d just noticed that the walls of the pit were cobblestone – implying construction! – when a spider appeared out of nowhere. I killed it easily enough, then looked around to see where it had come from.

A monster spawner!

I plugged up the gap and then dug away sand until I found a chest. Nothing too interesting – some bread and gunpowder – but it was all very exciting.

That night I spent my time in a cave that seemed deserted.

Do you see that?

An arrow! I ran around like a headless chicken until I found the skeleton who’d been firing at me and knocked him down into a pit. I don’t think he died, but he didn’t bother me for the rest of the night.

I resumed my travels at daybreak and came across a natural formation that looked like some sort of beacon, so I put some torches on it.

The beacon.

All of a sudden, I felt incredibly lonely. Who was the beacon for? Nobody else is ever going to come this way. I’m on my own here. In this world are incredible sights, peril and adventure, monsters and treasure, so many stories waiting to be told. But there’s only me, walking a narrow path, forever alone. Nobody will follow in my footsteps. That beacon exists now, it’s sitting there in 1s and 0s, never to be seen again.

It seems like such a waste, a world capable of such beauty that nobody will ever see.

I’ve made my mark. “I was here.” But what’s the point?

I moved on.

Another cave, another night.

The next day, a sight that took my breath away.

Randomly-generated beauty.

Who cares if nobody else comes this way? Who cares if I never go back? I crested the hill, I saw it below me, I was there. Let’s just say that that’s enough.

Now… the last night.

Yet another hole in the ground.

I set up my furnace and workbench and made some new tools, armour and cooked a lot of pork. At one point I realised I was moving, though I was working at the bench. Something was pushing me! My heart started to beat faster as I fumbled around trying to regain control.

A zombie? A skeleton? A spider?

A duck.

I’d been pushed around by a duck that somehow found its way into way into my cave.

I’d been scared by flapping, hopping idiot.

(And believe me, I’d been scared.)

The next morning I left at dawn and went to hunt spiders. I wanted their silk for a bow. I only needed one more piece of silk, but the first spider I found didn’t drop one. As I looked around for another, a flaming zombie burst out from behind a tree and attacked. I fought him off, but dropped down a hole as I backed away. One tiny sliver of health left. No problem, though, I had food. Lots of food.

As I opened my inventory another spider pounced.

Game over, man, game over.

That’s how my adventure ended. Carelessness and greed.

My save file had increased in size from 1MB to 48MB. I saw some awe-inspiring sights. I fought monsters. I was panicked by a duck.

A completely different way to play Minecraft, but one that I enjoyed immensely.

Maybe next time I’ll go west.

On the multiplayer server I built a small village, with some houses, a garden, a well and a gallows.

Well, you try making a gallows!

Unusually, though, I’ve sunk some real time into the single player game. I started a new map and found a huge cave system right near the spawn point.

My camp, just inside the caves.

My aim, then, is to explore the caves while remaining as alive as possible. It’s not been easy.

I decided a needed a bow, so I went out at night trying to hunt spiders. I died. A lot.

Burn, baby, burn.

Eventually, though, I got the silk I needed, made a bow and some arrows and started my decent. I went a long, long way – and then died.

So I ran. From the spawn point, to the caves and then down and down and down, desperately trying to reach my dropped items before they disappeared. I took a couple of wrong turns, ended up at baffling dead-ends, had to jink past a zombie trying to eat my brains, but managed to pick up my stuff. My precious bow was safe… but for how long?

I only had one-and-a-half hearts left and no food, so the trek back to my camp was tense stuff, but I made it home. Now to try and get some food before my next trip into the depths.

To that end, I’ve done something I’ve never done before; I’ve started growing wheat.

My farm. I'm lucky there's a waterfall just inside the caves, so I could create a pool.

I’m not quite sure what I’m doing, but it seems to be growing. Hopefully I’ll get some bread out of it at some point. That would be nice.