Who would want to Play Minecraft?

When first I heard about minecraft and how much other homeschool kids loved it I got on and learned a bit about it. I admit, the sucky graphics are why I dismissed the game out of hand. I am a gamer, a geek, a nerd, a mommy who gets her kids all the cool tech toys in addition to the wonderful open ended natural toys. I am a Crunchy Mommy, and love crunchy parenting but I am also a geek. I couldn’t though understand just what would be fun about blocky crappy graphics. I used to make graphics like those near 20 years ago with a group of guys who programmed. The world had moved on to bigger and better and why look back. Oh how wrong I was.

Who would want to play minecraft I asked? Many people, adults, children, teachers, and even hard core gamers. It isn’t just for kids and it isn’t what I thought it was. This mama can admit when she is wrong.

 A Sheeple!

So just what was it though caused me to look at this game again and give it a real second chance? It wasn’t my kids if you guessed that, it was actually another blogger who I am embarrassed to say I can’t remember now. She wrote about how her kids loved it and put into some detail more about the game that I didn’t know. After reading her blog post I talked to my husband and he looked into, he was more open minded and got the trial version that is free right away. After about 10 minutes of play and then some research we thought we would introduce it to our son the next day. My husband got his own account, you have to pay for a full account, and then showed our son what it was about. Our son loved it right away, and had no issues with the crappy graphics. I thought for sure he was going to the world of Wii U and everything Mario and Zelda to blocks and thought he wouldn’t be interested. I was wrong. I am glad I was wrong.

If not for a blogger who knows how long it would have taken me to take a second look at the game. I admit, I am sheeple at times too. Unknown blogger, I blame you for the minecraft crazyness we have in our home now!

   The whole family plays minecraft now!

A day after my son started playing, I found myself playing with him and my husband. So that was 3 paid accounts. Then our teen wanted it on her laptop. So that was 4 accounts. Then our 5 year daughter wanted to play her own character and I didn’t think she was ready so I put the game on her iPad for $6.99. Only on the iPad she couldn’t play with the rest of the family as the apps are not full programs and she really loved the game. I thought she wasn’t ready for the full game. Again, I was wrong. So we ended up buying yet another account for her desk top.

So now we have 5 accounts and play in a world of just our family. Our 7 year old though did invite a friend to play and gave him the information to do so. Sadly his friend plays on an xBox and like the iPad, it is not compatible with the full PC version. We are working on figure it all out still.

(Our 7 year old Mr. Handsome playing Minecraft)

  What is Minecraft?

It is a virtual world of creativity. It looks a bit like our natural world with biomes like forests and oceans and hills. It is 128 blocks top to bottom and 30 million blocks wide from center in all directions. It is in short, huge. There are many worlds, you can play alone in your own, with certain friends, in public worlds with strangers. There are so many options. Some have made words that look like our own, like known cities, and some just run around and kill bad buys, or in my case, hide from them! The basics is that you mine for minerals to make better tools and armor that help you build things, farm, and kill monsters. There is a programming aspect you can get into to play god so to speak and so much more. As a family we play and just try to survive. Each night monsters spawn and try and kill you. They are in dark places like caverns and if you find yourself in one of the caverns by breaking into one or falling into one you better find your way out or defend yourself. There are boss monsters and more that I have not even gotten into yet. Mostly I try and help the kids survive.

I feel like I can’t due this game enough service in my explanation so if you game at all or your kids do, check it out. You can try it for free, or buy a cheap version as an app. The full version is $26.95 on minecraft.net. Be sure to get the real version. Other sites try and sell accounts and add on’s for more. Do be careful!

    Happy Family Gaming!