Quoting: bekoOn PC they play mostly Minecraft because everybody at school does. You know. Peer group pressure.

I got hard times to come up with something better a peer group of today could pressure a child into playing, though...?

Quoting: Eike

Quoting: bekoOn PC they play mostly Minecraft because everybody at school does. You know. Peer group pressure.

I got hard times to come up with something better a peer group of today could pressure a child into playing, though...?

Mine are still small, but of course know all about creeper, whatever that is. I'd really hate to get them minecraft and a microsoft account though. Hopefully they'd be satisfied with my large steam library and resist the peer pressure.

Last edited by ShabbyX on 13 November 2023 at 3:19 pm UTC

Quoting: Eike

Quoting: bekoOn PC they play mostly Minecraft because everybody at school does. You know. Peer group pressure.

I got hard times to come up with something better a peer group of today could pressure a child into playing, though...?

Wasn't judging. Next is Roblox (Rainbow Friends) though, which is known to be hostile to Linux users. And now? Peer pressure at school _is_ a problem.

Quoting: bekoWasn't judging. Next is Roblox (Rainbow Friends) though, which is known to be hostile to Linux users. And now? Peer pressure at school _is_ a problem.

Of course it is, that's why I mentioned that Minecraft pressure is something I consider ok in result (and in result only) - while many others not at all.

For my children, I wouldn't care too much about Microsoft or Linux. (I even use Proton for them! ) But Minecraft seem to be some solid, a bit Lego-like game. In the meanwhile, Roblox... please watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTMF6xEiAaY

Last edited by Eike on 13 November 2023 at 2:13 pm UTC

Quoting: ShabbyXMine are still small, but of course know all about creeper, whatever that is. If really hate to get them minecraft and a microsoft account though.

You might want to look into MineClone2 for the Minetest engine - though it's never going to be a complete 1:1 match, it's a very good Minecraft clone, as the name suggests.

Last edited by Pengling on 13 November 2023 at 2:19 pm UTC

Quoting: ShabbyX

Quoting: Eike

Quoting: bekoOn PC they play mostly Minecraft because everybody at school does. You know. Peer group pressure.

I got hard times to come up with something better a peer group of today could pressure a child into playing, though...?

Mine are still small, but of course know all about creeper, whatever that is. I'd really hate to get them minecraft and a microsoft account though. Hopefully they'd be satisfied with my large steam library and resist the peer pressure.

Minecraft Classic can be played in a web browser for free, has invite-only multiplayer, and no account is needed: https://classic.minecraft.net. I didn't even know about it - my kid found it, and I found them playing it on their Chromebook.

Quoting: beko…and together with parents it's even World of Warcraft or Elite Dangerous ;-)

Straight up. Do they play this on thier own, like individual devices, or is this a group play thing where everyone watches while one person plays?


Mine both do Minecraft (they have since before they could read). It's a great game, really let's them explore their imagination. I will throw in the caveat that we don't do online multiplayer (just split screen).

Now the number of times they've asked about Roblox, Fortnite, etc (from hearing it at school)... It's alot, lol (and not gonna happen)

Last edited by denyasis on 14 November 2023 at 1:13 am UTC

Quoting: denyasisStraight up. Do they play this on thier own, like individual devices, or is this a group play thing where everyone watches while one person plays?

The answer is a clear: It depends. It's complicated:



I built various button boxes [for ME] that the kids love too, of course. So depending on what is played they can in fact play together even without split screen because there are enough buttons to press.

Quoting: denyasisMine both do Minecraft (they have since before they could read). It's a great game, really let's them explore their imagination. I will throw in the caveat that we don't do online multiplayer (just split screen).

Minecraft is usually played in split screen mode on the TV as well. They also have it on the Android tablets though. No Multiplayer so far. I'm going to setup a dedicated server at home though because a friend of theirs in school would also like to participate.

WoW is next to each other with dedicated Linux PCs. Also of course with parents and only the more… colourful parts.

Quoting: bekoThe answer is a clear: It depends. It's complicated:

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I built various button boxes [for ME] that the kids love too, of course. So depending on what is played they can in fact play together even without split screen because there are enough buttons to press.

Happy new year!

Hope everyone's child filled gaming is going well.

For anyone that might be interested in SFF computing, I used my holiday payout and bought my oldest their first computer. It's a System 76 Merkat. I paired it with a cheap 1080p Dell monitor with a Vesa mount in the back (where the computer is mounted).

I've never purchased a prebuilt/preconfigured system before and I must I'm very impressed. The build quality is good, and while I wasn't sure about Pop_OS, I'm very impressed with the default setup and frankly, how easy it is to get to settings and tweak things from the GUI (even "advanced" things like connecting to online accounts was stupid simple).

From the advice here, I setup up a Steam account with parental control and did family sharing with my Steam library. We also installed some OSS games (they are loving Super Tux Kart and Super Tux, ATM).

We also setup up some "educational" links. Mostly to the online learning stuff they do at school and I put a link to Scratch as it seems like a good intro to programming. We sat together and did a few tutorials on it and it was fun (although might be a little advanced for my kid).

I know I'm veering a bit away from gaming, but does anyone know of any other decent educational resources for teaching computing skills for younger kids?

I will throw a vote in for Scratch. It's very nice!