Spirited Digitally Away

A recent post from Greg Willits — “A Dad’s Guide to Minecraft” — made me realize something very important: I’m not alone.

Minecraft makes me feel stupid.

That’s me. From the day I first encountered the phenomenon — watching in disbelief as my younger brother wander through an enormous, LEGO-y world with a few trusty friends — I’ve wondered what the heck I was missing. Can I really be that far out of touch with the gaming age? Am I, at last and despite my urgent efforts to the contrary, an “Uncool Dad?” Really? Not cool at all?

As a long-time adventure gamer, I hold out some hope that things will come back ’round and I will not be forced to answer those questions in the negative for eternity. For the time being, though, that “This game makes me feel stupid” bit Willits is describing? That’s me.

Perhaps more importantly, so is this:

The single biggest reason my wife and I have allowed it in our house is that the output of Minecraft has been some of the most creative that we’ve seen from our children.

It’s astonishing, really. Even Cormac builds things. Well, to be entirley accurate, he mostly adds to his brothers’ preexisting worlds. And that can be a source of some tension, depending on what he’s adding. His particular fascination with the powered mine tracks (and the livestock) means that David and James often return to their digital domains to discover a landscape carpeted by pigs and sheep flying about in mine cars. And that’s rarely the makeover they wanted (though it might sometimes be the one they deserved).

There are various “time-management issues” that arise — finding Cormac parked under the piano in the wee hours of the morning with my iPad and David’s Minecraft world is not the ideal situation — but his mastery (and the fact that he enjoys making and molding and modifying these boxy little things until they match something in his head) makes me feel a bit proud. And still, yes. A bit stupid.

You know what else makes me feel stupid?

This:

As I have long known, I have no patience. And also, no imagination. So, as you might suspect, I’m in awe of Alan Becker and his Miyazaki-inspired creation.

I could probably roam through these digital “Spirit Away” world comparisons for hours. In fact, I might have already done just that. So maybe there is a bit of magic in those boxy little blocks, and in the ability to craft them into the things we love; into the things that inspire us. Maybe the boys really are on to something.

And maybe I’m not so out of touch, after all.

Cool!

Attribution(s): “Pocket Minecraft” provided by Shutterstock and intended for editorial purposes only.