TLDR: I first started playing Minecraft regularly in 2011, but stopped sometime in 2013/14. Every few years I revisit it for an hour or two but nothing more. I started playing b1.7.3 again recently and and am really enjoying it, far more than I have since I last stopped playing regularly. So much so that I've decided to document my adventures as I rediscover what drew me into the game in the first place.

It was around 2011 when my best friend LJ introduced me to Minecraft. I wanted to play with him, but it cost 20 SGD (~15 USD). I asked my parents if they could buy it for me, and they proposed the following: at the time, I was drawing a comic book and they wanted me to sell copies of it to friends and family, at least enough to pay for half of it. So I did, and I got a copy of the game to play with LJ, though my parents at the time probably regret ever having made that decision.

Soon, I spent countless hours digitally adventuring with LJ, JQ and YM, watched countless hours of Minecraft videos on YouTube. My parents had to practically pry me away from this game. My obsession with the game lasted until 2013/14.

Since then, I've revisited the game every few years or so, just to see what's changed. Every once in a while, I hop into a new world, but I don't ever play for more than an hour before never opening it again for the next few months or years (though when they overhauled the cave generation system, I remember playing that new update with my little brother for a bit, but that too was a few years ago at this point).

I know that they've since added a bunch of new items, environments, features, etc. But I couldn't be bothered to figure them all out; they've added too many new things at this point. Every time I make a new world, I'm dropped into a game that feels all at once familiar and alien.

But recently, I started playing beta version 1.7.3, not for any particularly meaningful reason. I thought I'd just get a quick nostalgia hit and then abandon it like I always have these past few years, but as I began to gather wood and descend into caves for what must be the millionth time, as I pass my first night with dimly-lit torches, listening to the old ambient soundtrack by C418, I'm yet again drawn into the charm of this simple, blocky game.

I don't know why I've never thought to revisit this specific version of Minecraft that I grew up playing, but it feels more like home than any other version. Small things like the old textures, lighting, sounds make a lot of difference. No wonder there are mods that specifically bring those "features" to modern versions of Minecraft.

In any case, I'm really enjoying my time with this beta 1.7.3 version of Minecraft, and I at least want to document some parts of it this time, because I never did so as a kid.