Posted on 04/07/2012 2:24:11 PM PDT by raybbr
My ten year old son has been watching videos of "Minecraft" on line. It looks pretty harmless.
The thing is I can't find any reviews or whole lot of information regarding the age level this game is for.
I am not a game player on the PC. The most I play is chess or hearts, etc. I would really appreciate any feedback on this issue before I plunk down $27 on it.
Thanks to all....!
Tech help (sort of)
My son has had it for a long time. It’s a good game and can be very creative based on what can be done. If you look at youtube, look at the full scale items people have done like the Titanic and Starship Enterprise. Also have seen huge worlds with all types of things like chessboards, recreated kids games, etc. Pretty crazy how creative some people are.
Minecraft is a “sandbox” game, in that the player really makes whatever they want out of it. There is some ‘fighting’ that takes place, mostly in the form of defending your buildings from spiders, zombies and other nefarious baddies.
The majority of your time, however, is spent building houses, armor, works of art, etc. For a single player game, it’s very simplistic but that simplicity can lead to many hours of fun. You also have the opportunity to play online with other players which can include some nasty language, depending on which server you connect to.
Buying your child Minecraft is pretty much the digital version of buying your child Leggos. They can build stuff, either solo, or with friends. It’s even fun for adults.
I play A LOT of minecraft and it is a very fun game. The single player mode is definitely child friendly but you need to be careful about SMP (multiplayer.)
I have been a mod for a few servers and I try to keep them fairly pg-13 but they can get a bit rowdy. There is a big age difference between the players. I know it sounds weird but I’m 28 and play with some as young as 12.
You should really monitor your child’s multiplayer experience or consider getting a private “family” server. I think I’ve seen some for as low as 6$ 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.
Thanks for the info.
If I download it to one PC can I load the game on any other PC’s? I can’t find out if it is a single license.
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”.
Yes you can play on multiple PCs with one license - just not at the same time.
Also - can have “multiple worlds with multiple status” - so in other words, I can play in my world, with cerain attributes, and son 1 can play in a different world, with different buildings and stuff, and sone 3 can play in wolrd 3, 4, 5 or whatever - with anotehr different set of attributes.
We have 3 machines running it. Very user friendly.
In fact - the server can run, while playing on the server from another PC.
My 11 year old has been playing for over a year. Watches the You Tube videos constantly for ideas ans entertainment.
Thanks for the info.
Can more than one player, logged in, play on the same license (I realize not at the same time. I have another son who is eight)?
Sounds like I am going to be spending the money.
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.
Yes -
They just can’t play at same time.
I play, my 13 yr old plays, and my 9 year old plays. All 3 in different worlds - so we don’t have to mess with the other guys’ stuff.
If you ever spend $27 on a game - this is the one.
All I know is my 13 year old son got a plastic minecraft axe for Christmas, my husband found it online somewhere, and he was more excited about that than anything else he got.
Our fridge door is covered with minecraft block magnets... It would be more amusing if my daughter wasn’t 19 now...
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