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Original poster

Minecraft - recommended age?

59 replies

LetterFromLorah · 27/10/2020 20:32

DS is 6 and is obsessed with Minecraft even though he's never played it. He heard about it from his friend at school but I've always said no because I was under the impression that it's for older kids.

Recently we've been watching some family-friendly Minecraft videos on You Tube and it looks kind of ok.

Can anyone advise from experience if it's suitable for six year olds? DS can scare easily but doesn't seem to be bothered by the creepers and things like that, although the ender (?) dragon seemed to make him nervous.

OP posts:
EmeraldShamrock · 27/10/2020 20:35

In our house minecraft started very young.
DD is 12 she started playing with her Dad at 5.
As long as it is not on survival mode it is very good. She still plays it on creative peaceful mode.
DS plays it occasionally he is 6.

LemonChiffon · 27/10/2020 20:37

6 is fine for Minecraft. Its great.

ChanklyBore · 27/10/2020 20:38

My youngest dc started Minecraft at 3 with older dc

It’s one of the few things that the teens can play with the smaller ones properly

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Original poster
LetterFromLorah · 27/10/2020 20:39

Ah ok, so there are different modes. Creative peaceful sounds good. If it's just pottering about building things etc then it would probably be fine. Thanks for your help!

OP posts:
yourfaceisaforeignfood · 27/10/2020 20:42

As a PP has said there are two ways of playing - creative and survival.

Creative is perfect for a 6 yo - in fact it really gives them scope to explore their imaginary world and create the most fantastical objects. I was always amazed when I would join the children on their server what incredible, beautiful things they could build when I was so constrained by ‘a house must have 4 straight walls and a roof’ type reality. It is a bit like lego - they have the ‘blocks’ to create whatever they want.

Pascha · 27/10/2020 20:42

6 is a great age to start. Nobody has to go anywhere near the ender dragon if they don't want to. To begin with it's just fun to have it on creative mode and see what you can build. Or survival peaceful mode where the mobs are there but they don't do anything.

My primary school runs minecraft clubs for yr1 upwards (or did, til this year Hmm)

Mustbe3ormorecharacters · 27/10/2020 20:44

I play minecraft with a 4 year old, mainly just building things.

Original poster
LetterFromLorah · 27/10/2020 20:46

Thanks so much everyone for the replies. This is really good news for DS! Smile

OP posts:
Mustbe3ormorecharacters · 27/10/2020 20:47

Let me try to add something more productive.

Game modes-
Creative, no chance of dying or being injured with endless resorts and the ability to fly.
Survival, the key here is difficulty you can play survival on peaceful difficulty which has no monsters but you can take damage from fall damage and a few environmental things.
Easy medium and hard are also available in survival.

Mustbe3ormorecharacters · 27/10/2020 20:48

Resources not resorts.

Original poster
LetterFromLorah · 27/10/2020 20:49

When you change modes do you lose everything you've created so far?

OP posts:
Tatum1234 · 27/10/2020 20:52

My three youngest have played it since age 4

DonaldTrumpsChopper · 27/10/2020 20:56

My DS2 started playing at around 6, initially on creative mode.

He's 13 now, and it's still his favourite pass time. He meets his school friends on a server these days.

NiceGerbil · 27/10/2020 20:56

No you can save it all.

It's great for your son's age. A fab game.

Bbub · 27/10/2020 20:57

I believe you can change modes in the same game so you don't lose anything.

My son started at 5 or 6 and he was a little scared at first of nighttime mobs but quickly got used to it. We started on survival mode as we didn't know about creative.

He has learned so much from it, I think it's a great game. It's boosted his reading and maths. And it's bloody addictive OP you may find yourself playing for hours in the evening of your own time Blush or maybe that's just me!

NiceGerbil · 27/10/2020 20:57

You can get different versions pc, Xbox etc not sure what the differences are or what you have so worth looking into that.

Ber84 · 27/10/2020 21:08

My two daughter loves Minecraft, 6,8 years they both play creative mode, they have build castles in the sky, they play together, what I like most about this game it doesn't need to be online to play and have fun, it's all about imagination and creativity. There is a new Minecraft game out this winter.

Invisimamma · 27/10/2020 21:08

Both my son's started playing Minecraft around age 5 on PS4. My eldest is now 10 and still plays it now and again.

You create 'worlds' which you save and go back to and you can have multiple worlds in different modes (just storage space you need for them).

I'd recommend starting on creative mode, that's basically just building things. On survival mode you need to 'mine' for materials, get food, stay safe from baddies etc. It's fun but more complicated. They honestly learn so much from it and will even play together building huge worlds.

Original poster
LetterFromLorah · 27/10/2020 21:14

We don't have any consoles so would probably just be on my Kindle Fire or PC.

Sorry, just one more question! I looked it up there in the App Store and it says in app purchases. Is it one of these never-ending rabbit holes of hidden costs?

OP posts:
Original poster
LetterFromLorah · 27/10/2020 21:19

Thanks, will maybe check out the new game. We're slightly stuck for Christmas presents so this could be the golden gift!!

OP posts:
DonaldTrumpsChopper · 27/10/2020 21:22

I bought the PC version for DS, then about 5 years later he asked for a subscription to a server for his birthday. He hasn't spent a penny on it other than that.

Mustbe3ormorecharacters · 27/10/2020 21:23

It’s not a pay to win game the in app purchases are for different worlds which just add things on to the game or makes things look different.
The base game is huge and the add ons are completely unnecessary and not massively expensive.

DonaldTrumpsChopper · 27/10/2020 21:24

I think you can still get the little hardback books which show a lot of the tips and hacks. Great Christmas presents, and DS ws reading those by aged 7 too.

Original poster
LetterFromLorah · 27/10/2020 21:25

Excellent, thank you! Smile

OP posts:
Ronia · 27/10/2020 21:26

Thanks for starting this thread -and for all the replies!
I know nothing about it but DS7 really wants to start playing so I was considering it for Christmas. Sounds like, on Creative mode, he'd love it.