Common Sense Media Review
By Chris Morris
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Worthy spin-off of popular PC game encourages creativity.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Minecraft
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 114 parent reviews
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
Based on 658 kid reviews
Summarized with AI
What's It About?
Minecraft - Pocket Edition sets players in the middle of a randomly generated world that has no structures, other people, or objectives. Players must build a shelter and other buildings using resources they harvest from the world. The game encourages creativity -- and can be played in a monster-free mode, to encourage that free thinking (rather than having to worry about being attacked). A secondary mode gives you unlimited resources, letting you create anything you can dream up and fly around the countryside viewing your land.
Is It Any Good?
MINECRAFT is an amazing success story on the PC, and while this mobile version of the game originally was stripped of a fair bit of what makes the original game so successful, recent updates have made it much more familiar. Users can still build structures until their hearts are content, but challengers have finally arrived, adding a degree of risk (though players can still opt for a peaceful mode). Mining and crafting items is also possible, at last.
It's still a very hard game to learn, though. With no tutorial or idea of what your goal is, less patient players will likely never dig too deep into what makes it popular with so many people. Before playing, it's a good idea to consult the many online guides to get a sense of what you can do there.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Play the game with your kids and work collaboratively on creating structures.
Get a set of blocks (or Lego bricks) and create real-world creations to further encourage creativity.
Help beginners find online guides to the game to help them get a sense of what they can do.
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android , Kindle Fire
- Skills : Thinking & Reasoning : problem solving , Creativity : developing novel solutions , imagination , making new creations , producing new content , Collaboration : cooperation
- Pricing structure : Paid
- Release date : September 17, 2011
- Genre : Simulation Games
- Publisher : Mojang
- Version : 1.10
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 8.0 or later; Windows 10 Mobile, Windows Phone 8.1
- Last updated : September 9, 2021
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