The Secret to a Video-Game Phenomenon

Eschewing grit and realism for creativity and simplicity, Minecraft has heralded a new era in which bedroom programmers can bypass publishers and still see their creations become global hits.

All video-game makers are minor gods. They are, after all, in the business of world creation. The game creator sets down the mountains and arranges the valleys in his or her world. The creator decides upon the skys hue, the waters viscosity, the pitch of birdsong, and the force of gravitys pull. The creator types Let there be light (or the C# equivalent) and there is light. The creator chooses how and when night falls and whether or not there will be a new dawn. The creator conjures how time works (linear, malleable, or something else entirely) and writes the strands of code that form the incumbent creatures DNA. Then, when everything is planned out, the creator clicks RUN to execute a Big Bang.