Regardless of which mode you play, one of Minecraft's biggest draws is the way it encourages rampant creativity. The gameworld is constructed very much like a giant Lego set, and you can destroy, tinker, or add to the environment in any way you see fit. At first, placing simple soil and stone blocks to erect a crude shelter to keep out the nocturnal hordes feels satisfying, but as you uncover the means to craft torches, doors, stairways, panes of glass, bookshelves, and tons of other abode-centric items, the door to endless building possibilities suddenly flings open. It's possible to sink full days into building elaborate flying megafortresses, underwater castles, skyscraper-like towers of doom, and complex labyrinths--and that's just the beginning.

Using red stone, pistons, trap doors, and other unique items culled from recipes, you can construct everything from elaborate Rube Goldberg machines to massive lava-spewing pixel art statues of your favorite game characters. Bending the gameworld to your creative will can be a glorious time-sink on its own, and the level of flexibility is mind-boggling.