Tech help (sort of)
My son has had it for a long time. It’s a good game and can be very creative based on what can be done. If you look at youtube, look at the full scale items people have done like the Titanic and Starship Enterprise. Also have seen huge worlds with all types of things like chessboards, recreated kids games, etc. Pretty crazy how creative some people are.
Minecraft is a “sandbox” game, in that the player really makes whatever they want out of it. There is some ‘fighting’ that takes place, mostly in the form of defending your buildings from spiders, zombies and other nefarious baddies.
The majority of your time, however, is spent building houses, armor, works of art, etc. For a single player game, it’s very simplistic but that simplicity can lead to many hours of fun. You also have the opportunity to play online with other players which can include some nasty language, depending on which server you connect to.
I play A LOT of minecraft and it is a very fun game. The single player mode is definitely child friendly but you need to be careful about SMP (multiplayer.)
I have been a mod for a few servers and I try to keep them fairly pg-13 but they can get a bit rowdy. There is a big age difference between the players. I know it sounds weird but I’m 28 and play with some as young as 12.
You should really monitor your child’s multiplayer experience or consider getting a private “family” server. I think I’ve seen some for as low as 6$ per month that just he and his friends can play on.
Most of the people are pretty nice but there are some trolls online. Its a very diverse game. I will look up some kid friendly servers and see what I find.
I would definitely recommend you get him the game, but check out the servers before hand to see if they are ok. Its a great learning game and even teaches you how to build “electronic” devices.
Get him a shovel and bucket and a sand box,teach him to work.
It IS harmless. It is a bulding game. There are “monsters”, but that is more to keep it interesting and is not the purpose of the game.
try out terraria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6a7Vq7WGN0&hd=1
its similar to minecraft but in 2d. Heres’a funny clip of two guys playing it
This is informative. The question will probably arise here, when my four little boys get tired of “Spore.”
Once you've established yourself and can begin to enjoy the fruits of your labor, evening sets in and the democrats (creepers) move into your neighborhood and try to destroy everything you've worked for.
If you survive, you can attempt to rebuild. If you fail, everything you built becomes California...
Great game for children to play, given perspective.
BEST GAME EVER.
Even in “violent mode” - or whatever they call it - the violence is very silly.
Can be played in “creative mode” - where you can build like crazy, or just non-violent mode (peaceful) - no monsters, but still mining etc.
My 13 year old started playing. He started on violent, and killing “mobs” etc. I started playing, and building, in “peaceful”. Then - over time - he has changed to playin gin creative, and making wild fantasy worlds, and i started playing with some violence, building traps to “capture mobs” - which is kind of fun.
My son has since set up one of our computers to function as a server - and his friends log on to our machine, and build the same world. So he has learned all kinds of server stuff. Plus - loads his own plug ins, and texture packs, etc.
I would not let any 10 year old play online unsupervised - that has nothing to do with the game - has to do with other people on line. But - with “Logmein Hamatchi” - he is able to play online - and HE is in control - on our server. Only his friends have a password to play.
I do not limit my son’s games - we have Skyrim, Oblivion, and some other M rated games. He plays Minecraft 10X as much as the violent games. It is way more fun.
Be warned - it is addictive. As someone else said - it is like “infinite legos”.
My 11 year old has been playing for over a year. Watches the You Tube videos constantly for ideas ans entertainment.
FYI, this game eats hardware for breakfast, mostly because it is Java based. You'll need a medium quality graphics card to have a good experience, though you can play on lesser equipment. Truthfully, though, you can easily burn through your processor doing this, and a graphics card is highly recommended.
Lastly, take a gander at the Tom and Jerry map that someone made - it is incredibly hard without cheating; I don't feel all that bad about that since I know I'm not trying to learn to jump sideways from ladder to ladder. But it is an incredible map. The mirror...is amazing, as it is really a duplicate room built to create the illusion of a mirror.
Finally, if he's watching videos on the internet, he's likely watching the Yogpod or similar, and is probably hearing language he shouldn't be. You might want to monitor it.
$27.00 to buy a video game? I do not think playing most any video games should be encouraged, esp by himself, let alone spending that kind of money. The kids (not mine) around here spent their whole winter inside playing video games, etc. I would rather they be sent outside to exercise and play and interact with real persons.
I grew up as the middle child of 5, and we were only allowed to watch 2 hours of TV in the 60’s, not sex in the city, and no soaps. And we could only have one glass of soda a week. I also got 0.15 a well for allowance as a teenager, and could not get a car until i graduated from H.S.
But despite my hard working parents principled and necessary thriftiness (and discipline - ouch) , they took us camping twice a year: a week renting a cheap cabin, and a week traveling and tenting (which mom endured). Good memories.
And at home, when not at school or church or doing chores, we rode bikes, played outside, built a fort with trees we chopped down (not in the city), etc. Inside sometimes played board games.
Thank God we were fairly poor but had principled parents. Mom just passed at 91, the longest survivor.
A parent of one of the kids he plays with thinks it is good team building experience. The jury is still out on that one for me.
I'd definitely clamp down on the time if he weren't playing on two baseball teams and the golf team.
I want to chime in as well - this would be the best video game possible for a ten year old. Basically interactive Legos. Definitely get it for him! One thing to note is that it is possible to play on a shared server online. You should monitor who he plays with if you let him play online. It is great single player, so fine to limit him to that.
I’ve never played this game but it looks interesting. Some guy used it to make a scientific calculator with 14 functions with a 25 digit display. It can also do graphing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgJfVRhotlQ
Minecraft is absolutely not my cup of tea. However, it is a fabulous game and encourages a great amount of creativity. I recommend it HIGHLY.
My son is in his 30s and he LOVES minecraft.
I’m playing it right now and I am 62 lol. It’s a great game and especially good if you have a young one who is creative at heart( like me :P). My 10 year old grandson plays and loves it. It is very addictive however, so be warned about this.