Minecraft: Is it a smarter game?
Even though no studies have proven that playing Minecraft can raise a child’s IQ, we agree that it has educational value.
There are numerous potential IQ advantages to playing Minecraft, but these are the best.
Creative thinking and project planning should be encouraged.
The most striking feature of Minecraft is that it allows you to be as creative as you want. Many of the same building possibilities are available, but with an average of 921.6 quadrillion blocks in each world. It’s possible to build anything your child can imagine with this much material.
If you’re still unsure, look no further than Westeroscraft. The Westeros continent from George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series has been faithfully recreated by this community-based Minecraft project, which is easily one of the largest and most beautiful today.
Looking at any screenshot from this project is mind-boggling when you consider the amount of time and planning that must have gone into making it this far in the process.
Although it’s unlikely that a younger child will be able to produce something of this scope, it shows just how much you can do with the materials available in Minecraft. When it comes to this game, the sky’s the limit.
enhancing one’s ability to solve problems
The uniqueness of Minecraft lies in the fact that it allows players to set their objectives and gives them a great deal of latitude in how they meet challenges.
When playing in Survival mode, the most common challenge is finding a safe place to sleep and a reliable food source. However, while it’s relatively safe to roam around in the daylight, monsters are everywhere at night.
Players will be forced to flee or fight until the sun rises, at which point the majority of the monsters will erupt in a pyrotechnic display. Even if you’re willing to put in the time and effort, it’s usually not worth it without proper gear.
On the other hand, building a shelter comes with a plethora of options depending on the player’s objectives and playing style. Alternatively, they could make a simple dirt hut and wait until the sun comes up, and they may keep digging and end up mining all night.
Building a house is another option, and it could be anything from a simple log cabin to an elaborate fortress.
In addition, players need a steady supply of food to sustain themselves. If left unattended for an extended period, an empty stomach hurts the player’s health. Even though players have the option of hunting for food, they can also build crops and livestock farms.
In our opinion, the game’s simplicity is a big part of what makes it so effective at reinforcing problem-solving skills. Many of the activities required to maintain one’s health over the long term can grow tedious over time.
Because there aren’t any in-game tutorials on fixing these issues, kids are more likely to develop their solutions. We’ve never encountered a video game that requires players to use their brains more than this one.
If you add Redstone, which lets you program your own devices, the possibilities are practically endless. Automated farms; elevators; doors that automatically close, booby traps; and hidden entrances can all be built with this block.
Mini-dungeons designed to spawn specific enemies for the items they drop when defeated have even been seen in our games.
Programming and logic knowledge is required for this course.
If you want to get your kids interested in computer programming, a great place to start is with Minecraft… Kids quickly fall in love with Minecraft because of the game’s easy-to-learn nature.
Using Redstone blocks will teach your child fundamental coding logic, but it won’t teach them a programming language. As a result, it could be argued that playing Minecraft makes you smarter.
If, Then Else, and players can use End functions to create mechanisms ranging from simple to ridiculously complex.
From self-closing doors, booby traps, and elevators, kids can work their way up to fully functional mini-games. They could play games like capture the flag, hide-and-seek, and tag in these massive, self-contained airships.
Minecraft served as a launching pad for a slew of today’s top video game creators. As we mentioned in our short guide on how to get your kid started making their games, it’s a great introduction to game design.
Communication and teamwork
Minecraft can be played with friends on shared servers as children get older. They can learn how to work together as a group by playing Minecraft together. It also shows how much more kids can accomplish as a group when they work together than they could individually.
They could, for example, decide to collaborate on a new map. As part of this, they may choose to build a massive farm together to address the issue of housing and food security. Divide the work amongst the children; have one person focus on foraging while another is in charge of erecting the rudimentary structures, and a third is in charge of prospecting.
Rehabilitates autistic children’s social skills
Many parents say that their autistic children benefit greatly from playing Minecraft because it fosters teamwork and open communication. Autistic children can more easily make friends and improve their fundamental social skills when given an environment free of distracting social factors (background noise, eye contact, social queues, etc.).
Through Minecraft, Keith Stuart found a way to better communicate with his autistic son. When he first started playing with his son, he found it difficult because his son was socially awkward. However, by playing with him, he learned more about his son’s interests and passions.
