Minecraft Story Mode launch trailer and cast list released

Mining Minecraft's popularity: The series entails a few players that begin a unique adventure after starting to play Minecraft for the first time.

A launch trailer for Minecraft: Story Mode Episode 1, The Order of the Stone, sets expectations for the Oct 13 release, while a full cast list shows that studio Telltale Games has gathered a high profile group of actors for the new episodic adventure.

Comedian John Hodgman is the latest acting professional to have been announced for the cast of Minecraft: Story Mode as it gears up for a first episode release.

Hodgman, a former literary agent, a writer, voice actor and satirical author, is well recognisable from his time spent opposite Justin Long as part of Apple's mid-2000s aspirational Get a Mac ads.

He's also been a regular at Ted conferences, a columnist for Dave Eggers' McSweeney's journal, and a regular on Jon Stewart's Daily Show.

A full cast list is led by stand-up comedian Patton Oswalt, who had a critically acclaimed role in Young Adult opposite Charlize Theron, and Catherine Taber, who has numerous appearances in Star Wars off-shoots, including The Clone Wars cartoon series and video games Disney Infinity 3.0 and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Together, they play male and female versions of main character Jesse, who gets sucked into a unique adventure after starting to play Minecraft for the first time.

The other cast members also have extensive experience in TV and video games.

Brian Posehn has worked on Steven Universe and New Girl, Ashley Johnson came to video games – most notably The Last of Us and Tales of the Borderlands – from Ben 10: Omniverse, Billy West is the voice of Fry, Zoidberg and others in Futurama, while Paul Reubens is the creator of the Pee-wee Herman character.

Then there's Scott Porter of The Good Wife and the X-Men animated series, Martha Plimpton from Raising Hope, Grey Griffin of Regular Show and The Legend of Korra, and Dave Fennoy from Archer, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, plus a clutch of previous Telltale titles.

With freeform, user-generated creative gameplay its calling card, the original Minecraft has always been comparatively light on narrative, leaving plenty of room for player agency instead.

Microsoft's September 2014 purchase of Minecraft studio Mojang has opened up other opportunities for the franchise, including this five-episode adventure.

The studio, Telltale Games, became world famous after winning multiple accolades for its 2012-13 interpretation of The Walking Dead, following up with new adventures based in the worlds of Fables, Borderlands and Game of Thrones.

Watch the Minecraft: Story Mode' Episode 1 - The Order of the Stone trailer.  — AFP Relaxnews