Minecraft: Pocket Edition

Minecraft: Pocket Edition is the official mobile version of Minecraft developed by Mojang. It was initially launched exclusively for the Xperia PLAY on Google Play for US$ 6.99 on August 16th, 2011. It was later released for other Android devices on the October 7th, 2011. Minecraft Pocket Edition for iOS devices was released on November 17th, 2011 on the iOS App Store. On September 13th, 2012, the Pocket Edition was made available for purchase on the Amazon Appstore. On April 2nd, 2014, the Pocket Edition was released for the Amazon Fire TV, with support for the Fire TV's controller. A demo/lite version of the game, which was essentially version 0.2.1 without world save functionality, was available until October 21st, 2013. On December 10th, 2014, the Windows Phone version was released on the Windows Store.

Gameplay
The game has the same objective as its more developed PC and console (Xbox and PS3) counterparts, where players can make or do whatever they want in a sanbox environment. However, it lacks certain elements present in other versions of the game such as brewing and hunger, and lacks bosses and dimensions. The Multiplayer mode is cross-platform compatible between all touch-screen devices capable of running the Pocket Edition.

The HUD and other elements are adapted to mobile standards of gameplay. Interactions are made via touchscreen (both the iOS and Android versions of Pocket Edition have the same gameplay). To comply with the disadvantages of touchscreen gameplay, several features were revised. For instance, the crafting system uses the MATTIS system and items are disposed by long-tapping their icon on the hotbar. For better visibility on mobile screens, blocks being aimed at are highlighted rather than outlined. The game was released with graphics akin to that of Minecraft Alpha, but as of the 0.8.0 update, graphics have become equivalent, and arguably better, than the PC version with light tinting and shading affected by the Sun's position.

Android & iOS
The Android and iOS versions feature a D-pad at the bottom-left corner of the screen, which controls movement. The jump button is located in the center of the d-pad. When moving forward, two strafing buttons will appear. Note that when moving towards an adjacent block that is one level higher than the player, the player will automatically jump up the block. One can place blocks by tapping the screen in a desired location. Destroying blocks is similar to the PC version's way, but rather than clicking the mouse, the player taps and holds. The search button used to be able to change the camera to and from third person view, but now this has to be done via the pause screen, and the menu and back buttons will open the pause screen. To open the inventory screen, tap the triple dotted button on the right of the hot bar. You can touch and hold an item in the hot bar to throw it, and if the hot bar contains a stack of items, it will throw the entire stack. You cannot divide it unless interfacing with a container (chest, furnace). 

Trivia

 * Minecraft: Pi Edition is derived from an early Pocket Edition development version.
 * In the demo video, before the game was released, smooth lighting was available. It was taken out due to bugs being produced on a wide range of devices. As of 0.7.0, it is on by default, and since 0.8.0, it cannot be turned off.