First Night

 

 

It is the                 key icon that first catches Max’s eye on the bottom right corner of the screen. It is the name of the server (“Reubenzania”) that sucks him in.

 

His first night online he wanders through grainy blackness, his peghead avatar swatting at fanged dots with a tiny wooden blocksword. Storm sky overhead yellow zags forking down to pixelated beach, swish of waves through speakers, redflash blinkofscreen |X| whenever hit |X| by unseen foes until three |X| strikes and he’s out. He is respawned on the beach after each kill, still night, still foes, still unseen. Though there is a compass icon in top left corner, he navigates by panic. Still |X| getting hit |X| from all sides until |X| game over.

 

Eventually, a blocksun rises, and he is standing alone on an electric shore with some options. No monsters no map. Only compass. All of Reubenzania awaiting him: Mountains to the North. Desert to East. Sea to South. Forest to West. Fuzzy figure quickstepping toward him. Time to hide or move it.