Can we talk about MINECRAFT, the game swallowing the brains of entire generation of pre-adolescent boys?

I know there's a thread on ILG, but I'm not a gamer, just a parent. And the ubiquity of and fervid devotion to Minecraft among the 5- to 12-year-old American males I know (including my own kids) is really sort of amazing. I know, every generation has its own Nintendo or whatever. But Minecraft is really odd, I have yet to meet a grown-up who feels like they really get the game or understand its visceral appeal.

Anyway, the New York Times had this the other day:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/minecraft-an-obsession-and-an-educational-tool/

Both my kids (7 and 9 yr-old boys) are v. much addicted to this and I just don't get it at all.

I'm a private tutor to London's wealthy spawn, and I can tell you right now that the vast majority of my charges spend every moment they can possibly wheedle on this sack of shit

I started a drownedinsound thread on this very topic recently (yes, I know, I'm sorry); got some fairly animated responses: http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/social/4431867

I don't know that it's hard to get. Virtual LEGO where you can go around the world yourself, wreak havoc, build stuff together with others.

A smart game, a smart innovation by a single guy who got very rich.

My gf's 11 year old son is hooked on this, he plays it on the Xbox. My nephews play it all the time on my mum's iPad as well. As far as I can tell the fun is all in creating these worlds and a lot of the fun is sharing these worlds with friends.

I mean, I can see the charm - you go around an unpredictable landscape, finding stuff; you build your dream house - but the way every single child plays this is to head to multiplayer mode, seek the quickest and most efficient ways to kill other players, and commence killing. It's a capitalistic battle of maximising one's resources and destroying competitors. Even the 'combinations' of items are unimaginative, dull and tailored towards an extremely limited selection of ends, mostly involving violence. It's shit.

Yes, there are some who build machines or temples or cities or whatnot. You're still limited by Minecraft's maddening cubic format and selection of materials. It's a substitute for creativity, and a poor one.

rufus loves it. he's 10. his friends love it. he still plays Magic too, but Minecraft has kinda moved ahead of Magic i think. Cyrus plays too, but he's not as into it.

Is LEGO a poor substitute for creativity? What's the difference? Why is limited materials and cubic format a bad thing? It means its origins are not high-budget, sure, but no matter how much effort and money is spent the selection of materials will have to be limited. What are better alternatives to the same concept? I didn't know there were Minecraft haters before I read this thread to be honest.

You're still limited by Minecraft's maddening cubic format

Which is obviously part of the appeal, right? I do admire that about it, how it's so primitivist in the maximal 3D CGI age.

My son is 8 and he's never played it as far as I know. I wonder if his friends play it? I've never even heard him mention it.

Nothing on this planet makes me crankier than catching my children watching endless Minecraft youtubes

LEGO is not the most creative medium ever conceived, and a giant commercial success, but at least its 'end point' in the minds of most players is the artistry of the creation itself, rather than domination and slaughter. I KNOW THERE ARE MINECRAFT EXCEPTIONS and that they are your children, but this is what I have seen.

the only thing i ever get sick of is rufus watching a zillion "hilarious" gamer vids on youtube. minecraft dudes, spore dudes, mario dudes. so unfunny and they are foul-mouthed dopes. if i thought they were funny it would be one thing. plus, they are always swearing. WATCHING someone play minecraft for hours on youtube is just...ugh.

yeah, what NickB said!

so then cyrus wants to watch skylanders videos on youtube and videos of dudes going to different toy stores to find skylanders!!!! insane.

but, you know, i had my own dumb shit that my parents probably rolled their eyes at. circle of life.

my kids don't slaughter on minecraft. they just build endless buildings.

I don't play Minecraft, I did briefly but didn't have the patience. It didn't turn out to be my thing, but I immediately got the appeal of it as soon as the game was revealed, and remember being fascinated watching tutorial videos by the creator. It appeals to very basic desires.

