Let me get something straight right off the bat, I have still not played Minecraft. I’ve seen the videos pop up on the internet, I’ve seen the shirts, and I’ve even seen my younger relatives play it. But for some reason I never got around to playing it myself. I guess it’s that busy lifestyle I lead as somebody who spends most of their time sleeping. Well, now’s my chance to play – kinda. Pickcrafter for iOS devices is a game that claims to be inspired by Minecraft. So let’s just say this will suffice for now.

The Basics

From what I can understand, Minecraft is a game about mining and…crafting. Well, Pickaxe is a game about picking and…crafting. You see, unlike what I’ve heard about Minecraft, Pickcrafter doesn’t seem to have any 3D adventuring. So, whatever you craft you can’t really see it.

The Gameplay

Pickcrafter throws you right into the action, presenting you with a simple pick and some materials to get picking through. You can either mine through tapping or swinging your phone. Personally, I preferred tapping because swinging my phone requires effort. And, you can tell from my articles, I’m not much for inputting effort. So I tapped and tapped and tapped away and…not much happened. I knew I was collecting materials but nothing else was happening. Was I doing something wrong? As usual, probably.

Is It Fun?

I really kept thinking I was doing something wrong with Pickcrafter. I was tapping and tapping away without roughly anything happening. The only incidents of note were my pick catching on fire and blazing through a bunch of materials and a small monster appearing once that I just had to tap away. That was it. The only other part, the crafting, just kind of confused me. I tapped and tapped away to get enough material for a sword, just to be stuck with no way to equip it. The game never really gave me any instruction, so I was stuck with a useless sword that took me hundreds of taps to get.

The Bottom Line

This game claims to be inspired by Minecraft. Well, if this is exactly what Minecraft is, I don't see what the big deal is. I understand it’s a simple mobile game, but I was a bit confused at what exactly I was doing wrong. Perhaps one day I’ll exert the cash and energy to play Minecraft for myself. Perhaps.