<s>
Minetest	B-Application
is	O
a	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open-source	I-License
sandbox	O
video	O
game	O
and	O
game	B-Application
creation	I-Application
system	I-Application
with	O
focus	O
on	O
voxel	B-Algorithm
graphics	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
written	O
primarily	O
in	O
C++	B-Language
and	O
makes	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
Irrlicht	B-Language
Engine	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Minetest	B-Application
provides	O
an	O
API	B-General_Concept
for	O
users	O
to	O
write	O
their	O
own	O
games	O
and	O
mods	O
written	O
in	O
Lua	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
cross-platform	O
,	O
being	O
available	O
for	O
Linux-based	O
systems	O
,	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
,	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
MacOS	B-Application
,	O
and	O
Android	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
default	O
game	O
of	O
Minetest	B-Application
,	O
Minetest	B-Application
Game	O
(	O
MTG	O
for	O
short	O
)	O
,	O
players	O
explore	O
a	O
blocky	O
,	O
procedurally-generated	O
3D	O
world	O
spanning	O
approximately	O
31	O
000	O
full	O
nodes	O
(	O
blocks	O
)	O
in	O
each	O
direction	O
,	O
and	O
may	O
discover	O
and	O
extract	O
raw	O
materials	O
,	O
craft	O
tools	O
and	O
items	O
,	O
and	O
build	O
structures	O
and	O
landscapes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Depending	O
on	O
the	O
game	O
selected	O
and	O
mods	O
present	O
,	O
players	O
can	O
fight	O
computer-controlled	O
"	O
mobs	B-Protocol
"	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
cooperate	O
with	O
or	O
compete	O
against	O
other	O
players	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
mechanics	O
of	O
Minetest	B-Application
are	O
similar	O
to	O
those	O
of	O
the	O
2009	O
game	O
Minecraft	B-Application
,	O
though	O
the	O
original	O
author	O
stopped	O
just	O
short	O
of	O
describing	O
it	O
as	O
a	O
"	O
Minecraft	B-Application
clone	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
a	O
decade	O
of	O
active	O
development	O
Minetest	B-Application
has	O
garnered	O
critical	O
acclaim	O
and	O
gained	O
in	O
popularity	O
;	O
since	O
November	O
2013	O
Minetest	B-Application
has	O
been	O
downloaded	O
over	O
1.4	O
million	O
times	O
from	O
GitHub	B-Application
,	O
and	O
the	O
Android	B-Application
version	O
of	O
Minetest	B-Application
has	O
over	O
500,000	O
downloads	O
on	O
the	O
Google	B-Application
Play	I-Application
store	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Minetest	B-Application
is	O
a	O
voxel	B-Algorithm
sandbox	O
video	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
world	O
is	O
composed	O
of	O
voxels	B-Algorithm
:	O
3D	O
objects	O
,	O
many	O
of	O
them	O
simple	O
cubes	O
,	O
commonly	O
called	O
"	O
nodes	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Different	O
voxels	B-Algorithm
represent	O
various	O
materials	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
dirt	O
,	O
stone	O
,	O
ores	O
,	O
tree	O
trunks	O
,	O
water	O
,	O
and	O
lava	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
player	O
controls	O
a	O
3D	O
character	O
known	O
as	O
Sam	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
a	O
recursive	O
acronym	O
for	O
"	O
Sam	O
ai	O
n't	O
Minecraft	B-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
players	O
explore	O
the	O
world	O
,	O
new	O
areas	O
are	O
procedurally	O
generated	O
,	O
using	O
a	O
map	O
seed	B-Algorithm
specified	O
by	O
the	O
player	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
new	O
game	O
puts	O
the	O
player	O
in	O
the	O
center	O
of	O
a	O
voxel	B-Algorithm
cube	O
62	O
thousand	O
nodes	O
across	O
,	O
so	O
the	O
player	O
can	O
travel	O
31	O
thousand	O
nodes	O
in	O
any	O
direction	O
(	O
sideways	O
,	O
up	O
,	O
or	O
down	O
)	O
before	O
reaching	O
the	O
invisible	O
wall	O
at	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Minetest	B-Application
provides	O
two	O
basic	O
game	O
mode	O
options	O
:	O
Enable	O
Damage	O
and	O
Creative	O
Mode	O
which	O
affect	O
how	O
players	O
interact	O
with	O
the	O
world	O
and	O
use	O
items	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Minetest	B-Application
implements	O
a	O
client-server	B-Operating_System
architecture	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
played	O
solo	O
or	O
multiplayer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
player	O
starting	O
a	O
new	O
game	O
can	O
choose	O
between	O
playing	O
in	O
a	O
single-player	O
mode	O
,	O
or	O
hosting	O
a	O
server	B-Application
to	O
which	O
other	O
Minetest	B-Application
players	O
can	O
connect	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
full	O
source	O
code	O
of	O
Minetest	B-Application
,	O
and	O
all	O
of	O
its	O
artistic	O
assets	O
such	O
as	O
textures	O
and	O
sounds	O
,	O
are	O
distributed	O
under	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
free	B-Application
licenses	O
,	O
making	O
it	O
easier	O
to	O
create	O
modified	O
versions	O
and	O
derivatives	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
base	O
version	O
of	O
Minetest	B-Application
provides	O
an	O
interface	O
for	O
games	O
and	O
mods	O
written	O
in	O
Lua	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Games	O
define	O
the	O
basic	O
rules	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