I don't have kids and didn't know that killing other players was a big thing in Minecraft. All videos and examples I've seen have been about creation and exploring the limits of the world and its mechanics. When it was released two years ago that was certainly the focus and end point among gamers in every case I observed. That kids make their own rules as always can't isn't Minecraft's fault.

"the only thing i ever get sick of is rufus watching a zillion "hilarious" gamer vids on youtube. minecraft dudes, spore dudes, mario dudes. so unfunny and they are foul-mouthed dopes."

now youtube humor I can rant angrily about

scott, i hear you and feel yr pain :(

mindlessly minecraftin got me over a particularly bad breakup ~3yrs ago, total classic

Nothing on this planet makes me crankier than catching my children watching endless Minecraft youtubes

This, yes. I put a moratorium on them for about a month after one day where both my kids used Words They Shouldn't Use after watching Minecraft YouTubes.

And don't forget the endless pop song parodies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efmmm_B46ls

my kids don't slaughter on minecraft. they just build endless buildings

Yeah, so far both of mine only want to play on the "creative" setting, which is fine by me. If they want to move on to zombie pigman apocalypse, we'll have to talk about it.

Yeah, when the hell did this happen? My daughter is super into it right now because her (male) friend was super into it. They work on the creative mode, but is there a way for them to collaborate online? I really know next to nothing about this.

thing is, i can see rufus having some sort of techy/computer job in the future. he is so quick with stuff it kinda staggers me. he took a video-game making class at a smart kid summer camp we sent him too last year and he dug it. now that school has started their vid time is limited. summer was a little ridiculous though. they could never beat me in t.v. watching hours in a million years. when i was a kid i think i watched 400 hours of t.v. a week. #latchkey

plus, when i was a kid my dad would drop me off at the arcade on the weekends and i would spend all day shooting stuff. and i r alright :))))

rufus does magic tournaments at the game store and they kinda bug me because they end too late for me. but he begs to go. his friends go. and they finally separated adult and kid tournament times and this makes me feel better. felt weird that adults i don't know were hanging with the kids all night. but the game store dudes are pretty good at managing the chaos and keeping an eye on things.

also, we are getting new x box. do you really have to pre-order new x box? will it really be sold out everywhere forever if you don't?

Imago you're making this sound a lot of fun.

(our kids go to a school where there are definitely no-t.v. households and we embrace the tech but so far no problems. must suck for the parents trying to be free of it though when half the kids are raving about games.)

The best thing about Minecraft so far in my household is it has given my 9-year-old a new career goal -- video game designer -- that is at least pointed in a more potentially useful direction than his previous ambition to drive race cars.

Here's what I got him for his birthday (at his explicit request): http://www.amazon.com/Minecraft-Block-Plush-Toy-Large/dp/B00ENZ8Y5Q/ref=pd_sim_sbs_t_12.

30 dollars for a cubic pillow. He loves it to death.

do kinda wish that rufus was still making game-based folk art pottery.

https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/560320_10150918488362137_888367222_n.jpg

I've never played Minecraft but I was so into building ZZT worlds from age 10-13, it was literally all I thought about until puberty. I don't see what the problem is, "creative" games like this are a better waste of time than Tetris. Or Star Wars.

there is definitely thinking involved.

I played a lot of this for a time a coupla years back. It worked well on my work laptop so I'd fiddle around in hotel rooms when I was on the road, etc.

I don't know how much "game" they've added to it; I usually just explored by digging, then emptied a lake into a lava patch to make endless amounts of obsidian

my son plays this ON IPAD and his friends are into it too. we were at a party with other kids he didn't know recently and Minecraft talk saved the day, it's like sports or the weather for grownups. and for that I am thankful.

