Minecraft and Agency

In the lecture on Friday when Steven Poole was mentioned. I couldn't help but think of Minecraft as the game which contradicts his point about the agency that videogames provide are just an illusion. This is evident upon playing the first five minutes of the game as Minecraft has almost no limitations.

If you haven't played Minecraft its a sandbox building game or survival game depending on the mode you choose. You play in the first person perspective but what sets it apart from almost every other game is that the whole world is made out of blocks like lego and these can all be manipulated. Because each level is randomly generated whenever you play the only limitations this game is set by is the physics and the properties of each block. Many players of this game make structures that noone could imagine possible and I don't think the creators could influence the players' agency as Steven Poole would have us believe. Of course this prevents the game from having a storyline but it displays a game where agency is definitely not an illusion.

Jacob Hui