If you have grown up with Minecraft - or are new to the game - you're going to love the platform in mobile app guise.

Better still, it is not the solo pursuit you may have feared. Instead, the mobile app allows you to play with friends regardless of whether they are on a smartphone, tablet, or Windows 10.

For veteran Minecrafters, the mobile version will be reassuringly familiar, with a limited learning curve.

From the off, you can begin exploring "infinite worlds" and get your hands dirty building your own home. Then, over time you can start work on your grand castle if you wish.

Features

● Multiplayer action

● Free servers

● Mini-games

● Social lobby areas

● Game expansion

More

There are two main gameplay modes - creative and survival.

In creative, you get unlimited resources to let your imagination run wild, while survival mode pits you against dangerous mobs out to steal your stuff and worse.

Survival mode is the more intense experience of the two as it lets you mine deep into the Minecraft world and craft weapons and armor.

Like the desktop version, there are seemingly endless ways to customize your Minecraft experience. For example:

● Marketplace - Here, you can find the latest community-built game expansion creations. You can get your hands on unique skins, maps, and textures.

● Slash commands - With these, you get special commands to tweak the gameplay. You can use special commands to summon a mob, alter the time of day, give your stuff away, and more besides.

● Add-ons - There is lots of free stuff as well to customize your game. If you're tech-savvy, you can even change data-based game behavior to develop your own resource packs.

If you like to play with your friends or other players, you are in luck; there are three ways to go about this.

First, you can invest in a private Realm and play with ten friends across various platforms. Realms are private servers hosted for you by Minecraft. You can get a 30-day free trial directly from the mobile app.

Secondly, you can challenge four friends with a free Xbox live account.

And, thirdly, join free servers for the massively multiplayer experience and play with thousands of other Minecrafters. Here, you will find huge community-operated worlds, unique mini-games, and make new friends in the lobby areas.

PROS

● Excellent gameplay

● You can play offline

● Multi-language support

CONS

● Some in-app purchases are required to make progress

PRICE - $6.99

How to use

The mobile version of Minecraft is downloadable from Google Play and Apple's App Store. Both sets of users are mightily impressed, awarding the app 4.6 and 4.5 out of five, respectively.

So, too, are the Editors on both platforms, voting it as a Choice app. The Apple guys have even made Minecraft No.1 for simulation.

To get started, you will need Android 5.0 or later or iOS 10 or later. While storage requirements vary by device for Android users, the Apple format app needs 341.2 MB, which is relatively light for iOS apps.