Why Steve is the Loneliest God (A Minecraft Video Essay) 

You know you're lonely when you try to build a secret base in a single player world

"Complete freedom in exchange for complete loneliness", what a great quote

Seeing some Hardcore players destroy and rebuild the entire End Dimension in their image really puts into perspective that Steve is 100% a god in his own right.

I always read the villagers as “human enough” so one of the first things I did in minecradt was fill my town i had created with them. I often felt like returning to my well lit town that i was returning from loniliness (exploring) to the safety of civilization

> Enters a thriving world that lives in balance between mobs, villagers and pillagers > Enslaves the villages for personal gain > Makes large killing chambers for pretty much most mobs > Depletes the world of its natural resources > Refuses to elaborate In Minecraft, you play as the British Empire, and the world is your colony.

This was one of the soul reasons why i never slaughtered villages while everyone Else did. To me, villages were the closest thing to people in the game. Therefore I preferred turning villages into larger towns, cities, expanding and protecting the population, even tho their trades were God awful back then.

"I feel like someone 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" it kind of reminds me of some of the lyrics in "piano man" "they're sharing a drink they call loneliness But it's better than drinkin' alone"

There are two characters in Minecraft that talk to you directly, iirc. They do it only once and that’s when you jump into the end portal for the first time after slaying the ender dragon

I struggle to play single player Minecraft anymore due to the fact that it’s so unnerving and creepy how isolated everything is

Steve reminds me of my social life. Even china doesn't want my data

As you said, "Complete freedom in exchange of complete loneliness" hits different. It makes me feel lonely as well the fact I've been playing Minecraft alone for 8 years until I've played in servers. I'm 17 and still play Minecraft. To be honest, I play Minecraft to escape from reality where all my sadness is poured into this game which made my day and I'm very grateful I grew up with this game.

As someone who quite literally formed economies for villagers, castles, and big creations hoping for someone to soon join in with me in which no one eventually ever did. It was quite striving playing as a "lone-wolf" though I never felt being afraid adventuring alone it was all interesting gameplay throughout single-player. It was never disturbing, frankly I enjoyed being alone.

A god that can make a cake and yet no one to eat it except himself A god that can do build tall castles of gold and yet no one to see it except himself A god that beat any enemy and yet no one to protect except himself A god that can be better than anyone else and yet still no one to admire this truth except himself A god that can carve through mountains and yet no one pass through except himself A god that can build monuments in respect to his dead dog and yet no one to stand there with him A god that can get rid of entire oceans and yet no one to make a house on the sea bed except himself A god that can do the worst thing humans have ever imagined and no one to punish him A god that can to the most beautiful things and no one to congratulate him Edit: Dang, thanks for all of the likes and appreciation

Steve resembles Notch himself, a solo creator and a god of his own world. He got everything he ever wanted but at a cost of loneliness and madness..

I love it when people give characters like Steve... well, character. The Minecraft trailers and promotional videos give him a personality and I love it.

I feels this every time playing minecraft on single player. Nowadays I just usually make all of my bases close to villages. The villagers make the game less lonely and gives me a purpose and direction. Making their lives better feels nice, even if they don’t have the consciousness to appreciate it.

When I first got minecraft, I had no other friends who played it, and no access to servers. I could only make singleplayer worlds. I made a massive city when I was twelve. It spanned across an entire shattered savannah biome, connected by bridges of minecarts with powered rails. I even had some of these tracks go underground and lead to villages and landmarks biomes away. I built automatic farms on floating islands, a fifteen story building going from the ground to the highest point in the shattered savannah mountains, waterfalls, lakes, secret bunkers accessible only through odd redstone monstrosities. I terraformed the fuck out of my biome. I made a collection of huge glass domes and spheres on the ground and in the air to build my own taiga, jungle, desert, and flower field biomes. I built and fully decorated *hundreds* of houses. I was the lone occupant of the entire city.

