Minecraft 101 – What Every Parent Needs To Know

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minecraft 101

Minecraft.  I can’t believe I’m writing a post about Minecraft 101, but here we are! My son loves Minecraft – the only thing he loves more than playing Minecraft is talking about Minecraft.  

When my son first wanted to start playing I was very hesitant. This was the first game he wanted to play that was something other than Nintendo. I wasn’t very concerned about the actual game itself, but more about who he would be playing with.

I did NOT want him to be talking with strangers or interacting with them either. I’ve seen way too many Datelines to be trustworthy of anyone online.

After a lot of back and forth my son convinced me to allow him to play – and so I thought it might be helpful for other parents to understand the game and how we have navigated it safely.  

Also – all of the insider information here is coming straight from my seven-year-old. 

Like I said, he loves to talk about Minecraft and knows more about it than I do! So here you go, all your basic questions about how this game works, answered by a kid expert:

 

Minecraft 101

 

  • What platforms support Minecraft?
    • You can play on your computer, tablet, or game console. Download the App to play.

 

  • What do you do in the actual game?
    • In the game, you can build stuff – like castles, houses, underground bases, traps, and giant real-life things. You “mine” for stone, gold, iron, diamonds, and coal.

 

  • Can you play the game without anyone in your “world” that you don’t know?
    • Yes. To make sure no one else is in your Minecraft world, you click the multiplayer button and then click the multiplayer “game off.” That way you are not connected to anyone else.

 

  • Can you play the game with someone you do know, but without anyone you don’t know?
    • In order to play with someone you do know but without someone you don’t know you, both have to be on your iPads and on the same internet connection. Then one player will hit “play” and there is a friend list and their username will come up. The player that hit “play” can add the other player to join their world.

 

  • What is the difference between Creative, Survival, and Adventure mode?
    • In creative mode, you can’t die and you can get stuff automatically – you don’t have to mine for things. In survival mode, you can die from zombies, llamas (!), and skeletons that spawn at night. In this mode, you still aren’t with other players. In adventure mode, you can’t mine and you can’t build anything, but you can hold things.  You can always choose “peaceful” as your setting so that the zombies etc. won’t interact with you.

 

  • What is the difference between Minecraft and Mastercraft?
    • Mastercraft is an app that you can use to add things to your Minecraft like different skins, armor, weapons, and more.

 

  • What should someone know who is just starting Minecraft?
    • That you can die in survival & adventure mode, so make sure you make a bed so you can get rest. Also, different companies make maps that are full of worlds that you can play in. 

 

  • What is so fun about Minecraft?
    • It’s really fun to build and mine things.  

 

Still confused? It’s okay, I am too. 

Thankfully Minecraft has an entire forum of resources just for you! There is also a Minecraft education edition.

So far we have had a very positive experience with Minecraft. I like knowing that my son is using his creative brain to build new worlds and castles (one for me of course!) as well as getting the basics of coding down.  

 

Minecraft 101 - What Every Parent Needs To Know