To Minecraft, or not to Minecraft...

[rocketjam]

We have two DSs, 7 and 8, and they have restricted access to computer, occasionally play gentle games on CBBC and on 2paint-a-picture. They don't have Nitendo games, Wii, or any other video games. They never use my tablet, they've only ever played video games at friends' houses. DS1 has asked if we could buy Minecraft and he is desparate to play it.

We've always had a no video game approach at home, and restricted computer game time and I think we're a pretty normal family - but if I was to ask a show of hand in my son's school classes I'm sure they're a minority. So is Minecraft ok as a game? Is it mildly educational? General opinion please? And when you buy it online, do you have to keep on paying for access to other areas/more access to the game? Thanks!

my dh is a computer geek, works in I.t. and is abit like a big kid with consols and games ect. my dd1 (9) is very much like her dad with her love of computers. she has recently started mine craft. as far as im aware once the initial payment is made thats it (im not 100% but dh hasnt mentioned anything!) she loves it, it's brilliant for them to be creative. I say go for it!

We allow ds to play Minecraft, but only as the app on a tablet, not online. I wouldn't call it educational, but its not a mindless computer game either. I haven't found anything objectionable yet, and we are very stringent compared to a lot of his friends.

Ds has just turned 8, and all of his friends play (and talk endlessly about) Minecraft, so socially I think it is important for them.

The cost was very low, and theres no in play purchases or continuing costs

Ds aged 7 plays, app on ipad cost £5
only the creative one not survival
I think it's quite educational but as with all these things it does engross him

minecraftedu.com/page/

:)

DS age 9 plays it as do many of his friends (including younger ones). It has been described as like screen lego in that you build things. I'm not an expert but have read articles that say it is one of the better games for young children. Also one piece that said it had been rolled out to all teachers in Singapore.

Also,...

minecraft.gamepedia.com/Minecraft_in_education

I've just downloaded minecraft onto my laptop for ds1 and dd, they are six and five. They had pocket mine craft on a tablet and loved it but wanted the full version as there were things they couldn't do.
It cost 17 pounds but they are playing happily together, learning about resource management and manipulating their environment.

My bil still plays Mine craft and he is a software engineer in his forties so it must be good! We are a gaming family and the DC see their dad and I play games, so I think they see gaming as a normal activity and as long as they don't play it to excess I'm happy as I think its quite educational and will teach them the principles of gaming for when they are old enough for more complex and challenging games.

I would let your ds's try it out, if you watch what they do you might be surprised by how much they learn

It is obsessive & has caused ds problems in terms of tantrums when he wants to do nothing else

BUT

Until this last 12 months he was an outsider. We thought he had ASD , had behaviour problems at school & no friends.

Since having Mibecraft his school friends are also into it. It's a common like & has led him to becoming more involved socially with them, discussing in the playground & playing with each other online. This has led to him becoming invited to parties/friends houses & taking part in other activities like football with them.

We have a timer on the PC & Xbox. He knows the rules & the acceptable hours of play & it seems much better this year.

Very harmless game if you restrict the amount of time/obsessiveness about it. Although I would say allow a reasonable and realistic limit timewise. There really isn't much you can get 'done' on minecraft in 30 mins. It would be better to allow 3 2 hour sessions per week than say 30 mins per day IMO.

I personally think it's very educational - learning about the properties of the materials, creativity, resource management, engineering.

You also might just want them to play offline to start off with too.

It's great, harmless fun. Put strict time limits on it or whole weekends will be lost.

I definitely agree about the social side of it. My ds is in Y7 and when he started his new school it was a fabbo leveller/conversation opener. Very quickly he had new boys in his class on the same server playing various games. He also keeps in touch with his old mates from primary via minecraft.

He also does it with simultaneous skype sometimes - I nipped in to the kitchen to get a top up of wine the other day and a cheerful boy said "Oh, hello Mrs Bip" through the skype. I've not heard any downsides about it, other than the self-regulation and that some dc get a bit upset when their domains get trashed. As far as I can see, that seems to be the whole point - Ds plans great raiding parties, including using sheep as some sort of dynamite filled Trojan horse which hugely entertains him and his mates and is completely unfazed when he is similarly laid to waste.

Thanks, that's very helpful... we will set some time limits before buying it. I like the idea of having it offline. Do you know if the only offline version is the pocket version?

I love minecraft, though I'm not a player. Before minecraft my preteen daughters were fighting on a daily basis. Now one will be on the xbox playing it, and the other will be watching youtube videos about it. My best friend is a keen player (and he's 33). as games go there's little violence - yes, you kill creepers and skeletons but they are very blocky. The creative aspects are far more attractive and I do think it's educational. It's certainly co-operative, but they are practising planning, physics/mechanics (with the redstone, which is what makes things work), maths, increases spatial awareness. I'm tempted to have a go myself.

You can download the PC version and play it offline. You never need to play online although you can join or set up servers if you want

I've been playing it since it was in beta with my husband on the PC. I think it's a great game. It's one payment per account for a full version. For example if you have 2 children and they want an account each its 2 payments. Otherwise they can share.

Its very eductional IMO. You can learn co-operation, cause and effect, which materials work well for what purpose - also there is a material called redstone (lost on me) whichcan teach you all about logic with electrics. There are so many possibilities.

I agree atfirst it can take a while to get into it, so maybewhile its new a few 2 hour sessions, but after they've built shelter I think you can reasonably say a 30 run each evening.

My DS (10) plays minecraft. It is the only computer type game he has ever shown any interest in, being more a sporty outdoorsy type, however during the long wet winter he had to find something beyond books if I wasn't available for chess or monopoly. It seems fairly harmless, and he does't become obsessed, angry or frustrated.
Pretty much all of his friends are mine craft fans, and according to most GFs from uni with kids similar age, so are theirs; it seems to be some kind of cult for sub-teens!
I have never stopped him from playing games so long as they are age appropriate, but when he was younger there was a rule about 60 mins TV or game / day, but I never needed to enforce it as he never even racked up half of that.
Don't know how much any of this helps, but I think there are worse games they could play.