If your house is anything like ours Minecraft is a daily topic of conversation. From listening to our oldest detail the plans for his latest construction to breaking up arguments when his brother accidentally set a lava fire on his farm, Minecraft has become a pretty permanent part of our lives over the last few years. I know a fair deal about the game, despite not having the time to really play it myself. I learn a lot from listening to the kids talk, and even more from listening to the Youtube videos they play in the backseat of the car. The buzz around our house lately has been all about the new Minecraft game, Minecraft Story Mode from Telltale Games. You may be familiar with Telltale Games from some of their other popular titles, like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones.
Like their other titles Minecraft: Story Mode is a “Choose Your Own Adventure” style cinematic game. This means instead of the free play we are accustomed to with Minecraft, Story Mode takes you on a guided adventure. The game will be release in five separate episodes, with the first one available digitally on October 13th, and the others being released throughout the year. We had a chance to preview the first episode of Minecraft Story mode last week, where we learned about different ways to play and got to play through the entire first episode!! Here’s what we learned:
Minecraft Story Mode is a single player game set in the Minecraft world. You follow along a group of characters who will need to become heroes as their world is plunged into chaos at the hands of a dangerous villain. Players make choices for Jesse, a male or female character of the group. Playing Minecraft Story Mode is a little bit like watching a movie and a little bit like playing an adventure game. As each scene plays you are prompted to make choices for the group that shapes the outcome of the game. Choices are timed, and the outcome of the scene changes depending on what you choose. Players who are familiar with Minecraft will instantly recognize the familiar surroundings, characters and actions, like mining and fighting off mobs. For players unfamiliar with the Minecraft world characters are quick to prompt you through actions like crafting a weapon, making the game easy to play for even those with no Minecraft experience.
If you would like to play in multiplayer mode then you can visit GGServers, where you can purchase an affordable Minecraft server for a reasonable price whilst still maintaining high quality, or you can visit another site of your choosing. Minecraft is great to play in multiplayer mode as you can have more fun with your friends whilst exploring the beautiful game and going on an adventure into your own world!
There are other servers out there too. For example, joining Minecraft Skyblock Servers places your character on an island suspended in the sky. This forces you to be more careful when it comes to managing your resources. Give it a go and see how you get on.
Minecraft Story Mode is a single player game, but we played in a ‘Crowd Play’ style. That means one of the group – in our case my eight year old – was using the controller the rest of us would vote on a decision by yelling out the choice we wanted to make. The episode took us about 1 1/2 hours to play through and kept us all on the edge of our seats the entire time, quick to yell out our choice of actions. Crowd Play wound up being a great way for our entire group to enjoy the game together, which was great for the kids who are always asking us to play Minecraft with them. What we thought would be a kid focused event actually turned into a fun morning for the whole family!
We are excitedly awaiting the release of the first episode so that we can play again at home with family and friends. Crowd Play makes it an excellent party game and Telltale Games does a great job of making the game interesting for hardcore Minecraft fans and those unfamiliar with the Minecraft Phenomenon.
Minecraft Story Mode Episode 1: The Order of the Stone is being released digitally on October 13th for PC/Mac, Playstatoion 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, iOS and Android and then on October 27 in retail stores! You can also order a Minecraft Story Mode Season Disc, which will contain episode one and will download the other four as they become available (this is a great option for gifting as you know they’ll be getting the entire series!).
Want a preview of the gameplay? Telltalle Games is having a World Premier Launch Event for Minecraft Story Mode by hosting the world’s largest Crowd Play event in Hollywood, California on October 12th! You can tune into Mojang’s Youtube Gaming channel to watcha livestream of the event where thousands of people will be cheering and directing the decisions of the gameplay. Check out Mojang’s channel here: https://gaming.youtube.com/TeamMojang and tune in Monday October 12th at 7pm PT/10pm ET to check out the game!
To keep up to date follow Telltale Games on Facebook & Twitter and watch the preview of Minecraft Story Mode Episode 1: The Order of the Stone right now below!
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WovbesMEyQ[/embedyt]
A lot of kids are so addicted to minecraft! It’s nice because it enhances their creativity and imagination.
Great review! It’s familiar:-) My son a Minecraft addict. I always hear details from him. Thanks for the review!
My son loves this game. The World Premier Launch sounds like a great event. Thanks for sharing the link.
I love your reviews Diana! I wonder how long it will be before some sharp editor comes along and snaps you up for next to nothing. Just remember to listen to Jason when it comes time to negotiate your contract. He’s got more experience dealing with people on that lelvel. Otherwise, keep up the great work!