There is something off about Minecraft's single player mode. Now the game has been sold more than a billion times and as an ever growing online community in presence, people tend to forget what game is like in the early days and still is to some degree. Now, there are a hundred online servers people can join and play on, but it wasn't always like this. Like in the day, people playing the game were much more isolated since the game wasn't that popular. So they stuck to the single player mode where they explored a massive world, all alone. The player, a character named Steve, is a blank character. He has no background or great destiny, no goals or desires. All he is is the sock puppet of the player, through which the player can see and travel the huge world called Minecraft. They punch a tree, make a crafting table and try and find shelter before night falls. The first night in Minecraft is often the moment people realise that they are not as alone as they thought they were. It's not rare that the player is hiding in a dirt hole their first night. If they are lucky enough, they will have a furnace, but most of the time they are completely in the dark, listening to the sounds of monsters creeping over their heads. From this point on, the player knows better than to carelessly run around at night. When day finally breaks and the monsters burn to a crisp under the light of the great sun, the player can finally escape their hole and continue their journey. Steve's path is one of complete freedom. They can explore most of the world, try to manufacture the tools to survive and combat the monsters or build a city wherever they stand. The player in this way is almost a god. If they are determined enough, they can raise mountains, build cities or kill the monsters waste for them in another dimension. Seeing how the player is functionally immortal and as literally all the time in the world, he can accomplish all of these feats as long as he puts his mind to it. He is a child god. The world is a sandbox that he can shape however he wants it to be. As the player travels the world, he will most likely run it in man-made structures, a dungeon and a band in mind shaft or a temple hidden in the desert. They all look like they were made by other players, people like him. But whenever you try to enter them, you won't find anyone else. It seems that whoever made these things is long forgotten. These ruins are the only evidence that someone like you was here before. Sure, there are pillages and other human-like creatures but it's clear they are not like you. They don't talk, they don't build and they don't think like you. And this is the painful nature of this infinite world. You are truly alone. The others aren't like you and the ones that were along gone, leaving only ruins. You can build a city that reaches the sky, a kingdom that covers the entire continent, light up the entire world and drive away the darkness. But the city you build will always be empty. You'll be the only citizen of your kingdom and there will always be more darkness waiting for you. You are a god and yet completely alone. In this infinite world you are the loneliest god. Forever alone. And this is the true loneliness of Minecraft, complete freedom in exchange for complete loneliness. Minecraft story is not one, a story completely unique to every player. Yet I feel like someone, practically everyone at some point in their game, has experienced the loneliness of Minecraft. And maybe, just maybe, that makes all of us a little less alone.