It's not about punching dirt.
Minecraft is considered good because it's very well-designed and thought-out, even though it's still in the early stages of development. It's gotten wildly popular in the past month or so around the world. More than half a million people have paid for it, myself included. It's a lot of fun building a base, crafting tools, weapons, and armor, exploring dark tunnels and caves, killing monsters, growing trees and crops, and creating structures out of whatever you can find. If you just "don't get it," do some research, or play the free version.
Here's a cool video of Minecraft:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asImTDkPWKA