Deep under the ground with Minecraft
Welcome to my refuge from the lurking horrors of the dark. It might look like a fairly ordinary bedroom, replete with books, pictures, torches, and a bed, but appearances can be deceptive in this imaginary realmas can the appeal of wasting time here.
Minecraft has crept up on me. I originally installed and began playing it to teach the children, but ended up returning to it for the odd hour late at night again and again. A fantasy realm filled with things that go bump in the night, sunshine, chilled out music, and caves. Lots of caves. It's become a bizarre stress buster.
The above photomy virtual hide-awayexists at the bottom of a 100ft deep tunnel from a more grand bedroom, the entrance to which is hidden behind a book case. The grand bedroom is a short walk along torch lit marble lined corridors from an imposing hall, complete with balconies, under floor lighting, rivers of lava, and overhead walkways. One day it might become the central atrium of an underground city. Yes, I said underground. It's vaulted ceilings still lie many hundreds of feet under the ground, accessed via a number of chambers, stairwells, ante rooms, and imposing torch-lit halls.
Above ground the only sign that anything exists is a modest series of steps in the corner of a hill, leading to a wooden door, set slightly into the hillside.
Some might think it childish to spend the odd hour playing the same game your children obsess over, but the payoff comes when you donate your virtual Valhalla to them via a USB stick, and invite them to extend it themselves. Watching their wonder as they explore the underground labyrinth is payoff enough.
One day I will set one of the computers up as a server, and surprise them within the game worldwalk up to them, and wave a greeting. Until them, I have some more holes to dig.