Minecraft

Introduction

Minecraft is universal at this point, it’s the modern age Lego and can be found on almost every desktop around the globe. It’s even used in schools now due to it’s oddly absorbing and deeply intelligent gameplay. People can create new worlds for themselves and, with the help of friends, recreate vast cityscapes from their favourite books, films and games. Minecraft is in its very essence about investment, you can have a great time, all it costs is your time, attention and self control!

Platforms and Language – 9/10

Minecraft is available on any and all devices from mobile up to PC. The price does vary depending on version and platform and you will need a Mojang/Microsoft account but the language options seem to be universal across all releases. You can set the game to Japanese direct through the options menu

Glossary

Usability – 4/10

As you will know if you’ve played Minecraft before there is not much in the way of discussion, NPC’s or textboxes however that doesn’t mean the language is absent. Each and every item in the game (which is quite a lot) has been translated, although the writing is pixelated it is still legible even when kanji and katakana are used. Additionally you will find extensive menus and a “how to play” page which has a well written, descriptive guide to the basics of the game. This will essentially be where the only reading/studying value is in Minecraft but it is worth flicking through as many terms that are usable in day to day speech do appear. The basis actions and status pages in particular will take you through your HUD bars and what they mean, how to combine and craft, as well as some of the more obscure functions like enchanting.

The level of language is hard to determine here as the vocabulary is relatively open and easy to follow with a wide target audience in mind, however there are unusual materials such as andesite and granite which I wouldn’t expect your average learner to know off the cuff. There’s also not much in the way of incentive to learn these unusual material names unless you are playing and speaking with others in Japanese.

Due to the nature of the game it is far too easy to slip into long periods of not seeing more than a few words and losing focus of the language. I wouldn’t recommend starting Minecraft in Japanese to practice reading sentences or day to day dialogue but if you already play Minecraft and want to bolster up your vocabulary for basic materials this could come in handy.

Challenges and Methods – 2/10

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