#mt25 march

Event Period: March 25-April 7 2025 Completed: April 4th, PC (Minecraft: Bedrock Edition) Play time: ~2h 43m

Sometimes Minecraft does these "Live Events" which coincide with significant happenings, such as mob votes, major updates, crossovers, or--in this case--a movie. They exist as multiplayer servers that can be joined from the main menu and offer unique gameplay not found in vanilla Minecraft. I tend to try checking them out, unlocking whatever cosmetics they give out for the character creator, seeing what the new map and minigames are like, etc. Usually they are entertaining enough to warrant a few days' play time, and I get to connect with the playerbase of mostly 12-year-olds and answer questions like "is anybody going to see the minecraft movie," or "how do i get the buckchuckets," or "do you guys like minecraft," or "ok so am i the only person seeing the minecraft movie," or "am i the only person who likes minecraft?"

This event was special because it is one of the strangest things Mojang has done in recent memory. For the most part, it's a passable collection of three mini-games themed after scenes from the movie. The mini-games are all decent, with interesting and detailed maps to explore and varied gameplay. But also, this is a very very corporate product. This exists to make you buy movie tickets.

The first thing you see when you log in is Jack Black in his Steve clothes. Every eight seconds or so, he will deliver one of his five wacky phrases, such as "I... am Steve," or "let's go save the overworld!" At one point I stared at him for ten seconds and he said, unblinking, unmoving, "there are dark forces who want to destroy this world." Then a player with a battle axe tried to kill him. I went into the armory and he kept repeating his funny phrases from outside the building. Faintly, I could hear him repeating that he is Steve.

What also really stands out is the artstyle of this server's map. So, obviously, "A Minecraft Movie" is based on Minecraft. Well, the "A Minecraft Movie" Live Event is based on "A Minecrat Movie." So the blocks in Live Event look like interpretations of "A Minecraft Movie's" set, which is, again, an interpretation of Minecraft. Am I conveying this adequately? It's an interpretation of an interpretation, except it exists in the source material. Visually, it looks like they examined "A Minecraft Movie" and said, "how can we make this in Minecraft?" Instead of, I don't know, making it look like Minecraft. I don't know why it's like this. It's fucking bizarre. I feel like an insane person trying to explain how weird it feels.

Release: May 2022, Playdate Beaten: March 24th, Playdate (S1) Play time: 43m

It was not very good and that's about all I want to say.

Release: March 2025, PC/PS5/Xbox Series X|S Beaten: March 22nd, Xbox Series S Play time: 12h 31m

Wanderstop is a remarkable game that manages to do a lot. It's about, by my measurement, a million things. It's about burnout. It's about self-hatred. It's about the passage of time. It's about death, failure, the weight of success, family trauma. Patience. Stagnation. Denial.

But to me the most impactful thing Wanderstop explores is the idea of letting go. It explores this in many ways. Sometimes you will miss an opportunity you wanted to take. Sometimes you will work meticulously on something and it will be taken away or rejected. Sometimes you will lose something, or someone that brought you happiness, or purpose. And you are powerless to stop it.

Are you okay with that? Are you okay with being powerless? Are you okay with letting go? The protagonist of Wanderstop is not. Neither am I. But you have to try to be. Because you will always lose, you can't win forever, and everything you love is impermanent.

And that is okay. Relationships will fail and you will look back at them sadly, fondly, perhaps bitterly. But they were good in your life for a time. Friends will die and you will want nothing more than for them to be there with you again, but they can't be. But they were good, and they were in your life for a time. You will fail at something, and you will feel deeply that you have let yourself down, that you were so good at it before and you slipped. But you have won before, and it was good, and that was a part of your life. If you have to linger, linger on the good, and accept that what comes next will always be different, and that nothing is guaranteed. And that is okay.

Release: Jan 2014, iOS Beaten: March 17, PC (Steam) Play time: 2h 49m

Release: December 2024, PC Beaten: March 12th, PC (itch.io) Play time: 40m

Release: April 2024, PC (itch.io) Beaten: March 11th, PC (itch.io) Play time: 18m

Release: March 2025, PC Beaten: March 10th (Main), March 11th (100%), PC (itch.io) Play time: 2h 43m (Main), 4h 56m (100%)

it's peak

Release: Sep 2024, Playdate Beaten: March 10, Playdate Play time: 1h 41m

Fairly decent game that is held back by things like the crank position being different from an analog stick even though it's mapped like one (not the most egregious offense; the wonkiness kind of added to the fun) and by a final set of levels that are absolute dogshit (they're bonus at least, but the game doesn't roll credits, so I felt like I had to give them a shot. I regret that).