Steve: “Alright! I’ve breed every mob in the game! Give me the Two by Two achievement!” Game: “No, one mob remains.” Steve: “WHAT?! Impossible! I’ve double checked that’s every mob in Minecraft!” Game: “All expect one… You.” Steve: “ . . . ” *Long Pause* Steve: **Looks depressed**

*"The city you build will always be empty - you'll be the only citizen of your kingdom and there will always be more darkness..."* That's deep and struck me because of how true it is - in life sometimes no matter what you do and how much you love doing that thing, when it's just you, it doesn't how much joy it brings you because deep down in the far reaches of your mind, when you're the only one, it's meaningless...

I think this is one of the big reasons why a lot of people after a while stop playing minecraft, only to come back a couple years later. When they see all the new updates they perhaps think there maybe someone like them and they go and explore. No one truly stops with minecraft, everyone just takes brakes of different time spans.

I once built a massive underground kingdom with treasure rooms, trading areas, banquet halls, storage areas, homes, and machines. I built a huge wall with ornate guardtowers along the corners or at regular intervals. I even started work on a large futuristic sugarcane farm that would automatically collect and deposit its yield into transportation rails. I added fishing boats, wheat fields, a gothic mountain cabin, a riverboat, and I even converted my nether portal into a large corrupted tree. Then I just... stopped. Why was I building all this? What was my ultimate goal? This video essay perfectly sums up the story of singleplayer Minecraft for me.

A short and sweet dive into the atmosphere that Minecraft is still known for - Infinite beauty and potential for infinite solitude. As enjoyable as it is to socialise with friends and those online within this game, Minecraft's loneliness is still a bittersweet theme even after all these years. Fantastic video.

This is an amazing and such a well written script. It really touched me on a personal level.

"Complete freedom for complete loneliness." *That's deep.*

For this reason I wish they would make the villagers more dynamic. I sometimes just have the desire to make a large settement and integrate them.

“Maybe, just maybe, that makes all of us a little less alone” **cries in minecraft**

Minecraft always made me sad, the quiet moment between journeys, and seeing your reflection can be… isolating. No amount of mods can help me loneliness, no mob can make me feel less alone, because at the end of it all, whether I have a pet or not, makes me feel alone.

I remember having this realization of the isolation you experience playing MC singleplayer, it was terrifying, I really can't go back to it.

Sometimes, I'm trying with huge enthusiasm to create a new world with fascinating idea that I can do literally EVERYTHING in this game. But after few hours of pure joy in game, I, to my greatest surprise, consider to myself that there is no more things that I want to do. Even troughfact that I haven't explored even the smallest amount of capabilities this game offers to you. You just understand that this colorful, peaceful world is, in fact, hollow. And it seems alive only because of you - yours dreams and desire to create and explore. But when they disapper - disapper the atmosphere and soul of a game... And unbearable loneliness comes in...

It is very creepy and lonely, but having some builds, villagers, mods around just makes it a little alive!

This is what makes minecraft special. Because you are alone in an infinite world every small things becomes special and more important, because you dont have to care what other people think and make your own story, thats why it was so magical when we were small because we could imagine things in all the lonelyness

I used to deal with the loneliness by pretending that i was building a "server" for a large amount of people to play in. Knowing full well that only i was the only person that would ever set foot inside it in the first place.

I've always kinda thought of the player this way. I have, like many others, played this game throughout my entire childhood, and I have come to realize that after a time the only danger to the player is other players. Mobs become seldom a threat once you have full enchanted armor and weapons. When you're in singleplayer, this power makes it feel all the more lonely and maybe even unchallenging at times, but when you're in multiplayer, that looming loneliness quickly fades away and is replaced with a sense that there could be potential danger or companionship, or in the funnest case, both. Even if you're on some realm which rarely sees more than 2 players online at a time, it still feels less lonely knowing that there have been and can be players running amuck, creating and destroying as player-gods do. There is truly a lot to be said about the potent, nostalgic loneliness of Minecraft.

