Microsoft, is trying to “schoolify” Minecraft, the wildly popular world-building game. The latest idea, Litcraft, lets kids build models of fictional islands, reports Alison Flood and Sian Cain in The Guardian. Treasure Island is the first.
While regular Minecraft is rife with literary creations – the whole of George RR Martin’s sprawling setting for Game of Thrones, Westeros, has been created in its entirety, as have several different Hogwarts – Litcraft is not all fun and games, being peppered with educational tasks that aim to re-engage reluctant readers with the book it is based on.
“In games, you can explore,” said Dylan, a nine-year-old who tested Treasure Island. “Now I know exactly what the book looked like. . . . I like that you get to see the pictures. You don’t have to make them in your head.”
My daughter, an eager reader, disliked movies of her favorite books. She liked to visualize the characters and settings for herself.