Understanding Minecraft is a collection of scholarly-level essays devoted to exploring the cultural impact of a game that for most users is anything but scholarly. Seriously, for a game this fun, this is some dense reading. Nate Garrelts' introductory essay is easily the best of the group, and subsequent two aren't bad either, but then the rest devolves into a delirium of intellectual exercises aimed at understanding Minecraft from a point of view few care about. ( )