Explaining minecraft for parents and/or beginners

I looked at various guides throughout the internet and they over complicate this game therefore confusing you even more. Whether your a parent with a kid and you want to understand it more or you want to try minecraft because you want to see what all the fuss is about, this post will explain it to you in a easy to understand format.

What is minecraft?

Minecraft is like playing with legos but the blocks can defy physics. There are 2 modes in minecraft, Survival and Creative.

1. Creative Mode: Your pretty much in a virtual world with unlimited blocks and unlimited health. Imagine your in a world where someone set up the legos for you and you can erase them or add more. You are free to walk around and create to your hearts content. Creative mode is also good for getting a hang of the controls with no pressure, also you can fly in creative
2. Survival Mode: This makes it into a survival type game. You can't fly and you spawn randomly (hopefully somewhere with good resources) with only your fists to help you. You have a health bar and a hunger meter(depending on the difficulty level) and monsters come out night. There is a huge emphasis on making stuff(crafting)

When you start a new file in minecraft you are given a choice of the type of world you want.  

1. Old: You are in an invisible box so it's easy to find your away around and not get lost but your limited on what you can create because well...your in a box
2. Flat: Just like nebraska or kansas, the world is flat and feels like it goes on forever(there is no invisible box in flat)
3. Infinite: There is no invisible barriers so it's like your on a planet, very easy to get lost 

That's pretty much minecraft in a nutshell and I'm not sure why it's so popular but it is addicting once you do play. So I figure I give some tips

• Sand and gravel follow the laws of physics so if you put one in the air it will drop straight down
• If you play survival mode gather a lot of wood and craft(make) a crafting table)
• In infinite mode, make street lights with 3 blocks and torches so when it gets dark you can see which areas you have already explored 
• The meat that zombies drop is still edible 
• Have more then one house, these will make landmarks that make it easier to get your bearings and provide a good place to hide from creepers
• When your outside at night, always look around for enemies especially up
• Your houses can be simple rectangles as these are easy to make and you can maximize your space to hold stuff
• Treasure chests are great objects, 3 or 4 of them in a house can easily hold a lot of your stuff
• Make sure your house has a roof or else spiders will get in and surprise you
• You can burn wood with other wood in a furnace to create charcoal which is used to make torches. This is great for your 1st or 2nd day as it's easier to make torches this way instead of looking for coal in mountains or underground
• Be careful when exploring as it is extremely easy to get turned around then you can't find your house