#Minecraft is popular because it's cocaine for ADHD. That's it. That's the whole story. This is not even a criticism.
"Where am I? Doesn't matter. I built a house. I punched a tree. I dug a hole. What's over there? Oooh, a forest. Ooh, a pig. I built a farm. I found a village. I raised a colony of scholars that teach ancient wisdom. I made my hole deeper. There were diamonds down there. I made a pickaxe. Oops I died. Oh well. What's that obsidian arch? I'll finish it. Oh look, a portal to hell. Oh hey, a desert. I found a tomb. Slenderman is following me. I killed him. I took his eye. I cleaned it with powder from hell. It led me to a portal to space. There's a space dragon. I killed it."
Literally all these things are equivalently important and meaningful in this game.