Minecraft

7 cert, Microsoft Studios/4J Studios/Mjoang, Xbox Studios ****

After millions of sales, countless forums and fan-sites, and having become a hit on multiple platforms, Minecraft is finally available on Xbox Live. At first glance it’s hard to see what the fuss is about: playing a simply rendered loner (like a Lego I Am Legend), you must build your home from the ground up. That means mining for wood, stone, and other materials, and even making your own tools and crafting table from scratch. Monsters come out (mostly at night), so you’d better be prepared with shelter and weapons. It’s a tough title: creatures continue to attack you even when you pause the game, and when you die all of those tools and materials you gathered vanish unless you’ve stored them away. Harsh. Glacially slow, with blocky retro graphics, it’s hard to enjoy at first. But as you painstakingly stake your turf and create your own world, it becomes surprisingly compulsive and – eventually – very gratifying. Minecraft is certainly not to all tastes, but it’s easy to see why it has captivated millions of gamers.