7 yo wants Minecraft - thoughts
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Niels Olson
Mar 4, 2012, 5:39:18 PM3/4/12
to hn-parents
My son found it on his own, though he says I showed it to him. Is this okay for a 7 yo boy? Pros? Cons? How to limit his playing time?
Sent from my iPhone
Joël Franusic
Mar 4, 2012, 7:07:50 PM3/4/12
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It's hard for me to think of a game that would be more suitable for a 7 year old.
I suggest setting up your own server so you can play with him :)
I suggest setting up your own server so you can play with him :)
Christopher Hobbs
Mar 5, 2012, 11:34:04 AM3/5/12
to HN Parents
On Mar 4, 4:39 pm, Niels Olson <niels.ol...@gmail.com> wrote:
> My son found it on his own, though he says I showed it to him. Is this okay for a 7 yo boy? Pros? Cons? How to limit his playing time?
>
> Sent from my iPhone
I think it's pretty benign and I'd play it with him (as previously
> My son found it on his own, though he says I showed it to him. Is this okay for a 7 yo boy? Pros? Cons? How to limit his playing time?
>
> Sent from my iPhone
suggested). It's pretty much just virtual legos, especially if you
put it in crafting mode instead of survival. Crafting mode might work
if you're worried about your son seeing zombies and skeletons.
Time limiting would be the rough part. It's very much a game that
requires some attention if you're playing survival mode. Maybe give
him a block of time to play Minecraft as a reward for other efforts?
Or sit down and tell him the two of you will play for an hour. Local
servers are pretty easy to set up. If you've got two machines, you
can both be up and running in no time.
--
Christopher M. Hobbs
http://altbit.org
Joshua Paine
Mar 7, 2012, 5:00:55 PM3/7/12
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All three of my boys play it (ages 7, 5, 3). The oldest watches
youtube videos for ideas about what/how to build. The five year old is
starting to do the same. They sometimes play survival mode but mostly
creative.
youtube videos for ideas about what/how to build. The five year old is
starting to do the same. They sometimes play survival mode but mostly
creative.
The oldest is a bit obsessed, though.
--
Joshua Paine
LetterBlock: Web applications built with joy
http://letterblock.com/
Joël Franusic
Mar 8, 2012, 1:04:53 AM3/8/12
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TL;DR: Buy Minecraft for all your kids. Set up a server on your private LAN and play on that with them. The developer of Minecraft is inspiring and a great role model.
I'm 29 and I've had two runs where I've been obsessed I've spent hundreds of hours in Minecraft. It's been a long time since I was a kid and my daughter is only 9 months old, so I'm not as sensitive to what is "kid friendly" as I used to. That said, it's really hard for me to think of anything offensive or disturbing in Minecraft - in survival mode (I've only played this mode), monsters appear in the dark. They come out at night, or are found in underground caves. You can avoid them, or you can build a sword and armor and fight them when you run across them.
Most of the game is setting goals and achieving them. You have to start small (survive the night) but end up with huge goals (build a 1km minecart track, build a tower as high as it can go, redirect a lava flow, etc).
Playing alone is fun, playing on a private server with friends is even more fun. I highly suggest that parents set up a server on their private LAN and play on that with their kids. I expect that you'll actually look forward to coming home from work and seeing what your kids have done while you were gone. While they're asleep, you can decompress and build them something cool for them to see the next day. Your kids can have their friends bring over laptops or use spare computers and they can all play together.
The other aspect that I like about Minecraft is the developers and the community they have inspired. The "inventor" of Minecraft, who goes by the handle "Notch" is VERY open about how he made the game and comes across as a very nice person. Minecraft is another of those examples of an "overnight success" that came after years and years of failures, and he is very open about how hard he worked to get to where he is and doesn't try to take all the credit for his work. He recently split the millions of dollars that he made with his staff. Notch is also very big on "giving back to the community", he has donated large sums of money to every Humble Indie Bundle. You'd be hard pressed to find a game developer that would be as good a role model or as inspiring as Notch.
I'm 29 and I've had two runs where I've been obsessed I've spent hundreds of hours in Minecraft. It's been a long time since I was a kid and my daughter is only 9 months old, so I'm not as sensitive to what is "kid friendly" as I used to. That said, it's really hard for me to think of anything offensive or disturbing in Minecraft - in survival mode (I've only played this mode), monsters appear in the dark. They come out at night, or are found in underground caves. You can avoid them, or you can build a sword and armor and fight them when you run across them.
Most of the game is setting goals and achieving them. You have to start small (survive the night) but end up with huge goals (build a 1km minecart track, build a tower as high as it can go, redirect a lava flow, etc).
Playing alone is fun, playing on a private server with friends is even more fun. I highly suggest that parents set up a server on their private LAN and play on that with their kids. I expect that you'll actually look forward to coming home from work and seeing what your kids have done while you were gone. While they're asleep, you can decompress and build them something cool for them to see the next day. Your kids can have their friends bring over laptops or use spare computers and they can all play together.
The other aspect that I like about Minecraft is the developers and the community they have inspired. The "inventor" of Minecraft, who goes by the handle "Notch" is VERY open about how he made the game and comes across as a very nice person. Minecraft is another of those examples of an "overnight success" that came after years and years of failures, and he is very open about how hard he worked to get to where he is and doesn't try to take all the credit for his work. He recently split the millions of dollars that he made with his staff. Notch is also very big on "giving back to the community", he has donated large sums of money to every Humble Indie Bundle. You'd be hard pressed to find a game developer that would be as good a role model or as inspiring as Notch.
Jeffio
Mar 8, 2012, 5:00:27 PM3/8/12
to HN Parents
My 6-year-old and I play Minecraft regularly. It's good father/son
geek time. He's in Grade 1 and in a matter of a few weeks was fluent
with keyboard/mouse navigation and we now have a mine craft server
with his cousins. It's a great way to connect 4 different families and
they all type in the text chat with their grade 1 spelling. So cute!
At 6yo is regularly browsing the mine craft wiki and can change his
own "skin". All basic web/computer skills that will be useful and set
him ahead in life since the world he is growing up in is much
different than the world we grew up in. Anyways, my $0.02CAD!
Beware though the things you might say…
Stuff Parents Say: I'm going to takeaway Minecraft
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3681847
PS. We don't takeaway Minecraft as a consequence (anymore) :)
geek time. He's in Grade 1 and in a matter of a few weeks was fluent
with keyboard/mouse navigation and we now have a mine craft server
with his cousins. It's a great way to connect 4 different families and
they all type in the text chat with their grade 1 spelling. So cute!
At 6yo is regularly browsing the mine craft wiki and can change his
own "skin". All basic web/computer skills that will be useful and set
him ahead in life since the world he is growing up in is much
different than the world we grew up in. Anyways, my $0.02CAD!
Beware though the things you might say…
Stuff Parents Say: I'm going to takeaway Minecraft
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3681847
PS. We don't takeaway Minecraft as a consequence (anymore) :)
Sam Livingston-Gray
Mar 8, 2012, 6:01:44 PM3/8/12
to hn-pa...@googlegroups.com
On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 2:00 PM, Jeffio <anim...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Stuff Parents Say: I'm going to takeaway Minecraft
> http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3681847
> Stuff Parents Say: I'm going to takeaway Minecraft
> http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3681847
*So* cute!
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