How to Install and Play Minecraft
Minecraft is a sandbox-style construction game created by Mojang studio in 2009. Microsoft Studios have since acquired it. It’s the top-selling game of all time with over 200-million copies sold thanks to its appeal to all ages and broad device support.
Using easy to learn controls and simple mechanics, Minecraft drops players in a world rich with resources and materials. By gathering these materials and resources plus some trial and error, players can discover crafting recipes to develop ever more complex and grand creations.
Minecraft also comes with five different game modes, focusing more on the game’s creative, exploratory, or action aspects. They are survival, creative, hardcode, adventure and spectator, each offers something different, adding to and making a game that will absorb a player for hours.
In this article, we’ll show you how to install and play Minecraft as well as give you a full break down of this groundbreaking game.
Step 1: How to download Minecraft
To download Minecraft for PC, head over to the download page for the official Minecraft website by following this link: https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/store/minecraft-java-edition. If you scroll down, you’ll see the different platform versions of Minecraft for PC, Android, Mac, and iOS.
At the top of the screen, there should be a big “DOWNLOAD FOR WINDOWS” button. Click it to start the download on your Windows computer.
You might need to authorize the download at the bottom left of the browser window. Now, just sit back and wait for it to complete. Unless you’ve set it elsewhere, it should download to your “Downloads” folder.
Step 2: How to install Minecraft
The installation file for Minecraft should be in your Downloads folder. If not, find the “MinecraftInstaller.msi” file wherever it is downloaded to. Double-click to run or run it from the “Download completed” dialogue at the bottom of the browser.
That should start the setup wizard to install Minecraft. From here, just follow these steps:
- Click “Next” on the welcome page.
- Pick a destination folder to install Minecraft or stick with the default location. When you’re happy, click “Next.”
- Finally, click the “Install” button, and Minecraft should begin installing. If you’re prompted, allow the installer to make changes to your computer.
- Monitor the progress and wait for it to finish.
- When the “Completed” window pops up appears; leave the “Start Minecraft after closing the installer” checked if you want to immediately run the game.
- Click “Finish” to complete the installation and launch Minecraft.
The first time you run Minecraft, it might need to download additional updates. So, just wait for it to complete.
That should open the Minecraft Launcher.
You will then need to either log in with or create a Microsoft or GitHub account to login to the launcher.
Once in the launcher, you should see Minecraft listed in the lefthand menu. If you navigate to it, you can either play a demo by clicking “Play Demo” in the bottom center of the screen or buy the full version of Minecraft by clicking “Buy now!” in the dialogue to the right.
Step 3: How to get started with Minecraft
As a game that lets you build entire worlds with almost complete freedom, it can be a little intimidating to get started with Minecraft.
In Minecraft, you will be able to mine or gather resources from your surroundings. You will then build your own tools, weapons, armor, structures, or even entire maps and landscapes. As you will see, everything in Minecraft is block-based. Whenever you mine a rock, for example, you will be breaking and collecting a cube that will be removed from the world. Examples of materials that can be gathered this way are various types of rocks, minerals, wood, soil, etc.
There is no story or linear campaign as such in Minecraft. Instead, you are free to roam the world and build anything you want.
Minecraft’s controls are pretty standard:
- Move using the “w, a, s, d” keys
- Move the mouse to orient the camera
- Use space bar to jump
- Use the left mouse button to dig, mine, or attack
- Walk over collectibles to put them in your inventory
- Open your inventory with “E.”
- The main mechanic to explore in Minecraft is crafting items from materials and components.
Sometimes components created by combining materials can be used to craft even more complicated equipment. This equipment can be used to help you gather items further, in constructing particular objects or structures, etc.
For example, you can create a shovel by combining wood with various types of stone. A shovel will, in turn, help you dig and gather materials faster.
On the other hand, a hammer will be used in constructing buildings or making weapons with blacksmithing.
In line with its sandbox-like concept, the game itself provides very little guidance or hints. It’s highly recommended that you follow a guide or wiki to learn about various crafting recipes. Alternatively, you can discover new recipes by combining materials when you discover them naturally.
A Detailed Overview of Minecraft
Build, create, craft without limits
Minecraft is a game that’s all about crafting. Create anything from usable items like gardening equipment to immense structures and buildings to entire landscapes and maps. Your imagination is literally the limit with hundreds of different types of materials and thousands of potential recipes and combinations. You can even cook food or brew drinks. Or create massive murals or art pieces.
Mix it up with different game modes
Minecraft supports a number of different game modes that you can switch between at any time. The six game modes that currently make up the game include:
- Survival: This game emphasizes the survival aspect with more fighting off hostile mobs while still relying on all the typical building and gathering mechanics.
- Creative: Players are provided with unlimited resources to gather as well as flaying. There are no enemies, leaving you free to create whatever you want.
- Hardcode: Similar to Survival with the difficulty set to “hard.” Also, once you die, you cannot respawn and lose all progress.
- Adventure: Players explore each others’ maps. There may or may not be enemies, and players can still die. The emphasis is on exploration and discovery, and materials cannot be removed from the environment.
- Spectator: Using this mode, you can fly around and explore the world but cannot interact with it in any way.
Available on almost all platforms
Minecraft is available on both Windows and macOS desktop devices. It can also be downloaded and installed on iOS and Android devices from their respective app stores. There are also special Java and Windows Server additions, plus the game even runs on Linux machines. Thanks to its low resource requirements, it can run on almost any device, old or new.
Final thoughts
Minecraft is a one-of-a-kind game even among other sandbox games. This game’s main aim is for players to explore their environment and create anything they can dream up with an extensive catalog of recipes for equipment, wearables, structures, and even landscapes. Multiple game modes keep things interesting by focusing on different aspects of this versatile game.
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