CO GAME Videogame Research
General Information about the Game Name of the game
Year of Creation
2011
Description of the game
Minecraft is a 2011 sandbox video game originally created by Swedish programmer Markus "Notch" Persson and later developed and published by Mojang. The creative and building aspects of Minecraft enable players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D procedurally generated world. Other activities in the game include exploration, resource gathering, crafting, and combat. Multiple gameplay modes are available, including survival mode where the player must acquire resources to build the world and maintain health, a creative mode where players have unlimited resources to build with and the ability to fly, an adventure mode where players can play custom maps created by other players, and a spectator mode where players can fly around and clip through blocks, but cannot place or destroy any. The PC version of the game is renowned for its third-party mods, which add various new items, characters, worlds, and quests to the game.
Platform
Microsoft Windows
OS X
Linux
Android iOS
Xbox 360
Raspberry Pi
PlayStation 3
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
PlayStation Vita
Windows Phone
Windows 10 Edition
Wii U
Type of the game
Sandbox
Website https://minecraft.net/
Are there more institutions cooperating to the videogame development? Which profiles?
4J Studios
Microsoft Studios
BLOCK A. HERITAGE INTEREST This part is for describing the heritage quality of the game.
Is there any distinctive heritage element?
No
If yes, which are the different historical contexts (Who, when, where, why?) described.
-
Which are the main historical elements described?
Not relevant
Are they rigorous or inspirational or simply scenarios for the development of the story?
Simply scenarios / game modes.
Which are the most interesting elements regarding COGAME framework, and why?
How the game can be widely popular even with the not too attractive graphical design.
BLOCK B. EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE This part is about collecting information about the educational sense f the game.
Age addressed by the videogame
11 - 14
Is there any link with the national educational levels? (Is the game addressed specifically to any pedagogical level? To some pedagogical activity?)
No
Which educational purpose has the game?
Explore Real Life Buildings
There are many already-created structures that you can import into the game and have students explore. From the Roman Coliseum to the Globe Theatre, they can wander through and literally see three-dimensional replications of buildings that are no longer there. You might have students identify aspects of a theater, or use it as a tool for presentations. If you really want to go nuts, have students create these models themselves.
Practice Ratio and Proportion
Minecraft allows students to build whatever they want, so use the opportunity to have them create scale models when you need a practice unit about measurements and proportions. The building of scale models might integrate social studies content to allow for cross-curricular connections. Coupled with in-class lessons and activities, Minecraft can help students apply the knowledge they have learned in technological and playful ways.
Learn About Survival
You can contextualize the concept of survival for students by having them play the survival mode, which demands players take into account resources, hunger, tools and more as they build and expand their world. Students have to explore in order to collect resources, and they have to process what they find, such as smelting ore to create metal. Doing this in the game can give students a basic understanding of how things work, and help them analyze the different components of survival and settlement.
Visualization and Reading Comprehension
One of the best ways to improve how students display their reading comprehension is asking them to create a visualization. They could reconstruct various settings from the text, and even recreate scenes and plot events. They could also use these recreations to give a presentation or make predictions on what might happen next, and then physically create those predictions in Minecraft.
Target addressed by the project (List: community, classrroom, subrepresented groups, disadvantadged, etc.)
Community of students and pupils from the age of 12.
Which are the main skills / knowledges / attitudes learned by using the videogame?
Skills and knowledges to learn with Minecraft: geometry, social interaction, historical buildings, digital citizenship (online security, privacy, internet ethics), materials, self discovering, history, reading comprehension, visuospatial reasoning skills, collaboration, critical thinking.
BLOCK C. VIDEO GAME DESIGN This part is for collect information about video game design
Graphics (Which type of graphics are used by the video game?)
3D graphic (textured cubes)
What is the storytelling of the video game? (Which are the main narrative elements?)
Minecraft is an open world game that has no specific goals for the player to accomplish, allowing players a large amount of freedom in choosing how to play the game. Some gameplay modes: survival, creative, adventure, spectator, multiplayer.
Is it future or past oriented? It is dystopian or utopian?
Not relevant
Main characters (How many characters the player can choose? Describe them.)
The players can download several skins for the characters.
Interactivity (What is the level of interactivity inside the game? Describe.)
The core gameplay revolves around breaking and placing blocks. The game world is composed of rough 3D objects—mainly cubes—arranged in a fixed grid pattern and representing different materials, such as dirt, stone, various ores, water, lava, tree trunks, etc. While players can move freely across the world, objects can only be placed at fixed locations on the grid. Players can gather these material blocks and place them elsewhere, thus allowing for various constructions.
Usability (Has the game a complex screen? Number of controls (keyboard, screen, Joystick...).)
The control is depend on the various platform. It is point and click and manu based.
Accessibility (Is the game prepared for people with mobility or control disadvantages?)
No
BLOCK E. ASSESSMENT FOR CO-GAME
Which are the elements you identify as relevans to be taken in mind for the development of the different IO for Co-Game?
Proposed elements to follow: freedom of gaming and infotainment elements.
Minecraft is a fantastic tool for collaborative, student-directed work, but for teachers looking for ready-to-use tools and features that allow Minecraft to be modded and tuned to teaching specific content, Minecraft offers tons of added values.
An entirely open world game, Minecraft is made to give teachers the most control over the game itself to create fun, interactive lessons and assignments in virtually any possible subject. The build comes with two tutorial levels tailored for large classes and team-based learning, to help both instructors and their students quickly become acquainted with the many aspects of Minecraft, while encouraging creativity and experimentation.
Values of the Game
1. Teacher tools from Minecraft are invaluable. They form an important part of classroom management practices.
2. Students love to collaborate
3. Students will often extend tasks, adding their own creativity to personalise their end result.
4. Minecraft caters for a diverse range of students, allowing them to excel, regardless of personal strengths or weaknesses.
5. You can have high expectations from students and be surprised by the outcomes because Minecraft is student centred and open-ended.
6. Students who using Minecraft as their tool during a lesson, have anticipation and excitement, this seemed to translate into participation in group discussion, before moved to the computers, a dramatic contrast to their usual participation levels.
7. Creating resources, activities and maps for the students is fun and gives the opportunity to explore creative ideas.
8. Students are very motivated to complete tasks when rewarded with items in Minecraft. Students, who were typically off task, were able to demonstrate their understanding of the topic.
Which are the elements not to repeat while developing Co-Game?
-
Name of the organisation in charge of the questions (Write the name or your organisation (CEPS, LATERNA, MUNDANEUM, CIES; BFI)).
Laterna Magica