Taking a break from Minecraft AIBU

[wombpaloumbpa]

5 year old DS started playing minecraft a few weeks ago on his kindle fire tablet. Chat is disabled and it's not an online version. It's basically just building houses and exploring the worlds type thing.

He is a worrier and quite sensitive / intense. He's been v tired and behaviour pretty testing the last week or so.

Last night he said he can't stop thinking about Minecraft or worrying about his houses and that bad guys (from the game) will get into them, he said this a few days ago to DH also.

We all agreed it would be a good idea to have a break from Minecraft for a week or so. He was absolutely fine about this last night but is now very upset - so

YES you are being unreasonable to take it away and upset him.
NO you are not being unreasonable it's called parenting

Has anyone done similar? He's still quite little and I don't think he's ready for it tbh.

good grief op

he is 5

you came up with an agreement that is clearly in his best interest

stick with it!

He's still quite little and I don't think he's ready for it tbh.

understatement

Is he playing in creative mode? I don't think there are bad guys then?

I'd say he's probably still to young. Maybe get him a mincraft lego set instead, if he's in to building. If he does start playing again, put the settings on creative mode and peaceful. Then the mobs (bad guys) won't attack.

Not a parent (found this on Active Discussions) but I suffered from the "Tetris Effect" when I played too much Minecraft. Disturbed sleep, dreaming about Minecraft blocks, approaching real life like it was Minecraft. I was an adult, I can distinguish between real life and games, and it still made me grouchy and stressed.

Take my suggestion with a grain of salt of course, but I think Duplo or Lego would probably be more age-appropriate and better at building skills like mental rotation as opposed to a game played on a flat screen. And easy for parents to join in with if they want.

He's very into Lego! Loves to build, that's why we thought he might like Minecraft and some of the kids from his class talk about it a lot so he was keen to play.
Thanks so much all. Really useful to hear your opinions.
It actually is set to creative mode but there are still creepers and zombies wandering about and that's enough to be bothering him.
After a major meltdown he's settled down again and I'm sure we've done the right thing.

@songaboutjam thanks - v helpful!

Have you tried EvE Online?

I know a few parents who bribe their 5 year-olds to fuel their P.o.S. I mean, there's only so much you can do yourself in an 18 hour gaming session.

I absolutely adore minecraft as an adult and can't wait to introduce my son to it when he's older. I think it's a great game.

But your son is only 5 so you need to set strict limits and not let him play for too long in one session or he'll get googly eyed.

Minecraft is a wonderful game, not to be mistaken for the likes of other shite like Fortnite and so on. Limit the time playing it as you would the amount of time he's allowed to watch tv.

5 is very young. In creative mode though, the creepers and so on won't attack a player and won't do anything to his builds.

Having said that, even as an adult I find the zombies, particularly the super fast small ones, to be a bit unnerving. And I have a specific dislike of creepers, don't know why! I can see why all these things, even in the totally calm creative mode might worry a small child's imagination.

Have a rest from it and then when he goes back on, you should be able to turn off Mob Spawning in the settings of each creative world he uses.

@wombpaloumbpa You can set the game mode to "Peaceful" which will remove the hostile mobs (bad guys) :) an idea for when you think he'll be ready for it again.

You can turn off mob spawning (edit the world settings under "Game" and untick "Mob Spawning" but that will also stop things like cows and sheep appearing naturally). He can use eggs to make them if he wants though.

Also consider changing the sound settings (Music and Sound Options) so that the ambient/environment noises are right down. Mine didn't like the cave noises that show up randomly (they don't actually mean anything in game)

Peaceful mode is fine, but it's a survival type mode, where he won't have access to all the blocks in his inventory if he just likes building.

When he's ready for survival, I'd actually recommend Easy mode with Keep Inventory on, so that removes any penalties for death (and you can come home easily if you get lost)

@Bomblesofbimbledon thank you - yes we do only allow 1 hour after school whilst I make dinner and clear up but maybe that's too long. Will wait til he's a bit older!

Thanks everyone - had no idea about mob spawning or peaceful mode, or the sounds! He's a sensitive boy so sounds actually do mean a lot to him. He's def just not ready - this is a learning curve!

I notice my dcs behaviour deteriorates if they play a lot of Minecraft. I try to only let them play it occasionally .

Yes I think that is too long especially if it's every day. I would allow him a half hour on Saturday and Sunday at his age.

Yes to this OP

My 5yo plays on peaceful mode (he enjoys the challenge of collecting stuff more than creative mode, but knows nothing can get him or his stuff) with his dad for an hour after dinner. Occasionally they do go on easy mode but he gets stressed usually. Take out the mobs and it's a great building and resources game.

I think it's fine if it's dreams and not nightmares - ds talks a lot in his sleep about his day, sausages, how he needs more diamonds, needs to find his swimming shorts, etc. We had to stop mario as that was upsetting dreams, he sounded stressed when awake and asleep