Indie smash “Minecraft” has sold more than 5 million copies, made millions and generated even more words of ecstatic praise since the PC release came out in 2009. Versions have been available for phones and tablets for months. Yet I had never actually played it until last week.

I understand the hype now that I’ve dug around in the new downloadable Xbox 360 version. This game is addictive. I play it far too late into the night and then stay awake in bed thinking about it. It’s the reason I’ve taken up coffee.

That said, it’s not easy to make “Minecraft” sound exciting. The title is extremely apt: You gather up various resources from a large open world and craft them into tools with which to gather even more resources. You collect rocks and metals with pickaxes, hack down trees for wood, exploit wildlife for meat and clothing supplies, and use a furnace and crafting table and combine everything into useful items. It might sound like “Busy Work: The Game,” but the drive to dig one more mine shaft or collect enough leather for a new pair of pants is surprisingly potent.

You also have to build a shelter for protection. Most of my multiple hours of play have involved working on my house, something I hate doing in real life. I now own a grand stone palace with an indoor swimming pool and two mine shafts that plunge as deep as the game will let me.

That shelter is vital because various creeps and monsters come out at night. You can craft swords and other weapons for protection. Combat is extremely clunky, though, and death is nothing but a time-wasting hindrance, as you can easily re-collect whatever objects you lose upon dying. I understand adding an element of danger to break up the potential monotony of construction, but dealing with bad guys is a boring nuisance. At least you can use the nighttime hours for more spelunking. The 360 version also apparently lacks many of the original’s recent updates, but you won’t notice if you’re a “Minecraft” novice like myself.

With a blocky, 8-bit aesthetic and a freewheeling range of play, “Minecraft” succeeds because it neither looks nor feels like any -other game.