Minecraft Can Make You Smarter: Here’s Proof

A 2021 study published in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living Journal explored the potential brain benefits of Minecraft playing. The study found that the game improved the memory ability of the part of the brain called the Hippocampus (1).

According to Taylor Wendt, this weird-sounding cerebral structure is a small curved formation deep in the temporal lobes (WebMD, 2022)

(2). This sensitive area is responsible for memory, learning, and emotion. 

Immersive 3D games like Minecraft improve human memory in young adults, but that’s not all. Good news for the Boomers — the same study found that 4 weeks of playing Minecraft improved 60-80-year-olds so much that it matched the memory of people 15-20 years younger!

Minecraft and Autism 

A small 2024 study led by Dr Abi Thirumanickam from the University of Adelaide’s School of Allied Health Science suggests that Minecraft could help autistic children (University of Adelaide, 2024) (3).

The parents of the test subjects and the children themselves reported improved social skills and expanded social networks after playing Minecraft regularly. 

The results could be attributed to Minecraft’s highly customizable game world. It allows autistic children to explore and create freely in creativity mode without being bogged down by the rules of play of the average video game. 

Markus “Notch” Persson: The Mastermind of Minecraft

Markus “Notch” Persson, a Swedish gaming genius, created the Minecraft prototype in only six days and eventually sold it to Microsoft for a whopping $2.5 billion. Statistica states Minecraft’s earnings rocked $49 million in 2024 (5). 

Markus Persson not only created the game prototype in just six days, but he also didn’t invest a penny in marketing and advertising. The game gained popularity purely through word of mouth and rose to great success.

How a Coding Error Created Minecraft’s Creeper

Hear that “Sssssss?” Anyone who has explored Minecraft’s Survival mode has run into that bizarre green monster bomb called a Creeper. But did you know that Notch’s coding error caused the iconic Creeper? 

According to Robert Guthrie, Markus Persson was trying to create a friendly pig and somehow landed up with the bizarre shape of the Creeper (6). Instead of fixing his error, the team colored the weird creation green, and the Creeper was born!

The Size of Minecraft To Scale Is Mindblowing

According to Robert Earl Wells in a 2022 Lifewire article, one block is equivalent to one real-world meter in the Minecraft game. This means Minecraft has the potential to reach 600 million meters, which is enormous — about five times the diameter of the Earth! (7).

So far, the most ambitious Minecraft project is YouTube creators PippenFTS’s collaborative effort to rebuild the world to scale in the game. COVID-19 derailed the project, but the good news is that it is still underway. 

In 2023, PiffenFTS posted a YouTube video called “What Happened To Building The Earth in Minecraft?” claiming the project is back on track (8). But the sheer scale of the construction means there is no telling when he will.

References

1. Craig E.L. Stark, Gregory D. Clemenson. “ Playing Minecraft Improves Hippocampal-Associated Memory for Details in Middle-Aged Adults.” Researchgate, Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, July 2021. | https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352994780_Playing_Minecraft_Improves_Hippocampal-Associated_Memory_for_Details_in_Middle_Aged_Adults
2. Taylor Wendt. “Hippocampus: What to Know” WebMD, September 2, 2022, | https://www.webmd.com/brain/hippocampus-what-to-know
3. Jessica Stanley. ” Autistic Children the Real Winners From Online Gaming,” University of Adelaide, May 13, 2024. | https://www.adelaide.edu.au/newsroom/news/list/2024/05/13/autistic-children-the-real-winners-from-online-gaming
4. Omar Alawajee, Jonathan Delafield-Butt. “Minecraft in Education Benefits Learning and Social Engagement.” Researchgate, International Journal of Game-Based Learning, 29th September 2021 | https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354532910_Minecraft_in_Education_Benefits_Learning_and_Social_Engagement
5. J. Clement.“Annual mobile revenue generated by Minecraft worldwide from 2015 to 1st half 2024” Statistica, August 19, 2024. | https://www.statista.com/statistics/972711/minecraft-mobile-revenue/
6. Robert Guthrie. “The History Of The Creeper, Minecraft’s Most Infamous Monster.” Kotaku, November 24, 2016. | https://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/11/the-history-of-the-creeper-minecrafts-most-infamous-monster/
7. Robert Earl Wells. “How Big Is a Minecraft World?” Lifewire, January 18, 2022. | https://www.lifewire.com/how-big-is-a-minecraft-world-5212822#:~:text=One+block+in+Minecraft+is,times+the+diameter+of+Earth.
8. PiffinFTS. “What Happened To Building The Earth in Minecraft?” YouTube, May 6, 2023, | What Happened To Building The Earth in Minecraft?