I am planning to post a series of philosophical threads on Modded Survival Minecraft (MSM) on this forum as a way of getting feedback and promoting discussion about philosophical perspectives on playing Minecraft. In particular I focus on playing Minecraft in Survival mode with mods.
The first topic is to look at how Minecraft models real world needs in the sense that in playing the game one has to consider and meet certain needs that have obvious equivalents in the real world. In the open-ended nature of Minecraft, this game has the ability to model many such needs and in a way that is diverse and creative. These qualities may be shared by other games but, perhaps, it can be argued that Minecraft is especially good at doing this sort of simulation of real world experience.
List of basic needs that the game of Minecraft models:
The first topic is to look at how Minecraft models real world needs in the sense that in playing the game one has to consider and meet certain needs that have obvious equivalents in the real world. In the open-ended nature of Minecraft, this game has the ability to model many such needs and in a way that is diverse and creative. These qualities may be shared by other games but, perhaps, it can be argued that Minecraft is especially good at doing this sort of simulation of real world experience.
List of basic needs that the game of Minecraft models:
- Safety - Self-defense, offense and architecture all can contribute
- Nourishment - You must take time to feed the body
- Knowledge - Go from ignorance to knowledge, naivete to experience
- Creativity - Solve problems and create beauty
- Planning - Do things in an order such that you enjoy your series of successes
- Risk Taking - Assess risk, minimize consequence, make room for failure and learning, obtain glory