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Play Overview
Minecraft (2017) is an open-world adventure where you collect, craft and construct structures and items. Play involves exploring the world to find resources and good locations to build. Some of the best aspects of the game are less well known; along with the traversal, building and survival play, children can use complex ‘Redstone’ circuitry to automate their creations and make interactive spaces and machines.
There are two primary game modes: Creative and Survival. In Creative mode, you can freely fly about the world and place unlimited blocks without having to gather them, allowing for endless creativity and experimentation. In Survival, you need to explore on foot (initially) gathering resources, making tools, and crafting the blocks you want to use while fighting off monsters and managing your health and hunger.
The game is constantly evolving, with updates adding new blocks, enemies, capabilities, characters and interactions. It's one of the most popular and successful games of all time, selling over 200 million copies, owing this success to its adaptability and approachability, letting you start small and then increase the scope and scale your creations and ambitions as you gain confidence.
Our examiner, Chris Boers, first checked Minecraft 4 years ago. It was re-examined by Andy Robertson and updated 8 weeks ago.
There are two primary game modes: Creative and Survival. In Creative mode, you can freely fly about the world and place unlimited blocks without having to gather them, allowing for endless creativity and experimentation. In Survival, you need to explore on foot (initially) gathering resources, making tools, and crafting the blocks you want to use while fighting off monsters and managing your health and hunger.
The game is constantly evolving, with updates adding new blocks, enemies, capabilities, characters and interactions. It's one of the most popular and successful games of all time, selling over 200 million copies, owing this success to its adaptability and approachability, letting you start small and then increase the scope and scale your creations and ambitions as you gain confidence.
Our examiner, Chris Boers, first checked Minecraft 4 years ago. It was re-examined by Andy Robertson and updated 8 weeks ago.
There are lots of games similar to Minecraft. Here are some we picked for you:
Play Style
This is an Adventure and Creative game with Action, Collecting, Fighting, Platform and Shooting elements. You can play with 1 to 4 players in the same room or as a 8-player online game. You can have 20 people in a Minecraft server to build together. The multiplayer games have up to 16 players competing with each other. You can compete in these games in split-screen mode to accommodate more players on one system.
Cross-Platform: You can play against people on different systems: Xbox One, Switch, PC and Moblie. But not with PlayStation. If you purchase a map without an Xbox account it is available on the other systems when you log in.
Cross-Platform: You can play against people on different systems: Xbox One, Switch, PC and Moblie. But not with PlayStation. If you purchase a map without an Xbox account it is available on the other systems when you log in.
You can play this game in the following styles:
- Competitive Local
- Competitive Online
- Co-Op Local
- Co-Op Online
- Co-Op Story
- Join/Leave Anytime
- Multiplayer With Portable Devices In The Same Room
- Multiplayer Online Cross-Platform
- Split-Screen
- Team Up With Players
This has been enjoyed by families in the following styles:
Duration
Play Time: It takes between 45 minutes and 1 and a half hours to play a round of this game. The way you play Minecraft affects how long a play session will last. The open world offers a stream of new things to do. Children will happily play for hours and return to work on their creations week after week. The online multiplayer server games are usually over in a matter of minutes as they are competitive and played in rounds.
Benefits
This game is good if you want to:
- Distract yourself from pain
- Play games in tents
- Compete On Separate Devices
- Make video games
- Find secret ways to progress
- Deal with spiders
This game has helped players develop their Disposition and Society as part of the following pathways:
This game has been the inspiration for the following activities:
Gravity Falls
FILMS AND SERIES
Minecraft Club
CLUBS AND CLASSES
Minecraft Pumpkin Carving
CREATIVE ARTS
Age Ratings
Content Rating
Users Interact: The game enables players to interact and communicate with each other, so may expose players to language usually associated with older rated games.
This game includes some emotionally challenging aspects. These include: an animal dies or is harmed, there are creepie crawlies, there is depiction of bodily harm, there are themes of mental disorders, there are frightening scenes, there is the depiction of death or dying, children are harmed and there is the theme of religion. More detailed information is available on DoesTheDogDie.com.
Skill Level
6+ year-olds usually have the required skill to enjoy this game. Still, it’s important for parents and guardians to ensure they understand in-game purchases and have spending limits set-up. In creative mode, very young children can enjoy exploring the world. Parents can play with children to help them build things and find their way around. As children grow older the way they play evolves. At the higher end of the age range are competitive games like Bed Wars that older teenagers still enjoy. Part of this is returning to the sentimental experience they remember when they were young.
Our Game Pathways reveal how 9 - 24 year-olds play this game:
- 9-year-old: The Call Of Uninhabited Spaces
- 24-year-old: Building an Educational Community
Account Rating
Account required for online play that has 13 years old as minimum age. You need a Microsoft Account to play Minecraft to save progress and play online. If you are under 13 years old, you will need to get a parent's permission to complete your account set-up.- You need PlayStation Plus to play online with PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Vita.
- You need be 18-years-old to to subscribe to Xbox Live Gold for online play, but can then configure family accounts for younger players to play online with Xbox One.
- You need be 18-years-old to subscribe to Nintendo Online, but can then create accounts for children of any age to play online with Nintendo Switch.
- You need be 18-years-old to subscribe to PlayStation Plus for online play, but can create sub-accounts for younger players of 7-years or older to play online with PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5.
Costs
Minecraft usually costs £6.49 to £24.99.
There are the following additional costs associated with this game:
Minecraft has a marketplace where you purchase additional content, skins, resource packs, and more. You are also able to join private servers which then offer loot boxes for sale. For example: https://store.hypixel.net/.
It's important to set up your accounts and devices appropriately. More information is on our Financial Resources page.
Minecraft
 | Xbox One | £16.74 | – | Free Xbox Game Pass |
| PC | £24.99 | – | Free Xbox Game Pass |
 | Switch | £19.99 | – | – |
 | PS4 | £15.99 | – | – |
| PS5 | £15.99 | – | – |
 | Android | £6.49 | – | – |
 | iOS | £6.99 | – | – |
- In-Game Purchases: Additional in-game purchases are offered for items that enhance the experience.
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You need a subscription to play online:
- You need Xbox Live Gold to play online with Xbox 360.
- You need to purchase a Nintendo Online subscription to play online with Nintendo Switch.
- You need to purchase a PlayStation Plus subscription to play online with PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5.
- You need to purchase a Xbox Live Gold subscription to play online with Xbox One.
Minecraft has a marketplace where you purchase additional content, skins, resource packs, and more. You are also able to join private servers which then offer loot boxes for sale. For example: https://store.hypixel.net/.
It's important to set up your accounts and devices appropriately. More information is on our Financial Resources page.
Game Details
Release Date: 20/09/2017, updated in 2024
Out Now: 3DS and 2DS, Amazon Fire, Android, PC, PS Vita, PS3, PS4, PS5, Switch, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One and iOS
Skill Rating: 6+ year-olds
Players: 1-4 (8 online)
Genres: Adventure, Creative (Action, Collecting, Fighting, Platform and Shooting)
Accessibility: 49 features
Components: 3D First-Person, 3D Third-Person, Blocks, Day and Night, Open World, Persistant World and Weather
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Written by parents for parents, the database complements the in-depth discussion about video game addiction, violence, spending and online safety in the Taming Gaming book. We are an editorially independent, free resource without adverts that is supported by partnerships. |
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