The loneliness aspect of singleplayer is what actually motivates me to keep going on it.

I adore it when people acknowledge Steve as anything other than the player lol

Minecraft has to be one of the most nostalgic games ever, whether it’s the thought of playing old minecraft or watching the multitude of RU-vid channels who were dedicated to releasing solely minecraft content in the early 2010s.

Honestly minecraft single player has the same tension for backrooms(only the popular 0 level). Yes, there is monsters compared to the backroom but the feeling of isolation and the only one to have sense of identity is still disturbing.

I find the isolation insanely soothing. It's one of the most relaxing games ever for me.

Its really sad and unnerving on how lonely we are in a minecraft single player world even if you try to make castles, or live amongst villagers and even become the overlord of all 3 dimensions but despite all of that even if you love being alone dosent it just seem sad on the fact that theres absolutely nobody with you from beginning to the end and thats usually how i find myself watching youtubers playing with their friends in minecraft because honestly i envy them on how fun it wouldve been just to have 1 more person to be with to have your adventures all the jokes arguements and fun times instead of having to be in a world of eternal lonliness

The isolated feeling of minecraft was terrifying as a kid but now as I grow I find it fun. I don’t know if that is a good thing

I've had a creative world I hop on here and there for the last 3 years. I've made village after village, city after city, and somehow, I still feel alone. I wish others could hop on the server, use the cozy little houses I've built. Utilize the bank I made, go to the zoo, take my long-distance underground rail system, go grocery shopping, just everything. I'm unsure what compels me to continue working on and adding things to that map, despite knowing no one else will use it, but it definitely helps with my anxiety to just create.

I have a love hate relationship with single player mode. On the one hand I love having stuff all to myself because other people tend to cause complications with your builds and plans that you had but others didn’t. On the other hand after a while the loneliness starts to creep in and you miss the interaction with your fellow players no matter how much pain they gave you at times.

As a lonely child, minecraft really appealed to me. Fundamentally different from the others and alone, the freedom I found from it in minecraft was very important to me.

I like to imagine the true reason why Alex was made as a character in Minecraft to give Steve some action 🤣

Im 20. Ive spent 3 years of my real life, over 13 years, to this game. To just single player. To give a person this power. Godlike. Its why the ending of the game says to wake up. If you can create these beauties in a 16bit world, why not take on the game of life? Where you are the truest “god” of your own creation.

Damn, been playing this game for 10 years and never tought I'd watch a video essay on how 5 rectangles and a cube is a complex, existial crisis provoking character

Dam this video hit different.

Steve be like: Throughout heaven and earth I alone am the loneliest one.

I have never thought about it this way its kinda sad

Im just trynna build a dirt house not question my isolation ;~; In all seriousness great video, it gives me a perspective to minecraft i always kinda felt but never really understood until i watched this

This brings back memories i forgot i had Massive cities i would build, filled with carefully planned roads that only i would travel The multitude of little houses, no two the exact same, each with comfy furnishings, all to never be lived in Filling my empty creations, devoid of life, with armor stands with dyed leather armor acting as their clothes, just to feel a little less alone Stables filled with custom stalls for each of the many horses that would never have an owner The countless beacons that took so many hours to mine for and build, only for me to admire them Elaborate rollercoasters that took so many tries to get right, only to have one seat on that little train ever filled, only to have the thrill experienced by me All the little mailboxes I would deliver mail to, even my own, because there was no one to ever respond to my letters except myself My bookstore filled with stories I would write with no one to read them The shops I would make, filled with chests of goods that no one would ever buy My house, with a little dinner table, with plates of food on every side, but only one chair was ever used, and only one plate was ever eaten off of In that light, it's sad to think about. But it brought me hundreds of hours of entertainment, and to me that's priceless

