Hogwarts castle from the Harry Potter saga built in Minecraft.
Image credit: Microsoft \ The Floo Network
Microsoft’s world-building game Minecraft is one of those games you start playing to…never stop! It is a game in which players build, create and go on adventures in a place entirely made of blocks. Most especially, Minecraft contains very little violence, since the main focus of the game is designing original constructions, in this way developing problem solving, visuospatial and analytical skills, as well as teamwork skills, supporting collaboration through its multiplayer mode [1], [2]. Minecraft also takes into account of security online with participation of moderators that control the situation and can help out. It really is one of the most popular games and although parents may feel like the hours spent on any video game are just a waste of time, it is important to realise the enormous educational value intrinsic to Minecraft, which is not only able to encourage children to be creative and to use their imagination, but it can also teach them the basics of coding [3]. As the associate professor of Library Science at Purdue University and fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University Rey Junco says, “I like to talk about with our kids that we like to let them get bored so they can be more creative and they can do that on Minecraft because there aren't the limits on their space or time that are out there in the real world”.
Super Mario game built in Minecraft.
Gif credit: GIPHY
Enhancing the Minecraft code by what are referred to as “mods” (short for modifications) allows for a variety of game-play changes. These are strings of code that modify the game, making it easy to personalise the gaming experience, as well as teaching how to manipulate and create code for other games [4]. In fact, Minecraft is written in Java, which being very straightforward is one of the most famous programming languages. Minecraft also allows for implementations to be added immediately to the code. In this way, the program and the game can be run simultaneously, allowing to see the adjustments to the game in real-time.
An example provided by code.org of how Minecraft can teach how to code in a fun and entertaining way.
Video credit: code.org
There is also Minecraft Education Edition, a version of the game that was especially developed for use within a classroom to teach kids how to code. As such, it features blocks specifically designed for coding, involving tutorials and basic instructions. The educational adaptation of Minecraft transforms separate blocks of code into actions, coming across as a very easy approach to the art of programming, which is the same method used in the course on Scratch programming language offered by Educademy.
Author: Ludovica Maria Golia