Minecraft for a 5-year-old

[pjsgalore]

My 5yo DS has been begging for Minecraft. I don't know much about it apart from the fact the recommended age is 7 up and I've heard they can become obsessive about it.

I'm easy-going about video games generally (he's unbelievably good at Playstation and I really believe, like for elderly people, video games can help exercise the brain) but at the same time now he's at school he only plays at the weekend, and I make sure he's doing lots of other things - he still does role play for hours with his dinos/animals/cuddley toys - and we do lots of outdoorsy stuff. He's really good at reading, is very sociable etc.

Anyway, I'm sure he's too young for minecraft - but has anyone ever been asked for it by their 5 year old - or does anyone know much about it? Have an opinion about it? Would be v grateful for thoughts.

My 5yo old goes on minecraft and plays it fairly easily. It's insanely boring though I really don't understand the fascination with it at all but hey ho. I'm sure he'll be fine

ffffffedup thanks for response! Does he get obsessed?

For what its worth, my son is 7 and loves it. He's obsessed. But it is a royal pain because the begging is never ending. Can i play it now? Can i play it later? Can i play multiplayer? Can you buy story mode? Can i chat to other players ? It is so tedious and he doesnt want to do anything else (eat, go out, etc) so it is one more thing to listen to moaning about and feel like i need to control . I've tried letting him do it all day in school holidays to see if he would get bored. He doesnt. I wish I'd held out longer as i find it unhealthy to be that obsessed with one sedentary activity. On the positive side he is really enjoying it and has read the minecraft handbooks and worked it all out himself so he has a sense of achievement. I just wish i found it more interesting and that he didnt moan when asked to do anything else.
Having said that your child may be more able to moderate his behaviour better than mine....

My 4 year old plays it sometimes. Certainly not obsessed. Meant to be really good at teaching spatial awareness.

My 5 yr old plays. Not obsessed but very obsessed with watching Stampy playing it on YouTube! WTF is that about????

My DCs are older (11 & 9) and are as obsessed as I let them be, minecraft is pretty much Lego for the computer so I wouldn't worry about his age, just keep him off the online servers and let him have fun in creative

YouTube Stampy Longnose and you will get to see an adult with an annoying voice playing the game (he is child suitable which is why I tolerate him to a degree) this may let you gauge suitability for your DS

If you let him have it just keep it time limited as you would with any game and he will still enjoy all his current activities the same

My 6 year old DD got very obsessed with it and she became very creative after playing it I'm not sure if there is any actual correlation but its what I observed. we just played on build mode as apposed to survival as she hated the creepers. Its basically computerised Lego. If your ds likes Lego he's sure to love minecraft

god I hate stampy cat/stampy longnose!!

Thanks everyone for the great insight and advice! Well I'm a little bit sold - love to see him loving and enjoying these things! Will have to stock up on patience to combat future begging/endless discussion. Maybe we'll get it for him for Christmas.

My 6yo just plays the pocket edition on a tablet (about 5 quid). Like pp they only play creative mode as don't like creepers etc. She builds lots of houses mostly - she enjoys it in the same way as drawing/making. Not obsessed, it's just another indoor activity.

Actually I've just realised that it will be the tablet version he plays - he only does reading eggs on the big computer and I need it for work. Is it much different?

DD used to love playing creative mode on a tablet. I guess she started about about 6 maybe? Her older brothers had gone through their minecraft obsession by that point.

She does now play online survival versions but is happy to spend hours building stuff like she used to.

Apparently it can be very good educationally as a strategic and creative thing - my son would be obsessed if we let him!

Some of stampy's earlier stuff is most definitely not suitable for children. However now he is raking in millions he watches his p's and q's.

my dd is 10 and obsessed. at 5 it wouldn't have interested her.

i think its great fpr kids but i can't do it

I'd say he's more obsessed with watching those damn stampy videos than actually obsessed with playing it

I got minecraft when my eldest was 4yo, she was very on/off about it. Now she's 8yo and loves it. I don't restrict her time on it, and she's not obsessed at all. She goes to a minecraft club weekly and sometimes plays at home too. Her younger sister is 5yo and has started to get into it too, so we're thinking of putting it on DH's laptop (I currently only have it on mine) so the girls can play with each other across LAN.

I have got friends whose kids watch Stampy, and thankfully my girls haven't got into him yet.

I play Minecraft with DS1 (big kid) we love it. Can't stand stampy.
He also did extra chores, saved up and bought story mode for himself.
He's 7 but we've had Minecraft for a couple of years on Xbox. I'm getting it on laptop as soon as I get a new one. It's virtual Lego. DS1 gets told he can have saves then turns it off. I have it set to auto save every half hour (for when I'm playing so those bastard creepers don't blow me up and I lose everything) never had a problem though as he knows if he doesn't turn it off I will. The Xbox is in the living room. And he doesn't go online.

My 5 yr old plays multiplayer MC with his big brother. They love it, and yes it's like exciting Lego for the iPad. They interact and talk and plan and do stuff together for hours when I let them. So even if I limit their iPad time, I'd encourage them to play minecraft over 90% of other games!

Ds2 has been playing since age 3. Ds1 has it too and has taught him. Just hide the tablet and distract him if you don't want him to play all the time. Just say no to multilayer or whatever it is where they can go into each others world's. Just not worth the hassle

My 7yr old loves it, and is a bit obsessed. She has strict limits imposed on her though, as she would never be off it.

obsessed with watching Stampy playing it on YouTube! We like DanTDM!

It is easier to navigate on tablet, imo. DD has just got the PC version & she is struggling with controls, and while she plays survival really easily on tab, she is sticking to creative on pc for the time being. There are slight differences between the two, but they are working on making the tab version much closer to the pc version.

Sorry, easier on tab because you only need thumbs, but on pc there are several buttons in use & the left & right mouse pads

My daughter has been playing since she was 4 (she is 5 now) and not at all obsessed, but she is very good at it and we have a lot of Minecraft merch that she plays with too (plastic figures etc)

My 5 year old just got it because I decided it was better he actually play it than hang around watching over his sister's shoulder while she played it.

My girls aged 7 and 9 love it. I don't mind it as they meet up in Minecraft world and interact while they're playing on it so it's kind of like when they have a pretend game off the tablet. I do limit it though.

I also prefer it when they actually play than watching endless videos of Dan TDM (they don't seem to be so interested in Stampy) as that drives me round the bend. Mind you DH watches videos of people talking about PS4 games too which I think is equally a pointless waste of time so there is no hope.

As others have said it's fine, especially if they stick to creative, and keep chat/multiplayer switched off so they are not interacting with strangers.