Minecraft for Dummies

Tech Talk Gaming
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The subject of Minecraft came up here recently, which has me wanting to ask…where do I begin?

My son is almost 6 and a half, and I think he will really enjoy Minecraft someday. He loves Legos and seems to have that engineer’s mind of wanting to know how things are built and function. He also really enjoys video games, though mostly age appropriate on Kindle FreeTime, Lego Batman, and a few retro games in the Kodi emulator on the Nvidia Shield TV.

Platforms I have - an always on Win 10 (for Plex and Steam Link), Nvidia Shield TV. iPad Pro, Xbox 360. My son has a year old Kindle tablet, plus we have older iPads.

So what’s the best way to get started? Do I set up a server and buy the apps on each platform we may use? Is it as easy as setting up a Plex server? Anything else I need to know?

Thanks for your thoughts.

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My 16 year old grandson started at about the same age, using an iPad. He happily used that for at least a year or so. Think that is a good way to start at that age. Then, as your son gets more into it, you can get more into the tech involved.
There are some good forums out there for Minecraft parents.

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I agree. My son started the same way, when he was younger (he is 12 now). No need to jump on setting up your own server for now.

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Platforms I have - an always on Win 10 (for Plex and Steam Link), Nvidia Shield TV. iPad Pro, Xbox 360. My son has a year old Kindle tablet, plus we have older iPads.

The PC would be a good start for playing Minecraft as long as the computer is capable to produce a stable gameplay experience. (Fast load times, minimal to no stutter, etc.)

Since the PC is being used 24/7, the Xbox 360 would the next option to play Minecraft, however you still have to buy the game for USD19.99 as of this post.

iPads, in my opinion, are good for playing Minecraft on-the-go. You still have to buy the game for USD6.99 as of this post.

So what’s the best way to get started? Do I set up a server and buy the apps on each platform we may use?

Same with @Mistershipwreck, There is no need to setting up your own server for now. The game itself is enough to learn and enjoy the game.

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Agreed, play locally and open up to the LAN if you want to play multiplayer. You can set up a server at a later date.

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Can I create/Purchase one account and have both my kids play together? Or do I need to buy an account for both? and then one for me too if i wanted to join them?

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It’s been a while, but technically yes with some tweaking you can share an account on the LAN legally it’s probably a ‘no’ but the moaning from the kids that they have to have the default skin will probably be enough you to fork out for licenses for everyone!

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Thanks for the replies.

What is the point of the server then? Is it so we can access our worlds on any device? Is there a multiplayer component, where maybe it’s split screen or we can be on different devices in the same world? Or is it cloud saves, tied to one account?

I’m not hung up on the server, just trying to understand how it all works and what’s the point. Right now the Win 10 PC kind of runs as a Steam Server, so I can play Skylines on my iPad Pro.

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The server is always there and always running the same map for anyone to work on at anytime and opened to the internet if you want it to be for remote people to join. The server doesn’t use up a Minecraft account.

Does anyone know whether the java version of the game is still incompatible with the windows 10 version / Xbox / mobile versions? When my kids played it the java one was where all the modding etc happened but the version they have on mobile was never used and couldn’t join in with anyone on a PC.