Today I spent a sizable portion of my day playing an ugly game in which there's seemingly nothing to do but place blocks.

Yep, today I played Minecraft for the first time, and I built...a thing...out of blocks.

For some reason, I'm compelled to share my embarrassingly simple work-in-progress with you. I'd also love to see some of the things crafted by the creative Bitmob community, so please share your work in the comments.

Not knowing how to play the game, I immediately staked out a place to build a giant castle. This seemed like a good idea at the time.

I wanted my castle to be on an island, so I dug out a billion-or-so blocks to create an imposing spot high above the surrounding nothingness. I then slowly built a wall, learning the best way to place blocks as I went.

Once I had a perimeter built, I constructed a simple archway and began work on a bridge.

I was worried that the bridge would be too complicated for a simpleton like me to construct, but it was actually easier than I thought. I dug out my moat some more and added some columns to the bridge to make it look a little nicer.

Suddenly, the phone rang and snapped me out of my Minecraft-induced haze. I looked at the clock and realized I had just spent two solid hours basically playing with blocks like a toddler.

And you know what? I had a blast and I'm looking forward to doing it again.

I don't understand you, Minecraft, but I think you and I are going to get along just fine.