Before I played a fully purchased version of Minecraft XBOX 360, I used to play the demo over and over again. I used to play until that timer ran out, and then it would tell me "you need to purchase the full game" or something along those lines. Then after a bit, I'd go play another game.
There was an unfinished basic wood house in the demo area. It had roses, dandelions, an oak tree, and a birch tree.
I used to always try to finish that house. One time, I remember, I tried to get out of the area that you started in for the demo. I used some blocks to get up higher and dug this tunnel until I got to see what was outside. I made the opening bigger, so I could get a wider view of what I was looking at. I couldn't go further, there was an invisible boundary that stopped me. I saw a village and villagers for the first time.
I didn't know what they were. I saw them, and I so badly wanted to meet them. I wanted to see what they were, learn about them, and how they made those houses. I wanted to get a closer look.
I saw them and maybe they saw me, but I couldn't leave the boundaries of the demo area. So all I could do was watch them move around while "Dry Hands" played. I watched from there until the time ran out and I had to play again.
My goal changed then. I didn't want to finish the house, I wanted to get the tools to dig that tunnel so that I could see what I was missing. Always, always, always.
Eventually, I gave up on that too, and I went right back to trying to finish the house. I thought that maybe with that, I could get more time on the demo.
Then my mom and her sister got me Minecraft as a gift. I played it nonstop. I was free to do what I wanted. I could meet the villagers and live among them. I could trade with them, help them, and make things for them now. I was truly free.
I was free to be kind and to be what I wanted. I was no longer dreaming of freedom, while I stared out of the hole I made, watching as others lived their lives blissfully unaware of my existence.
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Maybe that's why I always view Dry Hands as this very sad, very lonely theme. All I could imagine was my player character trapped in that demo area, with an invisible boundary seemingly placed there to see what they could have if they left their prison.
Dry Hands doesn't feel like Wet Hands. Dry Hands feels hollow and lonely. You're helpless to do anything, but you won't accept that.
Wet Hands doesn't feel lonely. It feels unsure but still peaceful. No sadness, no danger, you're just unsure.
I guess that's the fun of Minecraft, even the older version of it. I was immersed even though I had just played the demo version, and it was something I played if Happy Wars was really boring that day.
