Minecraft
Minecraft is a sandbox video game created by Mojang Studios in which the player is dropped into a premade world constructed of blocks. Players can build, survive, fight monsters, and more in this game.
Music in Minecraft
Minecraft music is some of the most calming video game music. It tends to sneak up on you, starting out quietly and growing into an immersive soundtrack that feels quite natural to the game. Out of all the case studies I have on this website, Minecraft does the best job getting the player into the "zone." This is curious, for Minecraft does not have specific themes or leitmotifs for places or events. Instead, the music just begins. If you are not familiar with how Minecraft music might work inside the game, take a listen here:
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The repetitive strings and piano melodies of Minecraft music lull the player into a state of ultra focus. In Winifred Phillips' book (discussed in the introduction), she writes about her own struggles in crafting a soundtrack that would optimize focus and get the player into the "zone." She found that minimalism worked best for this (Phillips 99). Minecraft also has a fairly minimalist soundtrack, which could suggest that minimalism in video game music can be one way to help create the zone for the player. The composer for Minecraft music, Daniel Rosenfeld (C418), writes on his website that "Minimalism was and is definitely key when it comes to the soundtrack. Although Minecraft in and of itself is a very frantic and wild experience, I wanted to give the game a contrast by essentially giving the player a pentatonic chill pill" (Rosenfeld). Perhaps this contrast is part of what makes minimalism work so well for video game music. The calm music keeps the player from drawing back out from the game after a setback. Of course, that's just speculation, but it seems significant that both of these composers chose a minimalist style for their video game soundtracks.