Steve and a Single player GMOD player would get along quite well

Isolation is one of those things that’s so strangely terrifying and unnerving, the first time I felt it was in Minecraft, not unnerving in the way of you don’t know what’s in the darkness. But knowing that there’s nothing in the darkness, you don’t even have the comfort of certainty, assumption, or idea, that there’s something out there, there’s no one to talk to, no one to find and relate to. Nothing. I once wrote a story about the last man alive, an immortal, who at the end of his species realised that he couldn’t die, humanity died, his last friends and family, all gone now. The stars finally began to blink out, one by one, his only friend in the void being those blinkered stars slowly ebbing away. Then they went, all of them, and all that was left to him was barren rocks and dead moons, but even those would disappear eventually. Then, he was left with the black holes, he could just perceive them. But then, even they went out and he’s now left, alone, truly alone, lost in a sea of nothing, he doesn’t know if he’s moving or static, with no perception of distance anymore, he doesn’t know what the sound of scratching his own skin feels like anymore, because there is no such thing as noise anymore. But despite all this, even when all things disappear and rot away, he remains, the last thing in the entire universe. He starts to beg, he begs for anything, joy, hatred, love, laughter, sadness, for even some of the most basic emotions are lost to him. He starts thinking about Hell, and how much of a blessing it would be to be down there, for then he’d at least feel his burning flesh, he could see his surroundings, the screams and wailing of the damned, and could see the torturer skinning him alive, he could feel the skin peeling from his bones, such a heavenly sensation when compared to what he’s been dealt. For at least then there’d be something, he could feel something The only thing he has left in this world is his thoughts and his memories, but even they’ve become vague. He’d feel terrified if he could, but now he only feels empty. But then, he begins to feel something, like a thud, or a beat in his choice, in this moment he’d cry if he could, but it didn’t end, it got stronger and stronger, he could feel something, he felt energised, strong, powerful. Ecstatic, he lets it all out in one go. And then, in the flash before him, stars, planets, moons, rocks, and then, as he descends upon one planet, he notices something and picks it up. He looks at it, and gets on his knees, feeling an insurmountable number of tears well up, for in his hand, was a microbe. Life itself, in his world, in his universe, all to be shaped by him.

I always have the feeling the Zombies were the "ancient builders" as there's some ruins around.. and have some connection to Steve.. I mean they all wear the same blue outfit so it's possible.. But Alex is just alone but who knows anyways

Minecraft feels like a post-apocolypse world, especially with the abandoned villages.

You are SUCH an AMAZING narrator and have an AWESOME voice with storytelling. You really made me think twice about my views on minecraft and how it's played

I first played Minecraft right when beta release came out, when the world was still extremely empty, the the world gen and a bunch of new biomes where added. It was a weird experience that I just can’t recreate in modern Minecraft, I remember the horror of watching a block of lava burn down an entire first, of the need to continually move my base further and further away from spawn to quench that need for exploration.

I've always said Minecraft was the scariest game I've ever played for a reason lmao All of this loneliness in a unnerving endless world combined with the unexplained structures, cave sounds and discs makes a pretty damn unsettling experience.

It’s honestly kind of unnerving when you get super lonely in Minecraft. Really creeped me out to think about how I could travel millions and millions of blocks throughout the world and not find anyone else like me.

god damn, you have the skill to be absolute story reader, like a wise man talking about it’s past.

I expected a 12 year old stumbling through a script they made on the back of the math homework, but damn this narrator sounds serious and well written

I really do like to think that every plotline, every battle and war fought, every mod created, every mansion built, and everyone’s story’s are all Steve trying to fill his lonely world.

"Villagers don't build" Mojang: *"New update, villagers can build buildings now"*

This video had been in my recommended for so long, but I never decided to watch it until now. The video puts in words what so many people have thought and imagined. Brilliant.