Nothing on this planet makes me crankier than catching my children watching endless Minecraft youtubes

― i'll be your mraz (NickB), Thursday, September 19, 2013 6:14 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ha I don't have a problem with my kids plAying this but the youtube watching and the idiot mumblings of the narrators annoys me

Oh I have no problem with it or objection to it, I think it's kind of interesting. It's just the scope of the phenomenon that strikes me, how it has just taken over this particular demographic without a lot of notice or attention from the outside world.

my daughter loves it just as much as my son, it is pretty evenly obsessed about at their school

I don't play it or know anyone who does, but anything that can produce this is not wholly without merit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNw2YcAK9Wc

my daughter is too young for it but every roughly 7-to-10-year-old I know is super into it

it's funny, I saw a report about it on the local (NYC) news the other night that I thought was going to be pegged to the educational study about the effects of playing and instead it was basically like, "Minecraft exists"

yeah my 5 and 8-year-old nephews are obsessed with it too. but they're equally obsessed with Lego as well.

Had a private server with about 7 or 8 friends throughout most of my time at uni and it was just about the most creative thing we ever did ffs, had a wonderful busy little town built on an archipelago with all sorts of stuff going on. if kids are playing this rather than COD then more power to 'em I say.

A complex game with many different aspects and levels (particularly once you start installing mods) that actively rewards patience, creativity and collaboration. The Creative mode in particular, where the only reward is making something that you find interesting or beautiful, sends out an extremely positive message to kids, within the realm of video games at least.

There's a great community surrounding the game producing loads of user driven content, sharing creations etc., all a whole lot more positive than the awful negative racist/sexist/homophobic vibes that are a given on most games on Xbox Live or whatever.

Also worth pointing out that a game which allows you to use rudimentary electronic circuits to create automatic doors, lifts, rollercoasters and COMPUTERS can't fairly be described as unproductive and limited. Or even just for children, come to that.

I take the point about the kids just killing each other and blowing each other's shit up, but I've gotta say Imago I think you're dead wrong on this, certainly given the alternatives. I find it hard to imagine that most of the kids playing these games would be doing airfixes or learning to play the clarinet or w/e if they didn't have Minecraft. I think it's healthier and more stimulating to be involved in this than w/ most other games on the market.

actively rewards patience

^^^ something seriously missing from the majority of video games (or at least ones that kids can play). In fact Kerbal Space Program may be the only other kid friendly game apart from Minecraft where patience is required and rewarded.

here's an actually entertaining minecraft video, jump to about 1 minute in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnjSWPxJxNs

my son was all about minecraft for a while and I used to sigh at the endless block stacking but at 12yo all he wants to do is play FPS and now I pine for a more innocent time

I will say the music is very soothing

thing is, i can see rufus having some sort of techy/computer job in the future. he is so quick with stuff it kinda staggers me.

not to burst your bubble or anything but all kids his age are very computer savvy

xp Oh yes when that piano one kicks in and I'm standing on a grassy hill it's just awesome.

thing is, i can see rufus having some sort of techy/computer job in the future. he is so quick with stuff it kinda staggers me.

not to burst your bubble or anything but all kids his age are very computer savvy

My sister's godson is 18 months old, can't really talk yet but he knows how to navigate through multiple folders to find his games on the iPad. Absolutely amazes me

Joel and Han play the shit out of Minecraft but i don't have the time for this as i'm too busy managing imaginary footballers

Watching ppl play video games often gets actual LOLs from me. It's more about who you are watching, than what you are watching. Some humans are funnier than others.

There's not a real plot or adventure or campaign in Minecraft, is there? What do all these kids strive for?

Building stuff, mostly. My kids have made some very elaborate mansions, towers, dungeons, theme parks, etc.

yeah it's lego you don't step on. hard to think of a less-bad piece of software for kids to obsess over, really. encarta?

I will admit that the kid who plays it in front of me basically plays it as a FPS with a bit of mining (for weapons) involved - I suppose there could be more merit when it is played just as creative building exercise, albeit without the same tactile learning perks of Lego and exclusively in square blocks with no out-of-game context to put the creations into

i will say that the one time i played this (years ago, probably when the playerbase skewed older) a guy got really mad at me for destroying his giant swastika

There's not a real plot or adventure or campaign in Minecraft, is there? What do all these kids strive for?

