I have no idea what this game is, but the numbers are impressive:
"In the last 24 hours, 3121 people registered, and 1298 people bought the game."
The price is about 13 USD, so that's roughly $17,000 in sales today, or $700 an hour...
"In the last 24 hours, 3121 people registered, and 1298 people bought the game."
The price is about 13 USD, so that's roughly $17,000 in sales today, or $700 an hour...
In survival mode, there are zombies and spiders that appear at night. They're pretty difficult to kill with just your hand, and they will mob you pretty quickly. So you essentially have to construct a safety fort to live. People solve this problem in pretty elaborate ways sometimes.
One of the most interesting aspects of the game is how subtle the world around you is. When you cut down a tree, you usually can find a new tree seed to plant it again. The tree grows based on how much light it's exposed to. The zombies sometimes get in fights with each other, or local non-violent wildlife (pigs, cows). Water can flood your tunnels if you hit it, and lava does the same.
All of this, and it's endearing. The menu screen has a joking catchphrase which changes every time, the developer Notch is as in love with the game as everyone else, and the rest of the community is hugely cooperative in building things, even if it takes a huge amount of effort. These reasons are what get people to stay, and get the purchase.
I only wish I could hack on this code, the problems seem hugely interesting (rendering miles of block, even at low detail, is resource intensive, and simulating an environment on top of that).
What the community did? They started a thread to share their stories, understand the new behavior and generally have a good laugh.
I've seen 16-bit adders and clocks made with the in-game elements. Structures spanning thousands of square kilometers are not uncommon to see.
I don't know if it was self-selection or just sheer luck, but I think the community is worth noting, especially now that the survival mode has multiplayer capabilities.