Can someone explain to me what the point of Minecraft is?

SueBee

Can someone explain to me what the point of Minecraft is?
I've seen videos of it online and it just looks like you build environments and walk around.
Is that it?
It also looks like it's from the early 90s.
A retro thing or just rubbish?
Or am I missing the point?

saveallmymoney

Its electronic live in lego for 9 year olds.

SueBee

saveallmymoney wrote: »

Its electronic live in lego for 9 year olds.

Is that true though?
Loads more adults play it than are into Lego.
Or so they lead me to believe...

Fallen-Angel

You destroy and recreate the world you fall into, collecting resources to build and create housing, armour, weapons etc.

There are enemies you encounter and dungeons you discover, some of the enemies are creepy as hell (Endermen scare the bejuzzels out of me).

I like creating a "base" and farming animals.

There are also 1000's of mods so the world can be whatever you want such as Legend of Zelda or Game of Thrones themed.

You can opt for just the creation mode where the sky is the limit for what you build or survival mode which has the enemies and different difficulties where the enemies are stronger or you have to manage your hunger by hunting animals and cooking their meat.

So a little more than "electronic live in Lego for 9 year olds."

Johnmcl7

In some ways the question is the same as what point is a box of Lego bricks without an instruction manual - for some people it's just a box of bits, for some there's huge creative opportunities. That over simplifies the case for Minecraft but some of the base ideas are the same, it gives you a huge world and all the tools to do what you want combined with the optional aspect of having to survive and find the resources yourself while enemies hunt you down and blow up your constructions.

John

duggan1

Minecraft provides the tools and the environment and you provide the stories and the content. True 'open world' is the holy grail of gaming and Minecraft does it very well, hence selling 100 million+ copies.

DCFC79

SueBee wrote: »

Is that true though?
Loads more adults play it than are into Lego.
Or so they lead me to believe...

Its not for everyone, I've tried it myself and just didn't like it.

NorthFin

My kids love minecraft, but Im worried its a waste of time. They just do stupid stuff rotting their brains.

If they do play it for a treat, how can they be doing something productive? Is there any problem solving projects or at least have a goal to achieve?

SueBee

Thanks for the comments - feel like I've got a better handle on it now.
Not really my mind of game though - I'm more into stories.
I used to play a bit of GTA and just go around messing about.
Wasted a lot of time and didn't get me anywhere.
All those 'stories' ended in me getting chased in a tank by police.
I think I'd be a bit like that on minecraft - without the tanks or police obviously...
I get that it's about creating your own stories and environments, but not really for me I don't think.
Thanks MSE.

Mercenary

When I had a go on someone else's Minecraft game I couldn't see how I could like it compared to the usual type of shooter games I play. Then after a while you forget that you are playing with large blocks and the world becomes quite acceptable and you don't notice the blockiness. I was gifted the game soon afterwards.

Minecraft is a Sandbox game. You can create a completely new huge world with vast horizons any time you like. You can choose Peaceful Mode to simply explore by walking or flying over it, enjoy beautiful views with sunrises and sunsets, or just build whatever you can envision, to grow crops & 'farm' animals, to mine for different ores etc, or choose Survival Mode to do any or all of those things while finding shelter & food plus fighting off enemies.

It is a game for anyone young or old, to simply get lost in for as long as they want. Keep your worlds forever or wipe the slate clean and start again.

althas

I understand that a lot of schools are using it for educational purposes also. And on the non tablet versions you get into the relms of Redstone. This a minecraft component you mine and turn it into electonic circuitry, and so start learning about logic, (AND, OR, XOR etc) and problem solving skills learning to build and effectivley de-bug the circuits

Also, Ordnance Survey have created a downloadable world for minecraft of the entire UK, including roads, motorways etc. If you look on youtube you will see some of the crations people have made

Yes, it is not for everyone, but has the potential to lead on to a lot of real world applications. And it's fun :-)