Like so many others I have spent my time with
and enjoyed playing Minecraft on my PC.
While there are debates about whether it is
a 'game' in the strictest of terms, there's
no denying the sense of satisfaction that
comes from setting a goal and working your
way towards it.
However, Minecraft - Pocket Edition...
... well there's no other way to say it other
than "it's simply the free java browser version
for your iOS device of choice," and this alone
wouldn't be so bad, but it's also plagued
with issues.
Getting around your randomly generated world
is easy enough thanks to a lack of monsters
- simple swipes allow you to look around while
a giant virtual pad moves you back and forward,
side to side, and jump.
However, the game does get a bit confused
as to what it can automatically jump up, with
some blocks placed in the world (such as glass)
causing your character to hump and slide around
the transparent cube like a zero-g sex offender.
This aside, you're free to drop blocks in
the world, from a selection of 36 different
kinds, to build the fantasy structure of your
dreams.
Unlike the game's bigger brother there's no
crafting, which means no doors or other useful
structures to make the world interactive,
severely limiting your creative output to
what amounts to a virtual game of LEGO blocks.
Things are further restricted by the limited
size of each world, taking a mere couple minutes
to traverse from corner to corner, less if
the randomly generated biome (note: singular)
is flatter than others.
What you get for your money is a virtual block
playground that you can also share with your
friends on a local Wifi network.
Unfortunately having tasted the PC version
(which is also still a work in progress),
Minecraft - Pocket Edition feels more like
a diversion than the creative time waster
gamers have come to know and love.
Worth grabbing if you can't fulfill that creative
itch or you'd like to gamble on updates adding
deeper gameplay content.
