Think you need a PhD to figure out what Minecraft is all about? Well, maybe you do, maybe you don't. Dr. Lisa Regula read The Minecraft Guide For Parents by Cori Dusman, and now she's well on her way to understanding not only the game, but also the people who play.
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I have to start out by admitting my own bias, as a sort of
disclosure - I’m not a gamer. I’ve
only started getting into board games even the slightest, and I’m still
staunchly not a fan of video games; some have accused me of not knowing how to
relax and have fun. At the
opposite end of spectrum is my husband, who was a serious video gamer up until
we came to this town for grad school.
He made a reasonable recovery while he was in grad school, but has since
been slipping into gaming habits, but with board games this time. Thus it was no surprise when games for
our (then seven year old) son became a fairly big point of contention in the
house. I wanted to wait until he
was developmentally ready for video games; my significant other wanted to just
let him have at it.
Sig-o won; I came home one day last summer to find them
playing LEGO Star Wars on the PS3.
Now that Pandora’s Box was opened, we began the refining
process of what games to allow, under what rules, for how long, etc. Every parent out there knows the drill,
I’m sure. Eventually, child’s
preferences also became clear, and Minecraft has been a staple ever since. We have the pocket edition for iPad and
for Android, but have been struggling with limits and, frankly, our child’s
obsession with the game. It’s not
just playing the game at this point, but talking constantly about the game,
drawing and planning for the game, trying to convince us to give him more time
for the game. I was hoping that
this book would have a little bit of advice on how to handle all this (and
maybe some hints to help him do the tougher stuff he wanted to do).
Whew. And here
you thought you were reading a book review, not a confessional, huh?
The book itself is pretty comprehensive. It covers building advice for parents,
really basic details on Minecraft for those of us who are only being pulled
kicking and screaming into the Minecraft world, technical details of purchasing
and installing Minecraft, information on online communities, and- most
importantly from my perspective- suggestions for improving game behavior,
limiting obsession, online safety, conflicts around the game, and even
addiction (no, we don’t think it’s necessary to put our son in a 12-step program
yet, but the summer’s only half done).
The topics are addressed thoroughly, but not extensively, so
your questions are answered (or you have tools to answer those questions)
without feeling drowned in details.
The glossary is helpful in letting parents and kids speak the same
language and better communicate with each other and other gamers. The parent-child computer contract is
something that sig-o and I are looking forward to trying with our child, but
it’s still a work in progress. My
biggest critique is that, like most other Minecraft books I’ve found, this is
written very much for the computer-based game, so not everything is applicable
to our editions. From a marketing
perspective, this is part of the brilliance of Minecraft, having stripped down but
free or cheap options seems to open up the game to a more diverse gamer
group. In reality, it serves as a
dealer’s first, cheap sale to get you hooked on the item. And believe me, most of the kids I know
with the cheap versions end up spending a significant amount of time whining
that they want to be able to do what all their friends can do on the computer
version, which is very not-free/cheap.
Dusman’s son was 11 when he found Minecraft, and I have no doubt that
that is a far more appropriate age to begin gaming- and her discussion of the
game is from that older child perspective- but the issues that Dusman brings up
and gives suggestions for can be applied with or without modification to a wide
range of ages.
As games go, Minecraft is a better option than most of what
else is out there, and this book is a great introduction for parents to the
world of Minecraft, no matter what level their kids are at. I’m still not sold on video games as
wonderful, amazing things that every child has a right to play, but this is
definitely a “know your child” area; my child is prone to obsession and
fixation, and gets emotionally ramped up easily (as do I). For more laid back kids and parents,
this might be less a problem.
Either way, The Minecraft Guide for Parents is a solid tool with
well-researched advice that has real potential to help families cross the
turbulent water of computer game negotiations.
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If I could play video games, I'd create a world called Thanks and send Dr. Lisa Regula an invitation to join - as a trusted player, course, and I would certainly not rig it with dynamite. ;) Seriously, I'm no gamer and yet I'm raising one, so my gratitude runs deep for this, Dr. Regula's second guest review on this. The first explored another world I've yet to enter, where I suspect my son will venture, too.
## Follow my reading adventures on Facebook, Tweet along, or tell me you want your review here - guest reviewers are always welcome in my world! No dynamite, I promise.
