Minecraft: Guide to Creative Review

February 26, 2019 at 3:50am
By Jason Stettner

I've been working through a number of Minecraft guide books and this Creative one certainly peaked my interest. In the game, Creative is where you just get to build without limitations. This is something I thought might be hard to transfer over into a written format. It actually works quite well, presenting some interesting things and then getting a bit odd. To start, the book is split into three unique areas; Planning, Decoration and Building. The first chapter is rather incredible as it goes over color combinations, creations and general design.

These are areas I struggle with in the game as I build simplistic housing, I usually let architects handle the building aspects for me. You really will get some creative ideas there, and this is simply well done. The Decoration chapter offers some unique insights into creative elements to add into houses. Neat ways to mimic real objects, it doesn't go into much depth however on how to build them. There's a really in-depth segment on banner creation which is neat. The final chapter is about building structures. While that's cool, I didn't find much purpose in this as they were so specific.

The book is cleanly presented with a white and light yellow color theme. You can tell its Minecraft based, but it comes across as more of a professional offering. The pages are precise, typically offering an image and then small written blurbs around them. There are highlight tips and other little facts placed throughout. It's generally presented in a simple, and streamlined formula.

There's not as much depth in this guide in comparison to the others. It's more of a light look at things. It does give clear instructions for block and color coordinations, but it could have went further in some areas. You will definitely have a better grasp on designs for houses after going through this, that's for sure.

The Conclusion

The Minecraft: Guide to Creative book is a decent look at coordinating builds, but it could have went further for ideas. This will help you learn about structures, and building some more distinct housing. I felt the third chapter didn't offer much, but the first two are excellent. I really loved the design for a light switch with redstone and the color coordinating will provide helpful in the future.

The tips are well done, but generally I felt the explanations could have carried more depth. They had some really neat fixtures for the home, but these were small images with a brief description. Some of the younger audience my have issues following this guidance. In general, I don't believe the concepts were too difficult for anyone to understand, yet this does feel aimed at someone more experienced at the game that's looking to take their skills further.

Minecraft: Guide to Creative Book Review (Guide Collection)
Author: Craig Jelley
ISBN: 9781984818348
Review Copy Provided by Penguin Random House Canada

Rating Overall: 6.8