world	O
,	O
and	O
are	O
a	O
core	O
feature	O
of	O
Minetest	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mods	O
are	O
used	O
to	O
further	O
customize	O
various	O
aspects	O
of	O
gameplay	O
,	O
and	O
are	O
an	O
inherent	O
part	O
of	O
Minetest	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mods	O
are	O
server-side	O
and	O
work	O
out	O
of	O
the	O
box	O
when	O
playing	O
on	O
Internet	O
servers	O
,	O
with	O
no	O
manual	O
installation	O
required	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Developers	O
refer	O
to	O
Minetest	B-Application
as	O
an	O
engine	O
rather	O
than	O
a	O
"	O
game	O
"	O
because	O
almost	O
every	O
aspect	O
of	O
gameplay	O
is	O
implemented	O
within	O
so-called	O
games	O
written	O
in	O
Lua	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
version	O
5.0.0	O
,	O
the	O
main	O
menu	O
of	O
the	O
Minetest	B-Application
engine	O
allows	O
users	O
to	O
browse	O
and	O
install	O
games	O
from	O
a	O
curated	O
list	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Minetest	B-Application
is	O
shipped	O
with	O
two	O
games	O
:	O
Minetest	B-Application
Game	O
,	O
a	O
sandbox	O
,	O
and	O
Development	O
Test	O
implementing	O
a	O
more	O
minimal	O
sandbox	O
primarily	O
for	O
debugging	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Minetest	B-Application
Game	O
implements	O
a	O
simple	O
and	O
peaceful	O
game	O
mode	O
with	O
no	O
goals	O
and	O
no	O
built-in	O
computer	O
enemies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
over	O
1000	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open-source	I-License
mods	O
available	O
at	O
Minetest	B-Application
forums	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
version	O
5.0.0	O
,	O
Minetest	B-Application
features	O
a	O
built-in	O
content	O
picker	O
,	O
allowing	O
users	O
to	O
browse	O
a	O
curated	O
list	O
of	O
add-ons	O
and	O
install	O
mods	O
and	O
texture	O
packs	O
with	O
a	O
single	O
click	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Content	O
is	O
also	O
available	O
at	O
Minetest	B-Application
's	O
site	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mods	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
add	O
node	O
types	O
,	O
tools	O
,	O
monsters	B-Protocol
,	O
player	O
skins	O
,	O
and	O
alter	O
many	O
aspects	O
of	O
the	O
gameplay	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
the	O
forums	O
and	O
the	O
in-game	O
browser	O
exclude	O
non-free	B-Application
or	I-Application
closed	I-Application
source	I-Application
software	O
as	O
a	O
matter	O
of	O
policy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Minetest	B-Application
was	O
originally	O
released	O
in	O
November	O
2010	O
under	O
a	O
proprietary	B-Application
license	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shortly	O
afterwards	O
the	O
license	O
was	O
changed	O
to	O
the	O
GPL-2.0-or-later	B-License
license	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
agreement	O
among	O
major	O
contributors	O
,	O
in	O
June	O
2012	O
the	O
project	O
license	O
was	O
to	O
be	O
changed	O
to	O
LGPL-2.1-or-later	B-Application
,	O
though	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
small	O
parts	O
still	O
remained	O
under	O
the	O
GPL-2.0-or-later	B-License
license	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
LGPL-2.1-or-later	B-Application
remains	O
the	O
main	O
license	O
for	O
the	O
Minetest	B-Application
engine	O
,	O
other	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open-source	I-License
licenses	O
are	O
used	O
for	O
various	O
other	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
latest	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Minetest	B-Application
has	O
been	O
used	O
in	O
educational	O
environments	O
to	O
teach	O
subjects	O
such	O
as	O
mathematics	O
,	O
programming	O
,	O
and	O
earth	O
sciences	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2017	O
in	O
France	O
,	O
Minetest	B-Application
was	O
used	O
to	O
teach	O
calculus	O
and	O
trigonometry	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
Federal	O
University	O
of	O
Santa	O
Catarina	O
in	O
Brazil	O
,	O
Minetest	B-Application
was	O
used	O
to	O
teach	O
programming	O
in	O
a	O
variant	O
called	O
MineScratch	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2018	O
,	O
for	O
Laboratory	O
Education	O
and	O
Apprenticeships	O
(	O
EDA	O
)	O
at	O
the	O
Paris	O
Descartes	O
University	O
,	O
Minetest	B-Application
was	O
used	O
to	O
teach	O
life	O
and	O
earth	O
sciences	O
to	O
year	O
6	O
students	O
who	O
could	O
not	O
observe	O
some	O
phenomena	O
in	O
person	O
but	O
could	O
experience	O
them	O
in	O
the	O
Minetest	B-Application
virtual	O
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Opensource.com	O
listed	O
Minetest	B-Application
at	O
#1	O
in	O
its	O
"	O
Best	O
open	O
source	O
games	O
of	O
2015	O
"	O
,	O
stating	O
that	O
it	O
is	O
maybe	O
"	O
the	O
most	O
complete	O
alternative	O
to	O
Minecraft	B-Application
"	O
,	O
and	O
noted	O
its	O
expansibility	O
,	O
stating	O
that	O
it	O
contains	O
a	O
user-friendly	O
API	B-General_Concept
for	O
creating	O
mods	O
in	O
Lua	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
PC	O
Magazine	O
listed	O
Minetest	B-Application
among	O
"	O
The	O
best	O
Sandbox	O
Creation	O
Games	O
for	O
Minecraft	B-Application
Fans	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
