Brilliant game. Fun and addictive.
I first found out about it on Youtube. My first impression of it was a game with bad graphics and pretty boring gameplay. As time went on, Minecraft got much more popular on Youtube. I went to the website and see what the fuss was all about.
First of all, the free version is nothing compared to the actual game. I bought the game instantly when it was in alpha. I recommend trying out the free version before buying the beta version.
When first trying it out, I had no idea what to do. A tutorial or 'useful tips' should be for the new players. However, after watching many Youtube videos, I found out that the main point of the game is to explore the world. The resources you find, you can make many items. With the blocks you can get, you can make buildings and other great things (such as a roller coaster!). In a way, you are making your own miniture world.
Exploring the map is the main attraction of Minecraft. When you find a cave, you just can't help but explore the whole place. The world is absolutely huge (reason why it takes a lot of memory to run the game), and you can't help but explore as much as you possibly can.
Now what are the bad points?
It is still in beta, so a lot of work is still to be done. Mainly the multiplayer. So I won't say anything bad about it.
The game can get annoying because of creepers, which explode and can kill you in one shot without armour. This can be annoying as if you are far away from your respawn point, you will lose all your items that was lost when you died.
The only downside of the game is the amount of memory it needs to run it. Modern computers will cope easily, though those with older computers will find the game hard to run.
I recommend this game to anyone, who would like a peaceful game to play and enjoys exploring and constructing great things.