MindCrack

The official MindCrack logo, created by W92Baj

MindCrack is the name given to a community of video game players and YouTube personalities who play together, principally through the multiplayer feature of the game Minecraft. They record their exploits during gameplay sessions and publish them to viewers on YouTube. This is provided alongside various side projects involving either sessions played alone or with varying numbers of other players - both from within and outside the MindCrack community.

The instigator of the MindCrack community is Guude - real name known only as Jason. Through his initiative he established the first Minecraft multiplayer server on which his MindCrack gameplay videos are recorded and in the years since managed and maintained both it and the MindCrack presence online. The server is a private whitelisted server that is not accepting applications, so only those who are currently whitelisted can join the server, unless otherwise invited by Guude. In the intervening months he has introduced an array of friends and acquaintances to the server so that they may also enjoy or record their own adventures together or apart.

What might be considered the first MindCrack video was uploaded to his YouTube channel on the 19 October 2010 entitled 'S1E1 - Clausterphobified'. It was a short video featuring him playing an early version of the game Minecraft, with a brief introduction to the game's format and an explanation of why he was creating the series; in his own words, the game had "started to get stale" after playing it for three weeks. He hoped that creating a video series will make the game, "more interesting again." To this date he has produced more than 300 videos exclusively documenting his "Minecraft MindCrack" adventures, several spin-off series related to Minecraft and over 900 videos of various games in total. As of 24 May 2013, the core MindCrack community has grown to 25 active members, has been the progenitor of two now popular gameplay styles for Minecraft.

MindCrack has grown outside of Minecraft to include different games. Guude himself said the "MindCrack brand was created to bring people together to play games, not always Minecraft." A separate YouTube channel, the MindCrack Network, was created as "a place for content from collaborations from the guys on the MindCrack server." The channel currently has the Mindcrack Podcast, the White Cannon Tournament announcement, and Bunch of Heroes gameplay with Team Nancy Drew.