Despite stepping down as the lead developer, Notch just can’t seem to get away from Minecraft. As a participant in the latest Ludum Dare, Notch found himself creating Minicraft — a familiar but unique 2D take on Minecraft. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Ludum Dare is a great little recurring competition in which game developers create a game from scratch in 48 hours based on the theme of that particular event. This event’s theme was “Alone,” something Notch obviously has some experience with in Minecraft, and continues to explore in Minicraft.
Minicraft is pretty much what you would expect out of a 2D, top-down take on Minecraft, and it’s just about as fun as you would expect: Surprisingly fun. I won’t yammer on about it too much because you can — and should — play it right here, but there are a few things worth mentioning.
In Minicraft there doesn’t seem to be any building, there are specific points at which you can go underground, damage is done randomly, there’s a stamina bar, there’s a wizard you have to kill, and, most noteworthy, there are a lot of slimes, like, on the surface. Of course, you are also alone the whole time in traditional Minecraft single player form.
More than anything, it’s just great to see that Notch still likes to get in there and get his hands dirty, and I look forward to seeing what big project he gets into next. It’s also great to see him bring some attention to Ludum Dare which constantly churns out really fun, bite-sized, and inventive games. If you’re ever looking for fun little browser games, the list of Ludum Dare winners is a great place to start. That being said, definitely give Minicraft a shot, and be sure to check back to see if Notch actually managed to win. I’m sure there were a boatload of stellar entries.
(via Geek.com)
- Here’s a time-lapse of a Ludum Dare game being developed
- Check out this complex, in Minecraft game
- You can play Space Invaders in Garry’s Mod
