The holiday season brings with it presents for people of all walks of life, but gifts for gamers are always tough to discover beyond the games themselves. Introducing the first official Minecraft t-shirts, inside jokes that only a fellow 'crafter will understand. On the left is the face of the infamous creeper, and to the right a 'crafter's bench and pick-axes, along with membership information for the local Minecraft lodge. It's better than being a Freemason, because Freemasons don't have biomes. The only catch is that these t-shirts cost $20 or more each, more than the actual game itself!

The price of each Minecraft t-shirt, Creeper or Crafters' Local 128, rings in between $19.99-$21.99. The price of the Minecraft alpha is 9.95 Euro, or $13.25, a whole seven dollars cheaper! Though that's only the current price; Minecraft's beta, which launches five days from now on December 20, will increase the price to 14.95 Euro or $19.89. Take a moment to consider the fact that it costs more to appear as a Minecraft nerd than it is to actually be a Minecraft nerd. There's a metaphor in there somewhere.

Thinkgeek was lucky enough to become the provider of these exclusive official Minecraft shirts, and their description of the Creeper shirt is most apt:

The exploding Creeper is our nemesis. We know you feel our pain. Sometimes it's fun to be the bad guy, though. Taking those dreams and shattering them. We recommend you wear this shirt around:

  • Playing card structures
  • Jenga tournaments
  • The set of any OK Go video

The big transition from beta to alpha is a horrifying prospect to Minecraft prospectors. In the beta description were the words, "non-intrusive narrative to the game to help drive the game experience," an addition certain to make many a Minecrafter fear their favorite game might jump the creeper. Who knows, maybe the the next official Minecraft t-shirt released will be a picture of Steve with the words, "I Believe He Can Save the World." Or perhaps some other plot-centric quotation. Time will tell!

What do you think of the t-shirts, Ranters? Are the designs something you would be proud to wear in public? Personally, the green's a little too strong for my tastes, and I already have too many black video game t-shirts. Here's to hoping for a blue or grey shirt sometime soon.

Minecraft alpha is currently available for the PC, and will upgrade to the Minecraft beta on Dec. 20. If you purchase the alpha you get all further versions of the game for free, but beta purchasers will have to repurchase the full release when it comes out. The Minecraft t-shirts are available at Thinkgeek here, and here. They're already sold out in some sizes, so hurry!