Minecraft is a 16-bit style sandbox game that focuses on building and creating. Players start in randomised worlds that are open and completely explorable from the beginning. The world consists of blocks that can be mined with the appropriate tools and used in your own construction. In survival mode, players have to painstakingly mine their own resources and fight against enemies and supply themselves with food in order not to die. In Creative Mode, all resources can be selected from a menu and there are no survival mechanics to distract from building. A digital manual shows players what materials they need to build different objects. There is no tutorial, so the survival mode can be overwhelming at first. However, there is a huge community of players, so you can get lots of tips on how to play in various YouTube videos. The game can be played alone or together with other players. Minecraft also becomes interesting when it comes to creating collaborative creations, i.e. agreements have to be made. Players can enter into creative exchange processes that motivate and challenge them at the same time. There are many mods that integrate additional game content and graphic changes into the game, as well as special game versions (e.g. Minecraft Education) that are particularly suitable for projects.

Minecraft's greatest learning potential is in creativity. It is a sandbox game in which there are hardly any creative limits for players - from simple wooden houses to entire cities or even programmed calculators, almost anything can be created. This raises the question of the extent to which creative thinking processes can be initiated and promoted in children with and through Minecraft. Within the framework of a field study, we conducted a 3-day project with 10-12 year old pupils in an afternoon group that deals with the basics of PC use, internet protection and a healthy approach to digitalisation. In a first double lesson, the pupils were given the task of designing a house according to their ideas and putting it on paper. In a second double lesson, this house was to be built in Minecraft. In the third double lesson, the conceptualisation, the construction phase and the procedure were reflected upon. Currently, the data material is being evaluated in order to adapt and consolidate the teaching concept. In the lessons, it should then also be about specifically setting creative thinking processes in motion and enabling creative workflow experiences.