Minecraft Guide to Exploration: An official Minecraft book from Mojang by Mojang AB

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Minecraft Guide to Exploration: An official Minecraft book from Mojang by Mojang AB

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Buy Minecraft Guide to Exploration: An official Minecraft book from Mojang by Mojang AB at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Category: Children's Non-Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Reviewer: James Donald
Reviewed by James Donald
Summary: A thoroughly enjoyable guide to the second most popular computer game on the planet. It made perfect sense to even a noob like me!
Buy? Yes Borrow? Yes
Pages: 96 Date: June 2017
Publisher: Egmont
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1405285971

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Ever wondered how on Earth to get started with this 'ere Minecraft malarkey? Look no further as this is the guide for you!

I've just finished reading Max Brooks' novel, Minecraft: The Island and it was the perfect companion to this little book. On their own either book has moments of confusion and you have to either sit with the game open or really strain your imagination to understand everything. Taken together they are two sides of the same coin. Brooks adds a story and fleshes out the experience of playing the game and he falls down a little when his narrator tries to describe some of the technical aspects of the gameplay. This book is brilliant at the technical aspects but a little dry when it comes to the actual experience.

This guide is far from comprehensive (there have been whole rainforests felled to write unofficial guides to Minecraft over the years so any attempt to be comprehensive would have required an infinite part-work (available from all good newsagents right now for 99p with this cool binder (increasing to £9.99 each thereafter)) rather than a mere 96 pages. What this guide does is whet the appetite to get started.

As part of this review I asked my Middle Son to join me and let me know his opinion on it. He, unfortunately, wasn't impressed. He has read dozens of the unofficial guides and watched hundreds of those dreadful Stampy YouTube videos that show you how to do various things in Minecraft so this taught him nothing new… Or at least that was on the surface. Underneath the surface, however, I have to report that this book vanished for a week in our house. For something that was no big deal it caused a lot of fights between my Middle and Youngest sons. It was pristine when I put it down but now it is battered and well-thumbed. Middle Son has, at least, grunted the high praise that the book is accurate and that it does introduce the most important first steps.

I didn't really consider asking Son three about this book as he has shown little interest in reading recently but it was proving difficult to extricate him from this one. He gushed endlessly bouncing on the spot with excitement as he explained to me all the things that the book got right…

…so the experts give it a thumbs up.

The basics of survival mode are all laid out here. The main creatures, biomes and builds are all described well. The basics of crafting are given and most importantly you are guided through your plans for the first few days in the world.

This is not for experts but beginners will find it to be an invaluable textbook for their first few months playing the second most played game in the world.

Further reading Minecraft: The Island by Max Brooks is a perfect companion to this book.

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Buy Minecraft Guide to Exploration: An official Minecraft book from Mojang by Mojang AB at Amazon You can read more book reviews or buy Minecraft Guide to Exploration: An official Minecraft book from Mojang by Mojang AB at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
Buy Minecraft Guide to Exploration: An official Minecraft book from Mojang by Mojang AB at Amazon You can read more book reviews or buy Minecraft Guide to Exploration: An official Minecraft book from Mojang by Mojang AB at Amazon.com.

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