Talk about neat! A friend of mine kept talking about this video game that her 12 year old son has been playing for a long time now, and about how he really enjoyed it. She said it was called "Minecraft" and to be honest with you, I had no clue what she was talking about, nor did I give it much thought.
After a while, my son began talking about a certain game that a friend of his from school really enjoys playing. When I asked what it was called, he said "Minecraft." And surprise, surprise.... he wanted to buy it too.
So needless to say... I began my research into what this popular Minecraft game was, and after purchasing it and watching my son play it for hours on end, I thought it may be helpful to share what I've learned about this game so that any other parent who is as unfamiliar with this game as I once was can make a more informed decision prior to possibly purchasing this game.
Minecraft video game
The overall jist of Minecraft is to build cities. Your lego character walks around and builds lego type cities. There is not really any kind of violence in this game, aside from killing some animals. I know... I know... not all that appealing to hear.... but there is a reason for killing the animals. The characters are kind of like pioneers. They need to use the animals for food and for survival. (not as gruesome as you may have first thought)
Overall... I'm not quite sure why kids really enjoy this game. I just know that they do, and as a parent, I would rather see my son play a game like this than any of the popular games out there now with all of the violence and borderline explicit material.
Looking to buy Minecraft game?
Minecraft has been available for the Xbox 360 for a long time now as a downloadable game, meaning that for 1600 Microsoft points (as long as you have internet access and a Gold Live Xbox 360 membership), you can simply purchase this game as a download onto your Xbox system.
What if you don't have internet access or a live membership? Don't worry.... you will soon be covered there as well. :-)
For fans of Minecraft who do not have internet access, or a gold membership for their Xbox 360, they buy an actual disk version of this game. It is set to be released on June 4th, 2013, and on some websites it is available for preorder. I love this idea because it allows even more people the ability to play this game than was previously available.
Overall, if your child asks to try this game, I would say... go for it. Overall, they seem to really enjoy it, and as a parent, I feel comfortable letting my child play it. So it seems like a win/win to me.
