Minecraft Classic

What it is

Minecraft Classic is the free browser version of an early 2009 build of the block game, version 0.0.23a_01, kept online on the game's own domain. It is a small world of colored blocks, a hotbar of nine block types, and nothing else. No survival mode, nothing to craft, no menus beyond a tiny one. You place blocks and you remove them, and that is the whole game.

How to play

The page opens straight into a world, first person, crosshair in the middle. Move with the WASD keys and look around with the mouse. Left click removes the block you are looking at, right click places the one selected in your hotbar. Escape opens a small game menu with options, a button to generate a new level, and back to game. The world is stored in your browser as you build, so closing the tab does not lose it.

What makes it different

It is a time capsule. Everything that made the game famous later is missing, and what is left is oddly calming: grass, dirt, stone and water under a cloudy sky, nine block types and no goal at all. The page shows no ads, no cookie banner, no login and makes no outside requests, which is rare for anything this well known. It is also the version with the least to learn: two mouse buttons and four keys.

Why it is on Bored

Hardly anybody has seen this version, and everybody has heard of the game. It is the answer to what did it look like at the start, playable in the time it takes to ask. It needs nothing installed and asks for nothing, so it opens on any computer with a browser.

Tips

• The world is kept in your browser, clearing site data wipes it
• Generate new level from the Escape menu when you want a fresh world
• Select a block in the hotbar before you right click, that is the one that gets placed
• Do not expect the later game's tools, animals or crafting, the hotbar is the whole kit

FAQ