Although I've thought about this before, I've never thought THAT deep. Watching this video made me sad, knowing that Steve or.. my character will be lonely forever, but something inside my head keeps telling me that I'm not alone in my own worlds. Thoughts like "Maybe I'll find someone if I look hard enough" and / or "I think I can find someone to play with" surface out of nowhere when i'm just minding my own businesses in my survival world. Despite knowing full well and is aware that this is single player, there is no one else that uses a multitude of items like me, there is no one else that builds and destroy as they wish like me, there is no one else that crafts items like me, there is no one else like me. Yet, my head slips that thought and surfaces them once more, perhaps i've finally grown lonely.. I did try to connect to multiplayer back then but i kept failing and thus, stuck in single player for a very long time.

I usually try of thinking what other players might be doing while I am doing some mundane task like clearing entire chunks, it usually just goes like "Minecraft is a pretty popular game, there is definitely someone else also doing the same thing i am doing right now on the other side of the world", surprisingly, works pretty well at mitigating the fear of loneliness.

i remember back in 2015 i just started playing but i know the basics since i watched a lot of MC youtubers. when i played it was on normal difficulty, then once i checked the settings and randomly clicked on the difficulty, it became peaceful mode. i played like that for a while and i was so confused as to why hostile mobs aren't spawning even in caves, i thought it was just because i sleep as soon as night falls, but one day i went back to normal mode, and i was mining, i felt safe since its the day, but i got shocked so much i punch the table and broke my fingers when a zombie came from behind me, it never happened when i was on peaceful mode. that was the moment i found fear playing minecraft.

That was beautiful ^^ And really sad! (Maybe bittersweet, too?) Singleplayer makes me feel very lonely, usually, which I why I usually much prefer playing multiplayer with friends, but it's still also very nostalgic, either way. Thanks for the video and analysis!

"all he is is the sock puppet of the player" minecraft lore: *allow me to introduce myself*

I actually realised how alone in Minecraft when I built a full blown end base in singleplayer, with animal-esque ships, homes referencing builds from other games or worlds, even a story as to how the base came to be. Over time, I realised this loneliness and added small derelict details to the main area, the satellite. Everything else was kept pristine, as if they had been left behind by a recent traveller.

And when nobody wakes you up in the morning, and when nobody waits for you at night, and when you can do whatever you want. What do you call it, freedom or loneliness? Charles Bukowski

It's a 4:25 min video essay about Minecraft, yet it says more than any of the multiple hour essays I've seen.

In the old Minecraft PE on IOS, the maps you spawn in were shared, I sometimes found my old buildings or even other structures of others while traveling with the limited assets I had. So I used to place big letter on the ground to whoever might see them next, to let them know that I was here and left my trace on this land.

damn, you’re so underrated. i love this idea of a beautiful world full of exploration, everything you’d ever want can be there with time. except, you’re all alone on this quest, billions of possibilities and millions of land in every direction. minecraft is a surreal game, despite being just this thing made for kids to enjoy, its terribly lonely and beautiful. great video

I don't know, sometimes the loneliness in minecraft is conforting for me, the loneliness is like a time for yourself, a time where you can do whatever you want without anyone to critique you, a time were you can think for yourself and don't get pushed by others opinions, a time where you can be truly yourself and just relax from the outside world that can be a mess sometimes, survival minecraft is the loneliest yet the most calm and relaxing moment anyone can experience

“When you are given everything, you can do nothing”

To be honest, most of the time I prefer being "lonely". Being able to shape the world just like you want without anyone ever complaining about it seems to appeal to me.

I’ll never forget the experience of my first few years playing Minecraft. Exploring forever, stopping every so often to build a magnificent structure, moving on in despair as soon as it was finished because I knew no one else would ever see them. How many palaces did I leave behind, forever pristine and forever abandoned? How many forests and seas bear my touch, a mark that will never be seen? Who will know and remember the infinite variety of the worlds I’ve walked? No one.

