Conan O'Brien, by his own admission, isn't a regular player of video games. But with more than 100 million registered players, Mojang's Minecraft isn't an average game — it's a cultural phenomenon. The Lego-esque brick-placing simulator is so pervasive that Conan, a self-professed "clueless gamer," asked Minecraft makers Mojang if he could animate an entire show in the game's trademark blocky, pixelated style. The Swedish developers apparently said no to the idea, but that didn't stop Conan and co-conspirator Andy Richter from being transformed into cubist versions of themselves for a two-minute sketch.
O'Brien and Richter start the segment brandishing axes and flailing wildly in a Minecraft version of the Conan studio, complete with an audience made up of the game's sheep, cows, and iconic exploding creepers. Before long, they're whisked off to a castle, taken underground to host the show in a fiery pit, and pictured aboard a pirate ship emblazoned with a red-headed skull and crossbones.