Minecraft

Still the most open game on the chart. Buy it once for the house, set the purchase controls, and let it be whatever the player wants it to be.

Pay once, optional extrasSandbox survivalCreative modeEvery platformMicrosoft account

Minecraft is Mojang's block-building survival game, the best-selling video game ever made, and the one most likely to be played by three generations of the same family. Dig, build, explore, survive the night, or switch to creative mode and just build. On PC one purchase includes both editions; on consoles and phones it is a single purchase too. The optional Marketplace and Realms are where the money is, and they are genuinely optional.

The four bearings

• N
  Newcomer · 20%
  8

  Runs on anything, installs in minutes and starts immediately. It explains almost nothing on purpose, which delights some new players and stalls others; the in-game tutorial world and the community fill the gap.

• E
  Every session · 35%
  8.5

  A session is whatever you make it: a mine, a build, a trip. Survival's day-night loop gives even aimless play a rhythm. Combat is simple and the interface is dated.

• S
  Staying power · 25%
  9.5

  Fifteen years of free updates, an infinite world, servers, mods on Java, and a creative mode with no ceiling. People stop and come back for a decade.

• W
  Wallet · 20%
  8.5

  One purchase covers the game. Bedrock's Marketplace sells maps and skins with a currency and is aimed at children; Realms is a fair monthly price for a private server. Neither is needed.

Weighted 20 / 35 / 25 / 20 into an Atlas score of 8.7. How the bearings work.

What you are actually doing

You appear in a generated world made of blocks and, in survival mode, you have until nightfall to punch a tree, make tools and dig a hole to sleep in. From there the game is what you decide it is: mining deeper for better materials, farming, taming animals, building a house that becomes a castle, exploring for villages and ruins, and eventually travelling to other dimensions to fight a dragon that the game never told you existed. Creative mode removes danger and gives you every block; it is where the enormous builds on the internet come from.

There are two editions. Java, the original, runs on PC only and has the modding scene. Bedrock runs on everything else and on Windows, and is where cross-play, the Marketplace and Realms live. On PC one purchase now includes both.

The first evening, honestly

Minecraft installs fast and starts instantly, and then does almost nothing to help. That is a feature for a curious child and a puzzle for an adult who expects a tutorial. Bedrock has a tutorial world worth playing once, and the internet has explained every block a thousand times. The interface is old and the crafting grid takes a few tries. Within an hour most players have a shelter and a plan, which is the moment the game becomes theirs.

Why it stays

Free updates have arrived every year for fifteen years, and since 2025 they come as four 'game drops' a year: 2026 has brought Tiny Takeover in March, Chaos Cubed in June and Wilderness Bound on 15 September, with a new forest biome, poplar trees and a straw bed that skips the night without moving your spawn point. Servers turn it into a hundred different games, from minigames to survival communities. Java's mods turn it into a hundred more. And creative mode is a toy with no end. For families it is the game that a six-year-old and a parent can share on the same world, which is rarer than it should be; more than 350 million copies have been sold.

Where it shines, where it drags

The toll: what it costs in the UK

Minecraft is a single purchase on every platform. On PC the purchase includes both the Java and Bedrock editions on one Microsoft account. Inside Bedrock, the Marketplace sells maps, skins and texture packs with a currency called Minecoins, a Marketplace Pass subscription rents a rotating catalogue, and Realms rents a private always-on server for a monthly fee. Java has free community servers and free mods. None of the extras are required. Prices are the Microsoft Store UK on 24 September 2026.

• Java and Bedrock Edition for PC£29.99
• Deluxe Collection (adds Minecoins and packs)£39.99
• Console and phone editionsSold separately on each platform's store
• Realms for Bedrock (you and two friends)£3.29 a month
• Realms Plus for Bedrock (you and ten friends, plus the Marketplace catalogue)£6.69 a month
• Realms for Java$7.99 a month, billed by Mojang
• MinecoinsSold in packs; price shown in the Bedrock store

Randomised items: No. Marketplace items are sold at fixed Minecoin prices. There are no loot boxes.

Subscriptions and online play: Java servers and Bedrock friends-only play need nothing beyond the game. Online play on PlayStation, Xbox and Switch needs the platform's paid online service. Realms is a separate subscription.

Prices checked 24 September 2026 on the UK stores named above. See Paying for games in the UK for the rights that apply to each payment route.

Who it suits

Builders, explorers, families, and anyone who likes the idea of a game with no instructions. If you would rather the game gave your day a shape, Stardew Valley is the other Home Ground game.

Where to go next

Start with the Minecraft waypoint for a first evening that goes well. Or compare it directly: Stardew Valley or Minecraft.