Markus "Notch" Persson, the creator of "Minecraft" and the founder of Mojang Specifications, has been working on his world-crafting smash hit for quite a while now. After a few years, it's easy to get burnt out working on the same project. A good way to combat this fatigue is to take on small, just-for-fun projects to keep your ideas fresh. Case in point: Notch went ahead and made a whole game in 48 hours as part of the Ludum Dare competition and now you can play it!
The game, titled "Prelude of the Chambered," is sort of a mix between "Zelda," "Metroid" and "Oblivion," using the low-fi graphics engine of "Minecraft." The objective is to collect all the loot, picking up gear like power fists and ice skates to help you access new areas. And yes, it's built in Java, because that's how Notch rolls.
Meanwhile, Notch and his crew are still working on the massive Adventure Update for "Minecraft," which is said to add fancy stuff like rivers, villages and a quest-like system where you have to journey across your randomly-generated land to uncover objects of value. It's getting more and more "Zelda"-y by the day!
That's not to mention the game's constant evolution on a variety of platforms. "Minecraft: Pocket Edition" just released for the Xperia Play and Androids (though it's currently just the Creative mode). It's also coming to Xbox Live Arcade later this year, with some sort of Kinect functionality built in. I can't even begin to imagine how Microsoft's TOS reps are going to put a lid on those giant penis towers, but I'm sure they'll find a way.