Over 100 million people play Minecraft. It's something like 49% of kids under 16 - don't quote me. But it's a lot and they are all over the world. Minecraft is a game type thing that my son calls a "sandbox game". To me its a pixelated game on the internet that appears to be basically all about making stuff out of 3x3 cubes and then storing that stuff you made in secret places that you have also built. For storing. It is for the long termer, the person who doesn't mind figuring out how to build an underground palace out of squares just by watching six hours of you tube videos. It is for the person who can remember a 47 character code to cheat and make blocks of gold magically appear in a forest of block trees.
I'll admit that I don't know that these are the exact things that happen in Minecraft but I do know that there are more visually appealing platforms out there in the world. And more violent ones and more evil ones. And I am sure that there must be more fun games that require way less brainpower to execute. So, insane as it may seem I have recently become appreciative of the good people of Minecraft. The things that they do in this blockheaded game have created a whole crew of miniature humans who can develop worlds by programming cubes to do their bidding. That is actually cool and brainy... in disguise.
Three of my kids are among the zillion players across the galaxy and while it took them a while to pick up the bug, they adore it and discuss its complexities constantly. Minecraft has awakened in them an interest in learning about computers and programming languages. It has helped them to master the skills of searching for information and of teaching themselves things that they want to know. It has forced them to work out how to be clam and perseverent in the face of obstacles. It has kept them off the streets.
While I am staunchly against letting the small people of the earth loose on Minecraft for 12 hours a day in lieu of school, I have reached the conclusion that it is not pure evil. And, even better, it may potentially be awesome - because on the off chance that Minecraft turns my kids into computer genius millionaires I'll really enjoy my fancy old folks home.