As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/
Options
Minecraft for 7 year old at two houses
Serpent
Sometimes Vancouver, BC, sometimes Brisbane, QLDRegistered User regular
Sometimes Vancouver, BC, sometimes Brisbane, QLDRegistered User regular
Hi Everyone, I'm thinking about getting Minecraft on the switch for my 7 year old son. However he spends half his time with me, and half his time with his mother at a different house. She was thinking of getting Minecraft on an iPad for him.
The Switch does not move houses.
I'm unfamiliar with Minecraft and accounts and when I've asked some other, older kids I know they just ... are terrible at explaining anything. I can't figure it out and googling has not been helpful.
What I'm worried about is my son potentially have two different accounts and he won't want to play the game at one of the houses due to split progression. Or he'll like one version better than another. But I'm not sure if these things are legitimate concerns. I don't fully understand if Minecraft is like some type of western RPG with significant progression (at one extreme) or more like a platforming roguelike of some type, maybe like Mario Bros, where every time you start, you start over.
Is this going to cause issues with him moving between two houses and potentially playing the game on two different systems?
As an example, he doesn't have his own google account. So sometimes he gets an Android game at my house on my tablets/phones, and plays it, but when he's at his mum's, even if he has the same game on her google account, the progression doesn't link up -- so he ends up playing some games only at my place and some only at hers because he doesn't want to keep two different sets of progression going.
The Switch does not move houses.
I'm unfamiliar with Minecraft and accounts and when I've asked some other, older kids I know they just ... are terrible at explaining anything. I can't figure it out and googling has not been helpful.
What I'm worried about is my son potentially have two different accounts and he won't want to play the game at one of the houses due to split progression. Or he'll like one version better than another. But I'm not sure if these things are legitimate concerns. I don't fully understand if Minecraft is like some type of western RPG with significant progression (at one extreme) or more like a platforming roguelike of some type, maybe like Mario Bros, where every time you start, you start over.
Is this going to cause issues with him moving between two houses and potentially playing the game on two different systems?
As an example, he doesn't have his own google account. So sometimes he gets an Android game at my house on my tablets/phones, and plays it, but when he's at his mum's, even if he has the same game on her google account, the progression doesn't link up -- so he ends up playing some games only at my place and some only at hers because he doesn't want to keep two different sets of progression going.
0
Posts
There's 'survival' mode, where you start off with nothing, and have to build your way up to finally beating the end boss, and there is definitely progression there. But there's also 'creative' mode, where you can just summon up infinite resources and can build whatever you like. At 7, survival mode might be a bit tricky, but creative mode is easier to pick up and have fun with. He'd end up having two separate worlds, one on each system, but that's not necessarily a problem, they can be independant and he'd, I dunno, build a village and a farm on one system, and a bunch of sculptures and rollercoasters on the other (or whatever).
(My kids have Minecraft on PC and minecraft on iPad (which have no crossplay) and they're playing it in survival mode on PC with friends online teaming up to get to the final boss, and creative mode on iPad solo to just build cool structures and whatnot; when I asked them about it they thought that the more Minecraft the better, even if it's in two different places.)
I read somewhere else -- I think on the minecraft site, actually -- that the Switch can crossplay with PC, PS4, ipad, etc.
Java is PC only and features no cross save. Bedrock is the console/mobile/windows 10 version and DOES feature crossplay and cloud saves.
If you buy him Minecraft on iPad he will be able to play his world from Switch with no problem as long as you set him up a Microsoft account.
Hey that's awesome! Are there any subscriptions needed? Some quick googling suggests I might need a switch subscription as well as a realms subscription?
The Switch requires the Nintendo Online subscription, which is about $30 a year so that your Switch can connect to Nintendo's servers for game connectivity. Minecraft Realms is how you make a specific world that one or more people can log into (with the owner's permission, no random folk can enter without you setting it up). The cheapest realms is for 2 people and runs about $5 a month last I checked, but its been a bit.
Minecraft is one of those games that is excellent for playing with your child. If you have a laptop, you can probably also run it at the same time and join your kid's world and explore. Minecraft is essentially technic legos with basic logic circuits possible. You can make electrical switches and the like, or just stack blocks and make a house. On survival, you also have monsters that appear every so often and add a fun complication.
Its a great opportunity to bond in a video game and work together. I very much recommend trying it alongside your child.
My kid likes to build these big square houses out of dirt (dirt is the easiest thing to find) and then wander around for a while, and then start over with a new world. Is your kid super creative and very self motivated? Because, again, there is no story or driving narrative in this game. So, its all up to you the player to make what you want out of this game.
So, after all of that. I do enjoy the game! The game is fun, but like Legos, its as fun as you make it.
I highly encourage you to learn how to play so you can help your kid get going. Take a look at this video, its pretty short and is a great intro for everything you will need to get going.
Huh, I learned something today -- I knew that my kids couldn't share worlds between PC and iPad so I figured that applied everywhere.
My son and I already do play some games together, so that was almost certainly going to happen.
Hey this is good advice. My partner in a different house has an 11year old who watches a good quantity of minecraft streamers. I should check them out.
My son doesn't have access to youtube or twitch so no worries there .... yet.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
I think your safest bet is to go with recommendations for who to watch, rather than trying to filter out who not to watch.
I myself only really watch Minecraft videos from one content creator, Direwolf20, which I can recommend. He's child-friendly and newbie-friendly, and his videos are free of clickbait, facecams, or other horribleness. Note that he only plays modded Minecraft, though.
Comics, Games, Booze
It's good advice for anyone streaming any game, unfortunately. "This is a kid-friendly game it will be fine" is a good way to find things you wouldn't want your teenager to watch, let alone a 7-year-old.
If you can't easily set things up so that the same world can be played in both houses, it might be good to encourage him to use the opportunity to make an entirely different build for each house and see it through. Admittedly I have very recent experience with trying to convince a 7yo that anything of the sort is fun or good, but in my head at least it sounds like a great idea.
Now we're sorta talking about getting a switch lite for him to keep at his mum's house and the OG switch at my house. He could then take the minecraft cartridge back and forth (we don't have it digital).
Would his minecraft creations/worlds be saved to the minecraft cartridge? Or the switch?
Would he need to sign in to the same nintendo account on both switches?
It would be saved to the Switch, not the cartridge. I think if you have an online Nintendo account and pay for their online service you can backup your save.
This is a great point Enc, We have 2 docs at my house in different rooms so he can play games by himself when he wants to focus on a game and the family can play games in the family room together without having to move the dock back and forth.
or, alternatively, ensure both systems microsoft accounts have access to the Realm and that he stores his stuff in chests when he wants to switch over so its not locked in another character's inventory.
My son watches a lot of youtube minecraft videos. I just make sure to kinda half listen in, as I don't allow him to watch content like that with headphones on. If I hear/see anything that I don't like. I just make that youtuber off limits and also report their channel.
You can go onestep further and make it so he only has access to youtube kids. Most of the videos on that platform are child appropriate, but some still sneak through and need to be reported.
― John Quincy Adams