While Lucas and the team were maintaining Minecraft and developing the mobile and VR versions, the game's unique gameplay kept drawing in more and more players.
At first, most players just focused on building nice little houses.
But as time went on, many skilled players started to discover the magic of the redstone system.
Like pieces of a puzzle, redstone torches acted as continuous signal senders.
Doors, jukeboxes, and dispensers were objects that turned on when receiving a signal and off when not.
Levers and pressure plates were easy to understand—they were switches.
Repeaters adjusted signals, since redstone power faded after a certain distance, and a repeater could bring it back to full strength.
Even though no one had made a calculator or piano yet,
players had already built automatic chicken farms, small minecart systems, and basic signal gates.
At the same time, some players diving into Minecraft's adventure content discovered something else that drove them crazy: enchantments.
There were temples in forests, deserts, and even underwater.
Of course, some unlucky players, the first time they saw a desert temple, jumped right in without thinking—and instantly got blown up by TNT.
Videos like these sparked heated discussions on the official Minecraft forums.
"My mom asked why I was kneeling while watching this video!"
"We all paid the same $10, but why does your game look completely different from mine?"
"I think I bought the wrong game. I'm playing Minecraft, but what are you guys even playing?"
"No way, you can actually play it like this?"
"Honestly, Lucas selling this game for$10 is such a huge loss!"
"Damn it, I'm still a caveman stuck in the stone age, and you guys are already in the industrial era!?"
"Caveman +1, I'm still working hard just to build my own house, while you've already got chicken farms and minecarts?"
Watching all the videos from the pros, many players joked online.
They said what they were playing was called Minecraft, but what others were playing was 'Someone Else's World.' It felt like two completely different games.
But jokes aside, this didn't lessen their excitement at all.
Because in Minecraft, every player could find their own kind of fun.
All of this was thanks to Minecraft's unique qualities.
The game itself doesn't give you any so-called goal. Everything is just the goals you set for yourself.
This kind of complete freedom is almost one of a kind.
On top of that, special game mechanics fill it with endless unexpected ways to play, giving players countless ideas.
It proved that line from the trailer was true: the bigger the player's imagination, the more fun the game is.
.........
A miracle.
That was the word game designers had been using for nearly a month now to describe Minecraft.
And not just PC designers—even those focused on VR were left speechless.
Because in this short month, the power Minecraft showed was nothing short of a miracle.
It was unbelievable.
If 3 million sold on day one and 10 million in the first week were impressive, that was already huge.
After all, history had seen other games hit those numbers.
But the key difference was what came next. Usually after that kind of explosive first week, sales crash hard in week two—losing half or worse.
But Minecraft was different. Sales dipped, yes, but they stayed incredibly steady.
By the end of the second week, total sales had hit 17 million.
And it showed no signs of stopping.
At first, foreign players familiar with Nebula Games were confused.
After all, this was the studio that made Dark Souls.
Why suddenly release a pixel-style game?
But once they looked into it, they were floored.
Because when Minecraft launched overseas, Target Software copied Nebula Games' playbook, translating and re-uploading all those stunning Chinese videos.
Even before release, views for classic builds, tutorials, and redstone tech videos were exploding.
This hype blew Minecraft wide open.
In just one week overseas, sales had already hit 13 million.
And the growth trend was almost identical to the domestic version, moving forward steadily.
Sales were slowly falling, yes, but only slightly.
It was like the game had some kind of magic.
Even though it was priced like any normal indie game, the insane sales made that irrelevant.
After Minecraft's miracle launch, media outlets everywhere flooded it with praise.
"You'll never find another game like Minecraft."
"This is a game about blocks and adventure. Though to say only that is too simple. In this special game, players can explore a randomly generated world alone and create breathtaking wonders."
"Whether it's a small prison cell or a luxurious mansion, players can use their imagination freely to create."
"In survival mode, players must gather resources, build bases and weapons, and face unknown dangers. Almost every player can find their own kind of fun in this game."
"The trailer once said the only limit to the fun is the player's imagination. Looking at it now, that couldn't be more true."
"If sandbox games are a genre, then Minecraft is without a doubt the definition of it!"
That was no small praise. It was basically Game Division putting their stamp of approval on sandbox games as a real category.
As for designers across the industry, they kept studying Minecraft's design in detail.
Some who once looked down on it, thinking a pixel-style sandbox couldn't possibly be interesting—
Now none of them thought that way. The truth was clear.
Minecraft didn't just become interesting—it became a worldwide phenomenon.
But while the industry and media obsessed over Minecraft's impact, Lucas wasn't paying much attention.
At that moment, he was busy editing a very special video.
The first episode of a series recording the great events and milestones players had created in Minecraft.
(End of The Chapter)
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