This article was written with the parents and caregivers of autistic kids in mind, but it’s also perfect for all parents in general and for adults on the spectrum that are looking to pick up a new hobby. Even if you don’t fit any of those descriptions — this one’s still for you, friend!

Introduction

So, if you’re new here, welcome! Some things you should know: my son has autism. He also has a moderate speech delay and moderate to severe dexterity and coordination issues. Naturally, as any involved parents would do, my husband and I started our son on his therapy journey and have gotten several tips along the way.

But once his therapy prescription ran out and we were faced with having to hold him over until we could get him more appointments, we had to get creative with our approach to ensure that he kept progressing in some way. Enter Minecraft.

So long story short, my husband and I met in college. He introduced me to Minecraft, a game I’d heard of but never played. Sometimes, we’d play together in multiplayer. Most times, I would watch him play it for hours in his apartment, sometimes until he would fall asleep. I’d normally walk over there and just turn off the console and go to bed or just head home. But one fateful day, I picked up the controller and tried to play it by myself. It piqued my interest, but I kept messing up the controls (and his project that he’d spent forever building… but don’t tell him it was me), so I decided to put the controller down and go to sleep next to him.

But one day while I was in his apartment and he was away on campus, I played again, this time in my own world. Only on creative, because I didn’t wanna be fighting anything or trying to survive. I just wanted to build something cool. And I did. But we had to sell the Xbox because we were broke (typical college kid stuff), so it would be some years before I got the chance to play again.

Years later, I reconnected with Minecraft, this time on our Nintendo Switch. Well, it was technically my husband’s. Playing on the Switch is what got me hooked. The controls were simpler for me, the touchscreen made it easier to select items if I didn’t feel like scrolling forever, and the ability to see everything I was doing up close, in handheld form, made the game so much more fun for me! I was constantly playing.

So much so that my husband eventually bought me my own Switch because I had gotten to the point where I was hogging his ! 🙂 But us both having Switches meant that (with a paid Nintendo membership) we could play together in our own world. We could build together. We could hunt together, all that stuff. It’s like we were in our college days again, chilling and playing Minecraft together until one of us fell asleep.

Setup

After seeing how much help our son needed with his dexterity and coordination, I immediately thought about video games and how they’re notorious for helping with both. I hadn’t really been playing my Switch as much lately because my husband had gotten me hooked on Lawn Mowing Simulator on Steam (which is a whoooole other experience that I’ll tell y’all about one day, lol), I made the decision to trade my Switch in for a Switch Lite for our son. Sacrifices.

Because our kid, like most kids, was absolutely NOT careful with any form of technology whatsoever, we wanted to care for our investment by getting a case that was easy to grip and provided adequate protection, while still giving us access to the necessary ports and buttons. My husband found this one on Amazon and it’s been perfect!

Next was to set up the device itself. Before exposing any child to the internet, cautious parents must ensure that their child has the proper precautions in place — not using his real name for his Nintendo account, putting in necessary child blocks, all that good stuff. We have a family Nintendo account that allows for internet access for online and multiplayer games, so we added him. We also created secondary accounts for ourselves on his Switch Lite to help him visually understand that this is a shared device, even though it’s still primarily his. It helped encourage sharing and made taking it away after his play time was done a bit easier for us.

Gameplay

Creative Mode

Now for the fun part! We started him off the same way my husband started me off: in creative mode. Creative mode allows players access to all game materials that are available without having to craft them first, like you would have to if you play in survival mode. Creative mode also gives users a chance to explore the world without having to worry about mobs (the non-playable characters in the game, or NPCs) of any kind.

The default gameplay setting in creative mode is Normal. Under normal, players still encounter mobs, both passive and hostile. Passive mobs, like sheep, chickens, and cows, don’t attack players in any way. But when in survival hostile mobs, however, do attack. Not to mention, they look kinda scary, even in creative mode. So to avoid those creepy/weird looking mobs staring at our kid during gameplay, we opted to put his Creative world into peaceful mode. During peaceful mode, only the passive mobs spawn. Nothing else. It’s just as the name implies — peaceful.

