Click here to read editor-at-large Harry McCracken’s full magazine story on The Mystery of Minecraft — including an in-depth trip to the developer’s headquarters in Sweden — available exclusively for TIME subscribers.
In Minecraft’s aptly named Survival Mode, players must find shelter, feed themselves and fend off monsters. But they start by mining blocks, the basic building elements that can be assembled into tools, weapons, structures, crops and even livestock.
Illustrations by Ole Ostring for TIME; Steve’s World: Mojang
Click here to read editor-at-large Harry McCracken’s full magazine story on The Mystery of Minecraft — including an in-depth trip to the developer’s headquarters in Sweden — available exclusively for TIME subscribers.
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