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The official Mindcrack logo, created by W92Baj[1]

Mindcrack (formerly stylized as MindCrack[a]) is a group of 24 prominent content creators and a number of VIP guests that publish footage of their video gaming experiences online, often in either a Let's Play or Live streaming format. Content is shared primarily via pre-recorded video uploaded to YouTube, or live broadcasts to Twitch. The instigator of the Mindcrack community is known online as Guude.

The Mindcrack group began as a Minecraft-oriented group playing on their private survival multiplayer (SMP) server, the Mindcrack Server, which pioneered the SMP Let's Play format that continues to be popular on YouTube.[3] Although they have since expanded to play a variety of games together,[4] Mindcrack is known for having created and popularised multiple gameplay styles and gamemodes within Minecraft, including Race for Wool, Ultra Hardcore, King of the Ladder, and ABBA Rules caving. The group often comes together for charity, and to date, have raised in excess of $1,000,000 for Extra Life charity, primarily through their annual livestream marathon event, the Mindcrack Marathon.


Mindcrack was created on 19 October 2010 when a then-29-year-old Guude uploaded the first episode of his singleplayer Minecraft Let's Play to his YouTube channel 'GuudeBoulderfist'. It was a short video featuring him playing an early version of Minecraft, with a brief introduction to the game's format and an explanation as to 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 recording his gameplay would make the game "more interesting again."[5]

Guude expressed interest in continuing his Let's Play alongside friends once a functioning version of multiplayer for Minecraft had been released.[6] Responding to viewer suggestions, Guude said he liked the idea of inviting fans to play with him, but was hesitant to trust strangers on the Internet.[7][8] The Mindcrack Server was founded by Guude in December 2010, together with his friend since high school, madcow21.[9] In the following weeks, Guude introduced a number of his friends from World of Warcraft to the server, for example, Alcimedes, thejims, and Crysix.

The second Let's Player to join Mindcrack was jsano19, who had been invited to join the server by Guude in January 2011.[10] The first contest allowed four of Guude's fans to join the server. Contest runner-up adlingtont started his own Let's Play from the server in February,[11] while contest winner Nebris and thejims both began to release short clips from the server infrequently. Mhykol joined the server as a guest in April 2011 as part of his 'Mhykol Invades' series, in which he toured other Let's Players' Minecraft worlds.[12]

The second and third contests accepted video applications, which Guude says was a motion for adding more video creators to Mindcrack.[13] All of the winners of the second contest started Let's Plays from the server; one winner, VintageBeef, had an already established fan-base thanks to his hardcore survival Minecraft Let's Play.[14] None of the winners of the third contest began a Let's Play upon joining the server.[13] The reset of the server in September 2011 saw Mhykol join Mindcrack as an official member, along with BdoubleO100. Since then, all new members invited to Mindcrack have been content creators of some form. Members that didn't initially produce consistent Let's Plays have begun to do so in subsequent years, for instance, all of the winners of the third contest,[13] Nebris, and thejims.

Reflecting on the apathetic pre-Mindcrack period of his life, Guude has shared that he identified closely with fictional character Creighton Bernette (played by John Goodman) from Treme, adding that he felt empathetic of the characters' suicide at the end of the first season.[15] He says Bernette's production of vlogs inspired him to begin his own Let's Play, creating purpose in his life.[16]

Mindcrack Network[edit]

A separate YouTube channel, the Mindcrack Network, was created as "a place for content from collaborations from the guys on the Mindcrack server."[17]

Channel Contents[edit]





See also[edit]

External links[edit]


  1. Guude initially titled his videos with the spelling "MindCrack" when referring to the multiplayer server. Many members including Nebris, PauseUnpause and Zisteau have always used the "Mindcrack" spelling. Both spellings were generally accepted, with the 'capital C' being considered the official spelling. Over time, the use of the 'lowercase c' spelling became more prominent, and Guude began titling his videos as such. In March 2015, WesWilson confirmed that the 'lowercase c' would be used when referring to the brand in a legal context.[2] Some members such as AvidyaZEN and SethBling still use the previous spelling.


  1. W92Baj (28 June 2012). Reddit reply. Reddit. <http://www.reddit.com/r/mindcrack/comments/rvuf3/mindcrack_brand/c494vtz>.
  2. brighteyes890 (15 March 2015). Reddit reply. Reddit. <https://www.reddit.com/r/mindcrack/comments/2z3c43/mindcrack_or_mindcrack/cpfb7ul?context=1>.
  3. TheMisterEpic (18 October 2020). "The RISE and FALL of Mindcrack SMP - The Predecessor of Hermitcraft...". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_1TC5BZSDc>.
  4. Mindcrack (19 June 2012). "Mindcrack Podcast - Episode 1". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gub7YEAGWo4&t=1467s>.
  5. GuudeBoulderfist (19 October 2010). "Minecraft MindCrack - S1E1 - Clausterphobified". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZI_SwHIdiU>.
  6. GuudeBoulderfist (20 November 2010). "Minecraft MindCrack - S1E42 - I like my stuff". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb9xXOSFfUQ&t=2m32s>.
  7. GuudeBoulderfist (28 November 2010). "Minecraft MindCrack - S1E51 - Wrangled - 1 of 2". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNTbKDDIFPo&t=2m7s>.
  8. GuudeBoulderfist (30 November 2010). "Minecraft MindCrack - S1E54 - Spider Expressway". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf4O5_ceQ6A&t=7m11s>.
  9. GuudeBoulderfist (8 December 2010). "Minecraft MindCrack - S2E62 - Hitting the Ground". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZls7Eaaqo4>.
  10. JSano19 (1 January 2011). "Minecraft - Let's Play - S2E001 - A Fresh Start". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocHxVZTL2k0>.
  11. GuudeBoulderfist (10 February 2011). "Minecraft MindCrack - S2E128 - Take Three". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH_z5AsA7FU&t=2m53s>.
  12. GuudeBoulderfist (12 April 2011). "Minecraft Mindcrack - Let's Play SMP - S2 Bonus - Mhykol Invades". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Iv01lWT_24>.
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 GuudeBoulderfist (18 July 2014). "Minecraft MindCrack - S4E63 - Season 4 Finale". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5A40ZkALr8&t=16m2s>.
  14. GuudeBoulderfist (2 May 2011). "Minecraft MindCrack - S2E178 - Your Top 10". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l36_m8dENOE&t=5m26s>.
  15. GuudeBoulderfist (13 August 2014). "Minecraft MindCrack - S5E9 - Torch Tuesdays #4 - The world we live in". YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxjFbIIubOE&t=23m46s>.
  16. GuudeBoulderfist (8 December 2014). Reddit reply. Reddit. <https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/2ojtzf/youtubers_with_over_100000_subscribers_whats_your/cmochss>.
  17. MindcrackNetwork. YouTube channel. YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/user/MindCrackNetwork>.