"You are truly alone" Tamed wolf:

I didn't get internet until I was around 14 (2014-ish). Minecraft one was of the games I played the most, and your introduction captured my experience with it perfectly. I felt completely isolated and alone in the expansive and eerily still world I wandered about in. There was a sense of history there, however - with the ancient ruins and the old mineshafts being traces of someone else. But there were only traces. There was nobody else. It was only you in that huge world, and because of Minecraft's seed system and virtually infinite worlds, you were most likely the only person to ever be there. I think this loneliness is probably why myths like Herobrine were so popular. You're the most vulnerable when you're by yourself. It's probably also why minecraft dogs are some of the most beloved animals in video game history, despite having very basic AI and having very simple models. They're your only friends in that still, quiet place. Minecraft is loved for its creative potential, but it's sad to see that everyone who has only ever been online their entire lives not realise that minecraft is also one of the loneliest games in existence, and that sense of isolation is a huge part of the experience

All the will and power in the world at his fingers, yet he doesnt have enough of it to make people like himself. It truly is tragic how a god can make or do anything he wants except have friends.

This makes me sad to think about, I have been alone and experienced that in Minecraft.

I remember when I used to play single player Minecraft, I would always try to find a village and build my house in the village. At the time I didn’t know why I desired to do that. Now that I look back tho, I think the reason I did that was so that I felt like I was a part of a community so that I didn’t feel as alone in the world.

yes , steve is the loneliest minecraft god and ever since then i gets a little lonely too . heck i write him and alex in my fanfic as the first survivors .

I remembered when i was a teen around 2010 and played minecraft, at first i found it very cool, a entire world to explore and interact, but then i played GTA SA till i beat it and went back to minecraft, i remember that i couldn't stand the emptiness Being for so long in a city full of people walking/driving around that the empty forest and caves made me feel bad, not bored, emotionally it was painful and scary, it was such shock that put me out of gaming for a time.

I like how you poetically turned minecraft into a story, absolutely brilliant.

Yup even when playing in an SMP server you still rarely see others and its more lonelier when the server died out lots of building but ur the only one there all ur neighbour are gone

I can barely just play a single player world anymore. I always gotta have a RU-vid gameplay video going on the side, just to feel less alone.

3:22 Nah i will have villagers in my city working until they di- wait a moment theres no death of old age in Minecraft.

Well, I would not say that Villagers can't be protected. They have their own language we can't understand, and perhaps off screen over generations they build in their own way. But its true that no one can create like Steve can. No one can see the world and brave its depths like they can.

i never really minded the loneliness,that’s what attracted me about it,as long as you have a goal,improving your architecture or redstone mechanics,i’m driven and relaxed.

That’s a great use of “key” in the beginning, it really conveys a lost cause vanishing in obscurity like Steve who spawns with no purpose and leaves his world eventually without any knowledge of whatever he built amounted to anything

Perfectly encapsulates the atmosphere of Minecraft that I feel like mojang has tried, really tried to distance themself from after like, 2014. Like, ever since the exploration update that added all the biomes it's been tending to a more social direction. Which is nice, it makes the game more fun. But maybe less impactful. Anyways, I feel like everyone seems to miss this about Minecraft. So, thanks for the video on it!

This is what I felt, when I discovered multiplayer, I felt lonely. But back then, it was peaceful.

Steve is god literally, he can do anything if he really wanted to, and most people here dont understand what "anything" mean is.

*Alex Joins The Game*

I always think of myself as a god in Minecraft, heck even in multiplayer I build statues to myself and yet in singleplayer I'm a god with no challendges meanwhile in multiplayer I have to deal with the existential dread that some random player thats better at pvp than will come and assassinate me when I least expect

I've always loved to view Steve as a character instead of as a blank slate. This video has put into words what has always crossed my mind. I love the "child god" spin on it, very dramatic lol.

I returned back to Minecraft after a break up.... It only made me feel more lonely, and I immediately stopped playing

The quiet earth, blocky game edition