Minecraft is a creative sandbox game with fantasy elements.
Easy to Play
Exceptional Learning
Click a title to learn more about each topic.
Story & Themes
Minecraft is completely open-ended. The game begins with the player in a vast landscape. Over the course of the game the player mines resources and makes different tools. They can use the tools to mine more resources in the form of blocks; blocks are used to build.
And oh, the things you can build.
Minecraft players are renowned for creating to-scale representations of monuments or popular images from pop culture. Some even build entire cities. Players work together in teams to construct these massive structures, just for fun and fame.
In Creative Mode, whether online of offline, players have unlimited resources. That means if you want to build an entire building out of rare lapis lazuli blocks, you are restrained only by your imagination. There are no hostile monsters in this mode. Players cannot die, and they can also fly. This is the favored mode for multiplayer, because it enables players to build complex structures without interruption.
Survival Mode is another popular method of play. In Survival Mode, hostile monsters will spawn during the night and may attack the player. The player can be killed but will respawn and be able to retrieve lost items. The biggest differences are that in Survival Mode the player must eat to regain health and must mine resources to be able to build. Because of this, it is a challenge to build beautiful structures—but fighting to survive is equally thrilling.
Save Points
The player can save the game and quit at any time. This is a good thing to remember when your kids try to squeeze 10 more minutes out of you!
Difficulty
Minecraft is easy to get the hang of, though to build more advanced structures you might need to look up tutorials. But the basic controls are easy, and younger kids love the game.
Heads Up!
Violence There are cartoonish monsters that will be hostile to the player. These range from blocky spiders, skeleton archers, and zombies, to strange creatures like "creepers," which resemble two-legged shrubberies. If a player kills these creatures, they will disappear in a puff of smoke. These creatures attack only when the player plays in Survival Mode. You can also hit other players with your weapons, though more often than not players work together in Minecraft.
Scary Imagery When the monsters appear it's easy to be startled. Their appearance is more funny than frightening
Sex & Nudity There is no sexual content in the Minecraft game, but in this online game players might create content that is sexual or refer to sexuality in chat. This is rare in the Minecraft community.
Strong Language If players join a server online, they will be playing with real people and are therefore more likely to encounter offensive language. The single-player version of Minecraft doesn't contain any offensive language.
Substance Use There is no alcohol in Minecraft, but modders can create potions, which sometimes are named after alcoholic substances.
Consumerism There are toys available for Minecraft, and big fans may want them.
Discrimination There are no characters in Minecraft per se, and there are many different avatars to choose from. Many players mod their characters so they can appear however they want.
Conversation Starters
- Are there times when you feel like you've been playing too long? Is it still fun?
- What are you building? How did you design it?
- Is it easy to collaborate with people online, or is it harder than playing by yourself?
- Do you prefer Creative Mode or Survival Mode? Why?
- What is your ultimate goal in this game?
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