Hooked on Minecraft Five Years too Late

I never considered myself to be a Minecraft player. My daughters play quite a bit and as much as I enjoy playing with them, Minecraft has never really captured my attention. Last week though, my youngest kiddo got Wesley playing for a while. Before I knew it, Wesley had started a new survival game of her own. She set up a little homestead near a cave, setting her pagoda-esque house high on a hill. She invited me to play with her for a bit and I agreed, albeit somewhat reluctantly. Since that day last week, there hasn't been a day that she and I haven't played Mincraft. I'm hooked.

Minecraft Story Mode, Episode 1

Minecraft: Story Mode Episode 1- The Order of Stone is a witty, fulfilling game that sets up what I hope to be a very entertaining series. Set in the universe of Minecraft (ahem, hence the name), Telltale's latest series is a more accessible game, aimed at the entire family rather than the strictly adult setting that Walking Dead, Wolf Among Us or Tales From The Borderlands. This is the first Telltale game since 2011's Back to the Future to hold less than a Mature rating from the ESRB but the seasoned developer hasn't lost any of its skill in the change of pace.

The Ocelot Room: My Children and Minecraft

In their world
cows graze in caves,
squid swim beneath the ice
of frozen mountain ponds.
Rough dunes are pock-marked by
small tunnels leading far beneath the surface.
Here, a square sun sets and rises
on high towers of glowing stone.
My daughters live here.
The tunnels were their first excursions into the earth
the mountain squid
remnants of forgotten experiments.
The monolithic towers built
so each knew where the other was
until they numbered so many
as to become indistinguishable as one tree from another.
The eldest wears diamonds as armor,
builds houses on precious stone as would Tolkien's dwarves.
The youngest sleeps beneath the dark roof of her bedrock home.
Above the bed, a window
opens on a room full
of wild cats, ocelots.
Her ocelot room.
Together, they explore jungles
tame wolves and horses
trade goods with villagers
raise chickens and cows
Tomorrow they will search the desert for treasures
scour caves for lost cattle
and fish for squid in the mountains
And be back in time for dinner
where they will smirkingly tell me
of the fish that made housecats
of ocelots.