Minecraft is loved by many people around the world. People spend years of their lives playing, building, and exploring. Why is it so addictive?

Why Minecraft is Extremely Addictive: Endless Possibilities

Like most of our favorite open-world, sandbox games (think The Sims), Minecraft offers gamers endless possibilities. A game without limits is incredibly attractive, and once you’ve had a taste of that gaming freedom, you’ll be completely hooked. In the game, you can build and build and build. You can build whatever you like—literally anything your imagination can stretch to. Albeit, you’re stuck with squares, but when you’ve built up an entire kingdom, you can outlaw circles anyway.

Why Minecraft is Extremely Addictive: Express Your Creativity

The big difference between Minecraft and other sandbox games is creativity. If you were a fan of The Sims in your childhood (or more recently; we won’t hold it against you), it was probably the idea of building and customizing everything that had you playing for hours on end. However, The Sims really limits your creativity. Want to build a chair? Pick one from our list of pre-made chairs. You can change the color. With Minecraft, you really can build a chair exactly how you like.

Why Minecraft is Extremely Addictive: You Set Your Own Goals

Minecraft does have some goals pre-set that you can work towards. If you want to, you can set out to slay that ender dragon and then call it quits. But you can also set your own, better goals. You can build every single castle that’s ever been in Disney. Okay, that was a lame example, but you get the idea. Your goal is to achieve all that you set out to achieve. It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet and you’re starving.

Why Minecraft is Extremely Addictive: The Game Never Ends

Once you’ve set your own goals, no matter how extravagant or simple, you’ll quickly realize that there’s more. Once you’ve built that skyscraper, you’ll want to build a taller one. Then a subway service to connect them. Then… It goes on and on. Neverending fun. What’s not to love about Minecraft?