Another benefit of having our son play in creative mode is that the controls are a bit easier. Instead of pressing A to jump each and every time, you can double tap A and fly around the world. Press B to go down, and A to go up. Use the usual right joystick to move around and left joystick to turn your head. It’s simpler than playing in survival mode.

Creative mode can be set to one of these five gameplay types:

• Peaceful: As described earlier, peaceful mode only spawns passive mobs. None of the other mobs will appear in the world.
• Easy: Players can’t die from hunger, mobs don’t damage players as much as the other modes, and spider mobs can’t poison players. Easy mode is great for new players. Perfect for people just learning how to play.
• Normal: Players can play with the standard game rules. All mobs spawn. Nothing special.
• Hard: Standard rules, but hostile mobs are more aggressive. Definitely not for newbies.
• Hardcore: Much more difficult than the standard rules. Mobs are extremely aggressive, there’s no respawn for players, and once’s you’re in it, you gotta ride it out.

Like I said earlier, mobs can’t hurt players in creative. Playing in any game type other than peaceful will still spawn the mobs, but they don’t do anything but stare as the players do their thing. Some of the mobs are a bit scary for our 4 year old, so we choose to make sure he doesn’t see them.

Survival Mode

Playing in survival mode is more complex. As I mentioned before, the controls themselves can make this more difficult because players have to jump over obstacles or onto blocks by pressing A each time. Players also have to fight off/slay mobs for loot and hunt animals for food. Survival mode could be more difficult for someone like our son, who may not have properly developed dexterity or coordination. We wanted him to start off simply so that he wouldn’t get discouraged and choose to stop playing before giving it a chance. But if that’s not a concern for you, awesome!

Again, survival mode features mobs, or non-playable characters (NPCs). These creatures can either be passive or hostile. Passive mobs are beings that don’t hurt players. Hostile mobs are, well, hostile. They attack under various circumstances. There are also several other types of mobs: neutral, tamable, utility, bosses, and unused. For more information on the different mobs, read this article.

Survival mode can be set to one of these five gameplay types:

• Peaceful: As described earlier, peaceful mode only spawns passive mobs. None of the other mobs will appear in the world. Great if you’re wanting to help teach coordination through button pushing, etc.
• Easy: Players can’t die from hunger, mobs don’t damage players as much as the other modes, and spider mobs can’t poison players. Easy mode is great for new players. Perfect for people just learning how to play.
• Normal: Players can play with the standard game rules. All mobs spawn. Nothing special.
• Hard: Standard rules, but hostile mobs are more aggressive. Definitely not for newbies.
• Hardcore: Much more difficult than the standard rules. Mobs are extremely aggressive, there’s no respawn for players, and once’s you’re in it, you gotta ride it out. No changing difficulty mid-game. It’s literally ’til death do you part.

Controls

Using the Switch to play Minecraft also means that the buttons are clearly labeled with letters, which is right up our son’s alley. He’s been reading since he was about 2, and knew his alphabet well beforehand. Simply put, he’s an alphabet SME. So seeing letters and familiar shapes (like the house icon) make him even more excited to play.

We prefer handheld gaming for Minecraft. However, this fun game can be played on Windows PC, Mac, Xbox, Playstation, iOS, and Android. For a complete list of console-specific controls, click here. And if you’re planning to play on a phone, my husband highly suggests you invest in a Backbone or something similar. You’ll thank him later. Minecraft is a game that, in our opinion, just plays better with physical buttons instead of a touchscreen.

Benefits

Once our son was introduced Minecraft, he initially didn’t care for it because it was hard for him to understand the controls. My speculation as to why, from my completely non-professional opinion, is because he was having trouble focusing on the controller and the screen at the same time. Similarly to how many autistic people struggle with riding a bike — their attention needs to be split between using their arms to steer the bike, using their body to balance on the bike, using their eyes to watch where they’re going, and their feet to pedal the bike to move. While not falling. All at the same time. And when you break it down, it’s a lot to do, regardless of neurological classification.

