Addictive is the correct term. I have never seen my kids addicted to anything like they are to the Minecraft on PC version where they can now play against each other and with others on the servers. We have 2 computers, one Mac and one laptop and they sit beside each other at the table to play. They are 7 (boy) and 10 (girl) yrs old and the collaboration between the two of them is what fascinates me!! This also allows me to let them play longer than I should.

They work as a team and encourage each other and it is so nice to see well, hear actually. I do feel like it is engineering basics, strategy and basic computer coding skills being used without them even knowing. I do still put limits on their time but I know there are way worse things that they could be spending time on like those silly and expensive Shopkins!! Love the post and definitely going to check out Minecraft Wiki and Learn to Mod with them.

Here are games like Minecraft for all devices to suit your needs. Minecraft has popularized the sandbox survival genre, opening a lot of gamers' eyes into looking for similar games. During the day, you face slimes, hornets, and other monsters that get increasingly stronger as you progress through. So i bought minecraft about a year ago and have played it a couple times since, but my little brother wanted to play so i bought him mine craft May 10. We did not get the game when we bought it.

Thanks for the article and the links! Just found your page through a Scary Mommy post that brought me here. I just signed up for your blog. We also discovered some addictive features of the game and became tired of our seven year old constantly asking to play. We initiated “minecraft bucks” and clearly outlined activities required to earn this money.

Reading a chapter book, reading to a younger sibling, helping with dishes, even picking up after the dog. For every dollar earned we granted ten minutes of play.

We printed fake money and allowed her to set her time, The begging for a few more minutes stopped and she has learned not only the gaming skills but also time management, earnings for hard work and the value of money. There is a WONDERFUL very family-friendly youtuber who does play-throughs of minecraft. His channel is called ethoslab.

I’ve been watching him for a few years now and I’ve never heard him cuss or say inappropriate things. If he’s playing with other people in his videos, he even does his best to edit out any words or conversations that the other people might have that are inappropriate. He only plays the pc version of minecraft though, and likes to get into the technical side of the game sometimes, stuff that I don’t even understand and I’ve been an avid player of the game for 3 years now. But if you’re looking for someone safe and funny for your children to watch, or even to get a better idea of the game yourself, ethoslab is your guy. The key to Minecraft is issuing boundaries and time limits I only allow my 7yr old on it, after he has done his homework, some writing and reading.

I have also discovered, that I simply can not go in and tell him to switch I off, as there is always something that needs to be completed or put away, so I tell him a time he needs to finish, and then he gets a 15 min warning then a 5 min warning and then he is asked to switch it off. The positives that has come out of it, he realised he had to learn to read and write fluently, (He has been playing for a couple of years now) and his multiplication is excellent, he multiplies in 64’s now. As a cake decorator, I hate MINECRAFT!! Fps browser games for mac. A million squares I say no more! Great Blog x.

Like to add to this article. My son 4 years old plays this game and he has this hunger for learning to spell because of it. They have signs in the game and he likes to leave them all over.

He even try’s to spell it himself then asks me if it’s correct. He is also learning from this game “dimension” X:Y:Z: axis. Common logic, when you work you burn energy and need food to replace it, to replace it you need to GROW it, to grow it you need to make FARM lands. Also only being 4 he is already asking about PARTICLES!! It helps that I know a thing or two about particle physics, he hangs of my every word. He knows about the elements now, and I’m not talking about water, fire. I’m talking about Gold, Iron, and the property’s of particles Eg: when glass breaks, it stays broken.