Being a huge fan of tech and being a fan of the whole maker movement my friend pushed me to play Minecraft. I had heard of Minecraft when they won indy game of the year several years back. Friends of mine that are educators had been talking about Minecraft for education. Then the major announcement of Microsoft purchasing Minecraft made national news.
Minecraft is a sandbox video game originally created by Swedish programmer Markus “Notch” Persson and later developed and published by Mojang. Most of the game is written in Java with an open platform to allow gamers freedom to modify the game for their wants and needs.
My friend pushed me to spend the $26.95 to start playing the game. I purchased the account and started playing. For me the first thing I noticed in creative mode the game is pretty much endless game play, with Minecraft you can play as long as you can think of something to build. Your imagination is your only limitation to what you can build. With creative mode you have unlimited resources unlike survival mode with Minecraft creative mode you can build an entire worlds like this one from Game Of Thrones.
Then I switched over to survival mode which is very different then creative mode. With survival mode you are doing just that surviving by building things. But you’re not just building structures. You’re chopping down trees to make planks to make a crafting table. Then from there your mining underground to get resources to make other things. All while at the same time staying away from killer monsters. Before I knew it I was 4 hours into the game and majorly enjoying myself.
Minecraft has what feels like an unlimited amount of mods written because of its large user base of very tech orientated users and its open platform mentality. Some of the most notable mods are the scientific calculator mods which people have used to create interesting setups. Because of these great educational mods Minecraft released their Education Edition which officially arrives in November after much hype over the last year.
Minecraft is not limited to just the computer, the game has branched out to all available gaming consoles and on mobile devise with pocket craft. Along with the branching out has also came all the swag and merchandise that has been released over the years. Minecraft has a whole store online just for the collectors of their merchandise.
Minecraft has expanded their game out into into what they call realms which is available for Pocketcraft, Windows 10, PC and Mac. Minecraft realms is basically a designated server for you and friends you invite to play. A subscription based model starting at $7.99 a month which is not a bad price but there are cheaper Minecraft server hosting options available from other gaming sites online.
I really like Minecraft I think it’s a great game and very well developed. Even though now owned by Microsoft I think the game has stayed its original course and mission. I found the game very enjoyable and great for education.