With Minecraft now being available on (edit: Game Pass for PC) I decided it was time to finally try out this funny blocky game that my kids rave about. With me on the PC and the two kids on the Xbox, I loaded up a fresh world and invited them into the game.
I’m not one for sandbox, crafting survival games - it always seems so tedious, and then I start playing them and get completely sucked in! So too with Minecraft as I started delving down into the earth to discover deep ravines and cave systems. So I was the intrepid miner while my daughter got our livestock and crop farms going. It was helpful to have my son advise me since as a 10 year old he is naturally a living encyclopaedia on all things Minecraft.
I was keen to try the true experience with enemies and all but for the sake of my daughter we stuck to peaceful mode. So despite the lack of challenge it was still a fun experience. Mainly because it was time interacting with the kids as we worked together to establish our base and mining operations.
Yeah dude, the Caves and Cliffs update (we have the first half) is an amazing update and brought so much more to the game, specifially in terms of world generation.
I also tried it for the first time when it came to Xbox Game Pass. I’ve always been curious, but now I’m also wondering if I can use it to spend remote quality time with my niece, and maybe help her get some fundamentals going in STEM and CS.
How old would you parent types say should kid be to be able to play Minecraft without an uncle Avatar in the same city to assist with logging in and navigation etc.?
Depends on the platform. I think a controller is a bit more natural or native feeling and easier to navigate the interface. But overall my son was able to get into it and start playing from around 6 or 7 years old.
Would she be using keyboard and mouse or controller?
I’m trying to get my son, who is now 9 (going on 16), used to keyboard and mouse navigation and usability but he finds it increasingly frustrating and hard to use. Compared to that of a controller that is.
Haven’t gotten that far in the planning yet. Step 1 is to determine if she’s ready, then figure out if I’m going to build her a pc with whatever I have lying around, or what the plan is, then we’ll get to peripherals
I remember playing Minecraft the first time way back in 2011. I got a demo from a PC Gamer disc, and installed it. Those first few nights in the very early Beta, or perhaps even Alpha of Minecraft was wild!! After playing the demo for like an hour, getting scared shitless on the first few nights and getting blown to pieces by a creeper, I was hooked.
I think I’ve sunk in well past 100 hours into Minecraft over the years. Well before the kids got their hands on the game.
I saw something about 1.18 that’s supposedly going to make ore/gem generation in air adjacent blocks less likely, which can make find materials in caves more difficult.
Hopefully that’s not the case.
I wonder how long before 1.18 goes live… I’ve been putting in quite a lot of time on my current map that I just started.
My 9 year old girl has been playing Minecraft from grade R. So before she could read. It took some patience for her to recognise the icons and what to do. Now she is a whizz.
My 5 year old has also been playing for the last year, but only in creative mode. I mean, thise freaking creepers give me a fright still! And she does not want to mine, just craft!
They both play more on mobile than anywhere else, which bugs the crap out of me. I want them to get used to keyboard and mouse, or controllers at least.
But few things gets me as excited as playing a fun game of Minecraft on our home server, building huge tree houses or underwater glass castles!
We also recently started using mod packs. Our favourite is Jurassic World with Isla Nublar, dinosaurs, DNA harvesting and creating your own camps with dinosaurs.
I have had a Java license for like 10 years (probably more) and paid for the Windows and Android versions. Worth ten times what I paid for it
I have been considering subbing to a Minecraft Realm to gain the benefits of all the community content and servers etc. but at the same time, I am not sure I want to expose him (although he has already) to the nature of random people on the internet and the abuse/hostility that may come with it.
What do you (those in the MEW community) feel about having a joint server or hub where our kids, and sometimes parents, can get involved and introduced to multiplayer and community. The downside would be, at least from my aspect is that we would all need to be using the Minecraft for Windows (Bedrock) version.
Not only for those benefits but I want my son to start working towards an objective. Currently, he plays very aimlessly and has no goals or tasks at hand. I would like to get him into the fact of being task-orientated and experience cause and effect too that comes with playing in normal mode, and also the risk factor. Along with the realisation that if he wants to build something he needs to gather the required resources in order to do so and do it together with others.
Oh, no. Sorry if that was misleading. I was implying the Windows/Xbox version (what I think used to be called Bedrock Edition). Being the most versatile version as it is cross platform and available on almost every device.
You would be correct sir, as a result in order to do things like this brings the introduction of costs. Like I mentioned, I’ve always wanted to sign up to Realms for Bedrock, but I couldn’t validate the cost for him alone.
