Minecraft, the popular sandbox world building adventure, has just arrived at Apple’s App Store for the iPhone and iPad.
Minecraft Pocket Edition has already been rolled out to Android users, and it has been suggested that there will be eventual support for interaction between the two rivaling mobile operating systems via local wireless multiplayer.
For those of you who’ve never played or even heard of Minecraft, here’s the plot: You find yourself in the middle of utter randomness, with many different types of block in your miraculous backpack. The idea? Well, you simply build – whatever you want, and wherever you want to.
It’s one of those games that effortlessly captures the imagination, and could wind up being extremely addictive. Any title which allows users to interact (even with merely inanimate objects) in an essentially a parallel world can often leave players completely engrossed.
At the moment at least, the pocket iteration is bereft of many features which have popularized the full game such as Adventure and Survivor mode, which sees zombies creep out at the dead of night to test your defense / sheltering / building resolve as well as your health meter.
The main PC and Mac version of Minecraft will crawl out of its seemingly endless beta stretch and officially launch on November 18th. An Xbox 360 version is in the works, and will make its way to the retail market some time in 2012. With the Xbox Live features available, that could turn out to be a really captivating, immersive experience.
All that adventure will come at a price though – it’s $9.99 over at the App Store, and will drop at midnight at your local App Store. Could end up being quite a late night if you’re a Minecraft fan – then again, at least you don’t have to queue like the many millions of Call of Duty fans last week.
You may, if you haven’t already, also like to check out the Android version, which is an almost mirror image of the iOS version, and also supports the Xperia Play’s rather dated PlayStation-esque joypad.
Download Minecraft Pocket Edition for iOS
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