KidsKnow: Minecraft
Gaming
Insights

Rob Lough

5 minutes read

Kids love to tell us about the endless list of things to do on Minecraft, from building large cities to exploring and fighting zombies. Here’s what they have taught us about Minecraft so far.

Over the past couple of years, Roblox has been the talk of the town. According to MMO Population, Roblox has roughly 22.69 million subscribers and a whopping 862,400 users playing each day on PC. That’s almost double the active players it had in December 2020.* With it being one of the most mentioned games during our Youth Trend Spotting calls with kids.

However, there is another powerhouse kids can’t stop talking about: Minecraft is reclaiming attention among players. On the surface, the two games look similar down to their blocky textures and similar audience. Both games are also accessible; kids don’t have to splurge on in-game currency to enjoy the game, and they are each available to play on multiple devices. However, during our YTS calls, kids explain how the two video games are immensely different, and Minecraft remains a firm favourite among many.

Roblox is just not my thing, Minecraft is the best because you can build stuff, you can run around, you can farm, you can hunt, you can go to a different dimension, you can build a house or build whatever you want with different types of blocks come out every now and then.


Boy 9, Missouri, US

The Possibilities are Endless

From building new worlds to installing mods, you can do pretty much anything in Minecraft. Kids can choose from four modes: Creative, Survival, Adventure, and Spectator, which each have different elements allowing for different gameplay. Its endless possibilities have earned Minecraft global popularity, with kids across the world telling us how much they love the game.

A notable theme across our YTS calls is that kids enjoy Minecraft in both single-player and multiplayer modes. We asked over 2600 kids about what they like to do most on Minecraft, and 33% said fighting other players and playing with friends. Especially during lockdown, games like Minecraft and Roblox replaced the school playground as kids headed to the games to chat with their friends.

Kids don’t only love the social elements that Minecraft offers but also the freedom to create and use their imagination in single-player mode.

Minecraft is number one at the moment: I really like open-world games and I also like multiplayer games, and there are Minecraft servers that combine both of those things. And if I’m able to do an open-world adventure with my friends it’s really exciting.


Boy 13, Kentucky, USA.

Creativity

Minecraft gives kids a foundation from which they explore and express themselves creatively. 28% of kids said they like building things the most,  entering a whole world waiting to be moulded into giant fortresses and spaceships suspended in the sky. 
Kids love to tell us about their latest creations, from their villages and farms to skyscraping cities with libraries and hospitals. 

In short, limitations are few and far between: Minecraft gives kids the tools to curate their own experience. And they love it. They aren’t held back by rules, rather, their creations can be as imaginative as they like. It’s a tactile experience that evokes days spent building Lego creations in your bedroom. 

I created a tower on, Minecraft, and my inspiration was a YouTuber named PrestonPlayz.


Girl 10, New Jersey, USA

The fun doesn’t end once kids stop playing. Content outside Minecraft proliferates, with books, YouTube, music, and TikTok content each providing entertaining content for hardcore fans as well as reeling in new ones. 

Minecraft is the most-watched game on YouTube. According to Statista, it amassed a staggering 201 billion views throughout 2020, with Roblox in second place with 75 billion.* Indeed, during YTS calls, Minecraft fans tell us they spend more of their time on YouTube than any other social network, followed by TikTok. Understandably, their favourite YouTube category is gaming, and YouTubers DanTDM, PrestonPlayz, and UnspeakableGaming are among the most popular for their Minecraft content.

I prefer Roblox because Minecraft is just all you do is break stuff and build things, but get in Roblox you can do a lot more.


Boy 7, Berkhamsted, UK

Minecraft or Roblox?

Despite Minecraft being the most popular among kids, the Minecraft vs Roblox debate continues. More often than not, kids will choose to play whichever game their friends are online playing. However, for other kids, Roblox is the firm favourite.

As new features are added to each game, time will tell whether Roblox overtakes Minecraft’s long-held popularity. For now, Minecraft holds its position in the number one spot and we expect kids to continue to effuse over the game in our future calls.

Sources:
*https://mmo-population.com/r/roblox
*https://www.statista.com/statistics/1201166/most-watched-game-content-youtube-global/

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