Minecraft: More Than a Game

Why are children hooked on the game Minecraft? Even when they are not playing the game themselves, millions of children enjoy watching other people playing in YouTube videos. Parents worry that their children find the Minecraft universe so rewarding that they are losing interest in the real world, in face-to-face contact, or in non-screen-based play. Rather than having a moral panic about it, should we be harnessing children's enthusiasm and taking Minecraft into schools, as some educationalists propose?