Minecraft: What I think of it

There have been just a few things over the years that have taken our house by storm. The one that stands out most in my mind at the moment is the Lego Star Wars game on the Wii. 

When Nathaniel and Nick were about 6 and 4 years old, we got the Wii, and Lego Star Wars was among the first games we received to play on it. We had to PEEL them away from it, they were so obsessed with it. I'd never seen anything like it!

They've had more than a passing interest in other things, such as Beyblades (GAG), but nothing that they've obsessed over like that Star Wars game until now. Until Minecraft (DOUBLE GAG).

image source: mojang.com

You may recall that we surprised Nick with a Minecraft-themed birthday cake in October, and there may or may not be a few Minecraft items under the Christmas tree next month. (I mean, I may hate Minecraft, but I'm not a MONSTER.)

Basically, the reason I bring this up is that blog reader Leanna sent me an email telling me that her 9-year-old son wants to play it, and she wanted to see if I'd recommend it. (Her email was longer than that and asked a couple of more specific questions, so when you see the length of my response to her, please factor that in.) (But also, you know, I can just be rather wordy, like, such as.)

I know at least two more of you out there (Hi, Lisa and Robin!) have kids who play Minecraft, so I'm hoping that any of you who have opinions about it might chime in in the Comments with helpful information and/or cautionary tales. Only, please no tales of kids who have died of brain bleeds or something while playing video games. I'm in no kind of shape to take that. 

And now, my email response:
 

Leanna,

Our kids play the paid version of Minecraft, which they had to pay for with their own money. Nathaniel bought the PC version for his laptop with saved allowance, and they each (three) bought the app for their iPods with allowance (I think it was a few dollars).

They used to play ROBLOX but have lost interest in that now. Minecraft has completely taken over, and from what I understand, it's the "big thing" everywhere now. All the kids in their Scout dens talk about it, as well as all the kids at school. It's available on the XBox now, so I think that's why it's really taken off now. (We don't have an XBox.)

I don't know if you'd consider it "dark" ... I don't think it's as dark as something like Star Wars, personally. I mean, the graphics aren't that great, if you ask me, and it's really just a glorified Lego building game with a fighting element. It's an environment they build (and customize) and play the game within. Night in the game isn't like night in the real world ... I really don't think it's too scary for a 9-year-old. It doesn't scare Jake, and he's 4.

Having said that, it's "addictive." All the kids like it, so of course they all want to talk about it and play it all the time. Nick's friend Drake calls my phone all the time so they can play it over the phone. Ridiculous. Grayson and I recently put restrictions on Minecraft play ... on weekends they can play it until lunchtime, then between lunch and supper they cannot play it at all. After supper, they can play until bedtime. That's usually another hour or 90 minutes if they choose to play it. For them, the time flies. They can't believe it when their time is up.

We are on the verge of reducing it even more, depending on their behavior at the house (talking back, disobedience, etc.) because it's the thing they like the most, so it's the thing they hate to have taken away.

Anyway, I would advise you to resist it if your son is impressionable, just because, as I said, there's an addictive/peer element to the game that I DO NOT LIKE. But I'm not saying it's dangerous or anything to that degree ... if I thought that, I wouldn't allow it at all. It's just like Defcon 5 Annoying at this point.

Does that help? I can also poll my blog readers if you'd like!