Building stuff, mostly. My kids have made some very elaborate mansions, towers, dungeons, theme parks, etc.

Speaking from having watched my friends kid play it, and played it with him, I can say he enjoyed the building immensly just by itself. Building houses of all shapes and sizes in his world, tunnels and bridges to each building. He just let loose.

Also of greatness is the multiplayer, if you get it for the consoles you can play split screen (or online) and it's really quite neat to build stuff together. On the PC you can only, I think, play it multiplayer on line.

You can either play in the 'creative' which means you can't be harmed and have unlimited access to all the building blocks. Or you can play the 'survival' mode, in which you have to watch your back as soon as night time falls and you are required to hunt or grow (or fish for) food to keep your health up. Me and the kid play both modes, they both have their merit.

There is an actual thing called the End though now, in which if you manage to build a portal to the End you get to fight what I guess is kind of a end of game boss, a dragon. It's pretty cool actually, and if you kill it there is a rolling bizarre message.

The dragon at the end is imaginatively named the Ender Dragon.

There are also all sorts of user created maps you can download. They're built by programming and wiring modules using a in-game item called the "command block". The commands you run can be strung together to manipulate the game in all sorts of ways. Here is a list of maps the can be downloaded for free and run: http://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/mapping-and-modding/maps/1457160-rsmalecs-maps-800-reviews#c2

When I have played minecraft or watched other people play, I've found that the most fun originates from multiplayer. The sheer amount of minigames modded into an endless amount of servers is a joy. I had lots of fun playing on one server's version of smash brothers and another server's "earth games". When I watch yogscast, I'm impressed by the amount of fun they have establishing a multiplayer roleplay world where the overseer barks orders and teams must compete for the best christmas tree, feast, and song. Watching funny people download and play custom adventure maps is also pretty enjoyable.

Adventure maps usually have their own story, characters, and environments. If I was going to build something to share with the world it would be an adventure map.

Xp
*I've had

If I were 25 years younger, this would own me

So is the "community" aware that most server install packages come loaded with malware?

Fallout 4, he beat the main quest, why?

Errr sorry wrong thread

So is the "community" aware that most server install packages come loaded with malware?

― El Tomboto, Saturday, December 12, 2015 1:28 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Uhhh. With anything on the internet, be careful, do research and look for red flags.

most of these things run in linux servers i believe, I don't think malware has been an issue

main issue is "hackers". people with auto-aim and treasure chest finders... less of an issue if you are playing minigames.

survival was more enjoyable (for me) on a server with factions. years ago I found a server and wandered off to do my own thing. eventually I would run into people and they wanted to team with me. maybe they were bored and impressed by my creations and experience farm. oddly enough I had more fun when I interacted with these young teens. but, unless you are on a whitelist server with very strict oversight, you're treasure chests will be found by hackers - it never fails. this, and servers resetting from scratch whenever a new minecraft update comes out, are annoying as hell. I still enjoyed survival (although with some extra faction/economy rules) the most when I was playing with other people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv6ZiwuwGpk
I built this store on a giant icicle coming out of the water. everybody fell for the trap (even the random guy that was there when I was recording this).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv6ZiwuwGpk

Hackers are an issue in almost every online multiplayer game, for sure.

What was the point of the trap in the center of the building?

you sit at the bottom of the whole
people fall to their death and you take their items

hole*

Ah, OK. I didn't realize it was for purely competitive purposes.

Here's what I've been up to:

https://zeldaminecraft.wordpress.com/

awesome!

https://i.imgur.com/ePL9MPG.jpg

Shopping bag cosplay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paoEeRG-j8U

Y’all see this in the theatre or am I the only oner? Chicken jockey etc

I have no idea what Minecraft is, and only know about the film because of Walter Chaw's devastating review: https://filmfreakcentral.net/2025/04/a-minecraft-movie-2025/

I spent 6 hours last Thursday with a 7 year old and a nearly 12 year old having them educate me on Minecraft. It was overwhelming and I came away with a headache and the knowledge I will never be able to play this game.

