Minecraft is a game which mixes elements of sandbox, survival horror and construction game. It is an evolved version of Minecraft Classic.

As in Minecraft Classic the player is dropped in a randomly generated world made out of cubes. Unlike the classic version where the player can add and remove blocks at will, in this version all blocks the player wants to place must first be "mined" elsewhere. Some materials require special equipment to be mined. Stone requires a wooden pick axe to be mined; gold requires an iron pick axe and obsidian requires a diamond pick axe. The player can also create shovels and normal axes to mine sand, dirt and wood faster. Mining is no longer instant but requires the player to hit the block a couple times, tools reduce the time.

Some blocks can not be found in nature but require crafting. Clay, for example, can be split into clay balls, which when baked turn into bricks which can be combined to form brick wall blocks. Baking happens in a stone oven, which requires a steady supply of coal and the oven itself needs to be crafted at a workbench, which needs to be constructed first.

This time the player(s) are not alone. During the day pigs, chickens, cows and sheep roam the land. Some of them, when killed or struck, will drop valuable items such as leather required for protective clothing or pork chops which when baked can heal the player. But at night and in the dark randomly generated caverns monsters rule the land. There are various different monsters, including the zombie, a skeleton archer, an exploding creeper, deadly spiders and gelatinous cubes. Aside from randomly spawning in dark areas, they also spawn in so-called "mob spawners" which spawn enemies indefinitely until properly illuminated or destroyed. To defend himself against enemies the player can craft weapons such as a sword and bow, and protective clothing to reduce damage. When the player dies his items are dropped at the place of his death, but the player respawns at his original spawn point. Items can be recovered if the player reaches them within five minutes (unless they fell into lava).

The randomly generated worlds are structured in such a fashion that more valuable resources are either rare or only spawn in deep caverns far below the ground.

Aside from building blocks the game also, unlike its previous versions, offers more complex building. The player can create railway systems and ride mine carts, row in a small boat, and build pressure plates, switches, doors and electrical circuits to power various contraptions.

The game features no pre-set goals and advocates exploration and construction.