As a developer of a game for this engine that's very much intended to NOT be a Minecraft clone, it's frustrating to see comments about the engine saying that "A Minecraft clone is exactly what it is." It does make me feel better about the name change, though. Maybe there'll be less of that backwards-looking sort of thing in the future.

So you installed Minetest Game, the modding base, with no mods and are mad it's not Minecraft, got it. Minetest Game isn't about cloning MC, it's about building your own game out of mods. If you want a Minecraft clone, that's what Voxelforge and Mineclonia are for.

Personally I couldn't care less -- I don't like Minecraft (and am not a big fan of Minetest Game either) and am far more interested in original voxel games that are not joined at the hip to bad design decisions made by Notch and/or Microsoft just because Minecraft did it. (Looking at you, crafting grid)

As a game dev, I have to say this kind of criticism is too vague to be of any use

The sleeping spot is terrible, it's basically just marking out a spot and laying on the cold, hard ground. Useful when you've fallen in a hole and can't get out, but if you've got access to grassy plants, make a sleeping mat from eight of them, it's much better.

Also to regain energy you'll need to be comfortable, if the surrounding temperature is too cold or hot it can prevent resting. Get a fire and a roof of some kind -- a shallow cave or tree works, though trees lose their leaves in winter which makes them less useful.

We have a tutorial in the works to help newbies with these things, but it's not ready yet.