Minecraft UX: experience of a first time player
Game Journal Entry #1: Minecraft Java edition
Minecraft is a “block game” where players move around a space and build blocks using a mining metaphor. Minecraft is the has one of the biggest gaming communities in the world. I picked Minecraft as my first game journal entry to try to understand and analyze the game mechanics and the user experience of the game.
In the game, the players are allowed to explore, interact with and modify a dynamically-generated map made of one-cubic-meter-sized blocks. In addition to blocks, the environment features plants, mobs and items.
Initialization:
The players are first greeted with techno music and and a boxed/ pixelated aesthetic. They are then prompted to create a new world that they would be playing in. I played my first game in survival mode. Considering there were no prior instructions given, I was tempted to start clicking around.
During my first exploration, I noticed that the players enter a pixelated forest world. They are then encouraged to move around and explore as the controls as easy as moving your mouse to navigate. As a first time player, this initial, almost immediate feedback was helpful with the friction of initialization.
After some exploration and a little research, I discovered that Minecraft is believed to be “potentially transformative for fostering learning and cognitive skills”. The main game mechanics seem to be very similar to geographical and wilderness education including:
- exploring different biomes and climates, like deserts, forests, jungles, and taigas;
- navigating through terrain, such as hills, mountains, caverns, caves, and oceans;
- interacting with wildlife and agricultural content, including animals, fish, birds, wheat, grass, fruits, vegetables, and diverse fictional content;
- searching for, mining, collecting, and combining many different resources such as different kinds of wood, stone, metal, and dirt; and
- designing and building electrical circuits, switches, and complex machines that can sense and modify the world.
Since the game has a lot of room for exploration and a variety of things that can be done in various ways, it makes it
Minecraft players can create a wide range of belongings intended to amplify their avatars’ abilities, differentiate themselves from others, and ultimately locate themselves in the community. The cultivation of unique and cherished possessions with which users can identify themselves entails elements of passion, authority and personalization, properties that have been linked with self-extension tendency.
In a multi-player scenario, players work collaboratively by planning and coordinating their tasks. They assume roles (e.g., as resource collectors, planners, builders), work iteratively to refine and perfect their creations, and share their work with friends, family, and online communities. The chat system helps communicate with other players.
I played another game where the players are split into teams and they have to protect their ‘bed’ from being destroyed. The game was much more stimulating that a single player game. This was probably because of the social interactions that were part of that multi-player and teamwork experience. However, being a first time player, I was a little uncomfortable with how we had to assume roles as a team. I felt that the intra-team communication could be somewhat improved to make it easier for newer players to understand their role and be a better team player. I do understand that this may cause some frustrations for players who are fluent at the game.
Minecraft for Good
Side note: While doing some research on Minecraft, I came across a few stories that helped people in various ways. I was especially moved by the story of a boy with OCD who had these tapping rituals. His therapist encouraged him to play Minecraft without having to engage in those rituals.
My thoughts on Minecraft
Minecraft is an extremely popular game and for good reason. I feel that Minecraft is a very well designed games with several undiscovered potential benefits. There are almost an endless possibilities of what can be done in that environment. This makes encourages exploration and creativity. Further, the setting of the game comes somewhat naturally to the ‘old brain’. The concept of survival is not new to us as humans which makes the goals of the game simple to understand and easy to pursue. Considering that the ‘old brain’ thrives on the fight/flight phenomenon, the game thoroughly engages the subconscious and instinctive part of the brain that makes the players keep coming back. Moreover, the friendly aesthetic as well as the paradoxical idea of low-risk survival makes this otherwise violent concept fun and gameful.
Game Journal Entry #2 coming soon.
