Minecraft app on IOS?

[SuperSange]

I'm thinking of getting minecraft as a birthday present for my son, but don't want to go down the games console route if possible. Could he play it on an iPad or is it not as good? He'll be six on his birthday and played it at a mates house. He never asks for much really, but seems to be excited by it!!

I asked a work colleague about it, as my nearly 6 yo wants it too.

He said it's fine to get on the iPad and you can set it so you can play offline only (that's my main concern). Last time I looked it was £6.99.

He's got to earn 'house points' at home to get it, he's still 9 off, so I'm string it out - hahahaha!

My son (nearly 6) loves it on the iPad and I even get into it at times

My minecraft-obsessed DS uses his iPad to play. He's perfectly happy with it.

He's able to connect with others (DS2) on our WiFi network and I think he's set up to play with up to 10 friends online as well. DH set that up though and I'm not sure what it costs and we haven't actually used it to connect with his friends!

It's not got everything that the PC version (best) and the console versions have but it's kept my kids busy enough.

That sounds great; thank you all
So much. I wasn't keen to have a console at such a young age ( though I can't articulate why). I was just worried the iPad app might be a pale imitation, but it sounds good!