Ever since I was a young child, I have always been fascinated with subway systems and maps that describe them. One of my dreams was to create a metro system of my own design, something that I can play with and call my own. The dream was first satisfied with wooden train sets and track pieces that were scattered around the entire living room floor of my apartment; my imagination was inexhaustible as I designed grander and grander systems — until I began to get bored with arranging tracks from a finite set of pieces.
But then came "Minecraft: Pocket Edition," which I downloaded onto my tablet and phone when able to buy the app. For those of you who aren't too familiar with the game, "Minecraft" is a sandbox game developed by Mojang where one can create and modify their own virtual world made of block elements. It is made of a creative mode, where players may construct worlds in whatever design they choose with no consequence, and a survival mode, which is comprised of players surviving endless nights while building houses, defending themselves from monsters, hunger, and fall damage, and building their world in a more challenging environment.
That application was originally very limited in scope, as it only had a basic survival and creative mode block selection. However, updates were delivered quickly and I was able to eventually get redstone, which is a tool used that functions akin to electricity and logic gates. With redstone came the ability to create objects called powered rails, which allow minecarts to be self-propelled. An amazing idea entered my head: why not create your own subway system? Base it off ideas in the metro systems of New York City, Chicago, Washington D.C., and others! My eyes glinted with a new sense of determination as I undertook one of my most ambitious goals — to build the greatest and grandest virtual subway system I can.
My first few attempts were solid but I lacked organization and aesthetic appeal; my system looked like what current New York City subway stations look like today. Once infinite world sizes were added to the pocket edition, I created my own system of organization and consistency that would grant me maximum aesthetic appeal while minimizing the effort I needed to actually expand the system beyond the first block.
Unfortunately, the universe is sometimes a cruel place and corrupted two of my largest subway save files, worlds that took me over two years to fully flesh out. But the beauty of "Minecraft," like with the modular wooden train sets, is that you can just start over again; just because one world is deleted doesn't mean you can't enjoy with another world! So my fourth giant subway project is still ongoing, and I can assure you that it's going to be even better than the last systems! In addition, "Pocket Edition" was ported to Windows 10, which means that I can pretty much load and run the same worlds that my phone could previously interact with on a touchscreen PC!
So why is this my favorite game? "Minecraft" is my favorite video game because its very nature as a sandbox game gave me the tools to revitalize my dream of building a subway system of my own design. Its extensive developer team that constantly upgrades the game makes it even more user-friendly with each iteration. Lastly, I can basically create an infinitely long subway system that will always have room to grow and improve.
