Top 3 things to know before buying Minecraft

1. Your kid will likely become obsessed - at least for a little while - and it's ok.

Do you remember how there was a period of time where we were all obsessed with friendship bracelets, or Beanie babies, or Tamagotchi or Furbies or Pokemon or  (fill in the blank kid obsession)...?  It was all your friends did or talked about.

Well, Minecraft is like that, but more interesting and with a longer shelf life. In Minecraft, exploration is infinite and creativity is unlimited. There is so much to learn, and when/if you get bored, there’s always mods!

So, be prepared to hear a lot about Minecraft. It’s great to ask questions, and be curious about what they’re learning. It’s also completely ok to say, “Let’s turn off the firehose for a while. Thank you.”

2. It’s not all about killing zombies.

There are two modes in Minecraft: Creative and Survival. Most kids start in Creative mode because, for many, it’s easier. In creative mode, you have access to an infinite supply of all the blocks. It’s amazing what people build!  Also, zombies, skeletons and creepers don’t attack you. They may show up at night, but you don’t have to mess with them.

In Survival mode, you have to find and craft the blocks you need - like food, wood, and iron. There are also things that can kill you - like aforementioned zombies. BUT, Survival mode has several difficulty levels, the easiest of which is peaceful. So, if you want the challenge of mining and crafting, but still don’t want to mess with hostile Mobs (non-player mobile entities), just select peaceful.

3. It’s rather confusing how to get it set up initially.

Minecraft can be played on nearly anything - which is great! But, that also means there are lots of choices - which can be a bit overwhelming and a little confusing. When my kid got started with Minecraft, I didn’t know what I was doing, and made one big mistake. I set up his account with my personal email. Which meant that when I wanted my own Minecraft account later, I had to find another email for me! That’s not the end of the world, but what I wish I’d done was set it up with an email for him. 

So that you don’t make the same mistakes I did, I wrote a little guide for Getting Started Buying Minecraft. Please check it out, and if you have any questions, let me know!