I played Minecraft from an early alpha on (paid five bucks for it I think?). There was the year where I set up a server and played with my flatmates and, in an

I played Minecraft from an early alpha on (paid five bucks for it I think?). There was the year where I set up a server and played with my flatmates and, in another country, a sibling and his close friends. A big part of my daily routine was coming home and checking out what they'd been up to. Some built elaborate structures and 'cultivated' their home, others mostly went for massive railway projects, and yet others just wandered around exploring. After a few years of no Minecraft, what with the quarantine, a friend of a sibling set up a server again, and I've started playing again. The game got more expensive, and there are other versions now. And there's a ton of new stuff. But the experience has been just as much fun. The server I'm on provides a handy map of the world, and apparently I decided to set up base quite near the edges of the 'explored' (generated) world. The owner created a massive base at the spawn point, and I spent a good few days finding a place of my own, getting the resources I need, and then making a railway to the spawn. My younger brother did the same, and has also been working on a railway to spawn. He got distracted though because his gf might want to play, so he spent a bunch of time making his home safer. What strikes me most is that feeling of immersion and comfort that so far only the best of Metroid(vania) games give me. I've become intimately familiar with my home area, which now has cows and chickens and pigs. I've been landscaping it a bit with massive trees. And under my home there's a sprawling cave system, parts of which I've explored and 'tamed', and parts of which are still full of resources that I keep getting lost in. I 'know' much of my home region and cave system by feel, and I can tell when I start getting lost. There's a weird 'bubble' feeling when I take my minecart to the spawn point, because I am unfamiliar with all but the area directly next to the tracks, and the 'town' at spawn. It feels a lot like the real world, but blockier and entirely virtual. It's one of those 'gaming' feelings that I often wish I could convey to others. I've had similar feelings about WoW, the culture and familiarity of de_dust2, and Animal Crossing/Stardew Valley. It's difficult to argue with 'well why don't you just go walk in a real forest'