I still remember when my cousin first showed me this game, it was still in alpha and I think I costed like 2USD. He told me how cool it was and innovative but all I saw was the terrible graphics. Then I uttered the worst take of my life: "yeah, I don't think this will go anywhere. I doubt people will want to play this much". I have never been so wrong in my entire life.
I still remember playing the creative-only browser version for hours on end...
Edit: I miss the original sponges. Just place, and all water around it is permanently kept at bay. No drying needed. They made for some interesting water features.
I remember the exact date I found out about it too. July 18th, 2009, JayIsGames had a review of it. I like to go back and read that every few years. G summoned mobs! You pressed B and got a whole page of blocks to pick from! Sponges sucked up water! Of course they do that now, but there was a good few years where they didn't. Ah the memories
that's what i was thinking... i guess games like Fortnite and Roblox coming along made Minecraft feel older than it is. (never got into any of them so they're pretty much the same category for me)