But that was the point of getting him into gaming. The goal was to help him with his coordination and help him find ways to split his focus. With time, he did just that. Now his little fingers can control those buttons and joysticks faster than me! He’s still got a ways to go before he can match his dad, though. 🙂

As far as dexterity goes, our son’s seen drastic improvements. He’s able to be more precise in his movements. When he plays Minecraft, his focus is on building structures and occasionally hunting down a pig or cow. I believe, again in my completely non-professional opinion, that the steady movement of building block-by-block in Minecraft has helped him greatly improve his ability to control the joysticks. He went from his movements being jerky and all over the place to being able to make controlled, steady movements. And the little guy’s quick with his builds too!

While we’re still working on getting his coordination together, he’s still playing exclusively in creative. But we hope to move him to Survival soon and just keep him in peaceful so that he doesn’t encounter any hostile mobs. So he would have to craft any materials he wants to use, and of course he can’t fly. But he can still get to play a truer version of Minecraft.

Accessories

Since getting him to play Minecraft regularly, he’s mostly been playing on our OLED Switch, which stays docked to the living room tv. Works perfectly because we can see monitor his activity much more easily than if he were in handheld mode. Since he’s proven than he can (mostly) handle expensive things, he’s allowed to use the Switch Pro Controller. I like that it has large handles for a better grip, and plenty of accessories for protection and customization. There’s also several aftermarket options available that light up and glow, perfect for people who like that added stimulation.

The same options can be said for the other gaming consoles, as well as the PC and Mac variants. Just look around and be careful of who you buy from. In the tech world, price almost always relates directly to quality.

Conclusion

So to wrap things all up because I could talk to y’all about Minecraft all day, our family has seen great benefits from allowing our son to play regularly. The biggest reasons I’ll always recommend Minecraft for auties are:

• Creative mode allows players to play without having to focus on surviving — great for someone who doesn’t understand objectives or task order yet
• Peaceful mode allows players to prevent harmful NPCs from spawning in their world– perfect for someone who has trouble with buttons and coordination
• The game is has no real objective, allowing players to create their own experience as long as they know how to interact with the objects and mobs within the game — perfect for someone who wants to play but doesn’t quite understand directions or objectives yet
• The rules and mechanics are easier to learn, and there are several step-by-step guides online to help players who are lost — perfect for the autism brain because there’s no guesswork
  • Consequences are shown in clear, east-to-digest ways. If you’re bring hurt, you’ll shake. If you hit a mod, the mob will turn red. Eliminated mobs literally poof! away and leave whatever loot they offer
  • Needs are easy to spot. If you’re hungry, your food bar (indicated by a chicken leg, lol) will gradually drop. Your health (depicted as hearts) will deplete as you complete tasks and increase as you eat and sleep.
  • Actions are clear and engaging. As you eat something, the item you’re eating will be shown in your hand, and will show you munching on the item. Crumbs will drop and everything and when you’re done eating it, poof! It’s gone from your hand.
• Multiplayer mode is seamless and a fun way to adventure together, and doesn’t require online play or playing with strangers — perfect for someone who wants to play with someone, without dealing with the unpredictable actions of complete strangers

If you’ve played, share why you love (or don’t love) Minecraft below! Got some awesome tips for gameplay or other ’tism-friendly game suggestions? Share em’!

And as always, please remember: I’m proud of you. Keep going. You’ve got this!

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About the Author

Alexandra is the founder of the ‘Tism Things platform and owner of online business The Shop by ‘Tism Things. A proud stay-at-home wife and mama to two amazing, smart, and empowered littles, Alexandra frequently spends her time learning about autism and ADHD, its effects on families and caregivers, and ways to support individuals with either or both conditions. Driven by her son and husband’s autism and ADHD diagnoses, Alexandra prides herself on employing creative methods to adapt her household into one that welcomes people of all neurological types, aiming to foster a sense of inclusivity, understanding and acceptance among anyone’s path she crosses.

When she’s not in a ’tism rabbit hole on the internet or playing with her babies, she’s likely out shopping, cooking something yummy, helping out her grandparents, or out in the garden trying to keep her plants alive in this Georgia heat. Honestly, probably that last one.