What This Beginner Has Learned from Minecraft So Far

Photo credit: Andy Dingley.

My first few attempts to figure out the game Minecraft last year were short-lived and frustrating for reasons I’ll get into later on in this post. I loved the idea of the game, but I hadn’t quite gotten the hang of it yet.

Fast forward to earlier this week. After several false starts, I decided to give the game yet another try. This time I finally started having a lot of fun with it.

What changed? Well, I now have a computer that doesn’t freeze up when the game is running, for one thing. I’m also in a place in my life where I’m more willing to put the time needed into learning something new.

The first few times I played this game, I ended up accidentally damaging things in the game because my computer would freeze up just as I was trying to do something. If you hit the wrong button enough times, you can destroy a carefully-construsted wall or fence. When you’re playing a game where monsters come out at night and attack you, that is a terrible idea.

So what have I learned?

1. You need the right tools. My old computer was good for surfing the web, but it simply wasn’t fast or smart enough to play a graphics-heavy game like this one. Having the right tool made it much easier for me to learn basic things like how to run, chop down a tree, or build a house because I wasn’t regularly seeing everything freeze up at a critical moment.
2. Sometimes it takes a few attempts to figure out the basics. My spatial skills aren’t strong. I haven’t played enough video games to have an intuitive understanding of how they work. Some people, I’m sure, take to Minecraft like a duck takes to water. It took me a little longer to get into it, though, and that’s okay.
3. The extra effort is worth it. I’m not embarrassed to admit being a little obsessed with this game now. The extra effort I needed to get into it was so worth it, and I want to build  safe houses and farms everywhere in it so that I never run out of food or a place to stay when it gets dark outside. Ha!