They had seen the movie a few days prior and were still so excited to talk about it.

I think my hair was singed by reading the Chaw review above

My younger son — who is now 17 and prompted me to start this thread a dozen years ago — went with all of his buddies. They all grew up on it, I think it was kind of an early-onset nostalgia thing for them.

https://i.redd.it/7fysrqtvw1ve1.jpeg

I've been spending more time on this game recently, although it never really truly ever went away from me. Both vanilla versions and modded, but vanilla really needs multiplayer to be worth the while. My friend only ever goes so far with it - maxes out all the villager trading, obtains ultra enchanted netherite items and then he's done and I'll still be on the server building a windmill or whatever.

When my son was into this game (early 2010s), I didn't understand the appeal at all. I just remember being taken aback at how bad the graphics were. During the pandemic, my daughter reached the age where she wanted to play it, and we spent some time playing it together. I liked creative mode the best - just building cool houses and stuff. She's been Minecrafting a lot with her friends on spring break. She says they're interested in seeing it, but they haven't made concrete plans to do so. I really wish I could go back in time and tell myself to be more supportive of it when my son was young.

Also, the Uncensored Library seems like a cool project: https://www.uncensoredlibrary.com/en

lol Jaq when did you run into my kids?

despite being intrigued by minecraft since the age of 6 - even having Minecraft underpants- my eldest only started getting really into it at his friend's house. then we got a Switch and then it was inevitable. saw the movie last week and we are going to some interactive thing in London.

my 7yo has written actual books about all the Minecraft things his brain is filled up with.

he walks around doing the "t... t... t... t" noise behind me even though I've banned it.

Serious "Sir, this is a Wendy's..." energy in that Chaw takedown.

OMG kinder I am imagining if yours met up with these two - utter Minecraft mania! Especially between the two younger ones. Oh to be able to harness all that energy

haha you learn to switch your ears off and retreat into your own world but with the ability to nod and say "mmm yes, netherite sword" every so often

My kid watches all these two hour long movies on YouTube that people make inside Minecraft. It’s nuts.

I wriggled out of seeing it this week: "Umm, I've got this, this thing I have to, you know, yeah sorry"

Kermode & Mayo’s response: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InDBKgjXZMY

I've never played Minecraft, my kids never played Minecraft, so I'll never see this. But I did recently visit my sister, who has two small kids, and at one point while I was there one of the kids was watching the "Super Mario Bros." movie (which I had also never seen). My sister lit up, because she said she's seen it 20 times but that it's so much better than the usual kids stuff, full of game references and gags and whatnot. I watched maybe 25 minutes and came away with the impression that it was exactly what I expected it to be, loud, perfectly fine, not terrible, nothing special, not particularly clever but also sure, could have been a lot worse. That's precisely what I imagine this is. Plus, I guess, people interacting and throwing shit, like "Rocky Horror" or Barenaked Ladies gigs.

Which, to be fair, could be one way to revitalize cinema going: just lean in and encourage people to throw shit. They could pass out ponchos like at a Gallagher show, replace the seats with material that can be hosed down, charge twice the price and say, have at it, you animals.

^^^^^^ would likely participate, says person who carried spray bottles into Rocky Horror during the early 80s

Many of these adaptations seem like they've been taken over by alt-comedy people. Like the Sonic the Hedgehog (Jean Rapphio's voice) spin-off show had not only Adam Palley but Julian Barratt (the Mighty Boosh), Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones) and Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer (Giant Robot).

It's probably a great paycheck, and it's not like they are getting owned for life like doing a Marvel movie/series.

Yeah, a lot of these guys are character actors/comedians with a face for radio, so it makes sense they would be cast as voices and/or human cartoons.