What I wish I knew before playing Minecraft with my kids

Minecraft has been popular for more than ten years, and its charm remains unchanged in the past. A new generation of players is constantly joining this world of multi-functional games, and the reason is not difficult to understand: it provides a variety of ways to play.

This also makes it an excellent family game. If you like to hack and kill monsters like me, you can do it; if you want to build complex buildings like my kids (or watch me build, they direct), you can do it; if you like mining like my wife And gardening, so can you.

With that being said, Minecraft can be overwhelming for beginners, both adults and children. There are many moving parts in the game and there is no real in-game tutorial, so you have to figure it out yourself. Here are some tips I hope to know when I first started playing the game.

Select a game mode that suits your family

Minecraft has three main modes: Creative mode, Peaceful survival mode and Survival mode with monsters (can be set as simple, medium or difficult). They each offer unique ways to play. In Peaceful Survival Mode, you will enter the world of Minecraft to explore and build. You have to find resources, explore areas, and be aware of dangers like lava, drowning and falling. However, no monsters need to fight. If you choose to join the monster, you will explore and build like you do in peace mode, but you have to eat food to avoid hunger and you may be killed by skeletons, spiders and other monsters. Three difficulty levels determine the level of damage these creatures cause.

My kids love to explore but are young and monsters can scare them, so most of our family play time is in peace mode. However, after the kids go to bed, I go into settings and enable monsters because if you don't kill zombies, what's the point of playing video games?

If you are not interested in monsters, exploration or mining, try creating modes. There, you just need to build. You can create anything you can imagine. It could be a huge castle, a replica of the Enterprise starship, or even a fully functional computer. Oh, you can still fly.

You can play any of these modes with anyone connected to a local area network (LAN) such as home WiFi, or join friends or strangers online by entering or setting up a server.

Use the Internet to help you make items

The name says everything: "mine" and "craft". Everything you do in Minecraft is derived from digging out raw materials and then making them into something new. In the early stages of the game, you will dig out the trees with your fists (incredibly) and then convert the wood into planks, workbenches, sticks, and wooden swords, axes and picks. As you collect more materials, you will turn to stones, iron, and ultimately diamond gear, while learning how to create enchantments and potions.

Minecraft's complete crafting tree is huge, and it's almost impossible for casual players to remember. Fortunately, we have the internet. Always prepare your phone and find ways to make whatever you need. This production guide can help you get started, and there are also useful content on YouTube.

Build beds, torches and shelter on the first day

Spend your first night in Minecraft survival mode is not easy. I tried to spend the first two nights in my first game and ended up being killed by hordes of enemies both times. The easiest way to survive is to sleep overnight in a safe shelter with torches inside and outside the shelter. To do this, you need to get three things: wood, wool, and coal.

[Related: Too much pressure? Video games can help – if you follow these tips. ]

Search for wool by killing the sheep. Sheep are common, so finding the three sheep you need shouldn't take too long. Once you have wool, start digging coal with your pickaxe. The coal looks like ordinary grey stone with large black spots inside. You may not even need to dig - you can often see it on cliffs.

Once you have wood, wool and coal, make torches, beds and doors. Then dig a small cave on the nearest mountain side. Install doors, place beds, and hang torches inside and outside to prevent monsters from spawning nearby. Then sleep in your bed until morning. Do this for a few nights in a row and you will have the opportunity to collect enough resources to require weapons and armor for more intense night and cave exploration battles in the game later. Once you are familiar enough with the day and night cycle, you can place your bed almost anywhere and sleep quickly before any monsters spawn. But it is undeniable that this will slightly ruin a little immersion.

Learn how to fight

If you enable monsters, you will eventually have to fight them. As someone who is used to the smooth combat mechanics of Assassin's Creed and Dark Souls, I was amazed at how basic the battle in Minecraft is. You can wield a sword or shoot an arrow. That's about it. No fancy moves, no quick dodging, no shield blocking (although you can block with a shield).

The most effective early game combat strategy is to swing a sword once and then take a few steps back. Try exchanging strikes with monsters in melee and you can suffer serious damage, at least until you get better armor.

Don't underestimate the skeleton archers. They are very powerful. Try to get close to them by hiding behind trees or bushes so they can't shoot you.

Remember your location

Minecraft world is huge and easy to get lost. My kids and I lost the first base we built, which made them very upset. Getting lost can also be dangerous, especially if you get lost in a cave and can't find your way back to the ground. Fortunately, there are ways to keep your position and always find your way home.

The first is to open the position coordinates. Go to Settings, then go to Game, and turn on Show coordinates. This will display a set of three numbers in the game, corresponding to the X, Y, and Z axes. X is your east-west position, Y is your vertical position, and Z is your north-south position. When you build a base, note its coordinates and you will always be able to navigate back.

Another trick is to build a tall building near your home as a visual sign. I built a series of stacked Y-shaped buildings near my castle and I could see it from a distance. It helped me find my way home on many occasions.

It's easier to get lost when you're in a dungeon. A torch is your lifeline. As you explore, put them on the wall every once in a while. In Monster Mode, these will prevent new monsters from spawning in the lighted area. But they will also let you know the path you return. Always put your torch on the same side you enter the cave; I prefer my right. When it was time to go home, I just turned around and placed the torch to my left. When I come to an intersection, I would stack two or three torches next to the exit door, or use the torches on the ground to make an arrow pointing to the exit. If you are not going back, make sure you collect the torches while you are out so you don't have to spend time making more torches.

If you are really lost in the dungeon, select a wall and dig upwards in stair-like mode. Eventually, you will reach the ground. Just be aware of the lava and the sudden drop.

If the worst happens, you can commit suicide and be reborn. Put everything you want to save in a box and note its coordinates. Then die – I usually build a very tall tower and jump down, which also makes it easier for you to discover your chest when you return. When you are reborn, navigate back to your box coordinates, collect your resources, and go home.

Know where to dig for what resources

Low, you will need to start digging into specific resources. First there is coal, then iron, then gold and diamonds. While you can stumble upon these resources while exploring, there are more efficient ways to get them. All resources are generated at different vertical positions throughout the game, and there are some specific levels that are more likely to do so. For example, coal is mostly generated in mountainous areas with a height of Y=96. On the other hand, diamonds are generated deep underground, and Y=-57 is the optimal depth. But even at the right level, you probably won't find a lot of resources in the wild. Instead, start strip mining.

For example, for strip mining of diamonds, move down to Y=-57, walk to the wall, dig a two-grid-high tunnel forward, and place a torch every once in a while. Always carry pebbles in your activity inventory while digging these deep. When you encounter the inevitable lava flow, quickly back and drop some stones to avoid burning. Then turn left or right, dig over three grids, and start digging in the direction you were originally coming. Continue to follow this round-trip grid pattern, with two layers between the tunnels to maximize the number of blocks you exposed. This way of organizing also reduces the chances of getting lost in the mine.

Teat a group of chickens (and other animals)

Catching and raising animals is an important part of the Minecraft agricultural mechanism. To catch animals, just take out the food they like and they will follow you all the time when you hold the food and get close enough to them. Cattle and sheep like wheat, pigs and rabbits like carrots, and chickens? Well, chickens like seeds. It's fun to lure all the animals into the fence where you can feed them in pairs to create babies. However, having a bunch of 10 to 12 chickens and their tiny offspring follow you around the map is arguably the cutest thing in any video game. I highly recommend that you take some time to hold the seeds and let a group of hungry and cute chickens stare at you.

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