The Advanced Strategy Guide to Minecraft

Book meets expectations.

Recipient loves it! Though many other books have been read by the recipient, new information is being found in this book! Thanks!

Let me get this out of the way: I Minecraft on xBox One and my iPad.So it turns out that IF that's the case, this book may not be what you're looking for.There are a good number of coding tricks and tips that I couldn't do on either of those platforms.That said, as I moved through the book looking for things I could translate into these other platforms (if you're patient and a true builder of worlds) you can probably get some interesting insights.I have yet to figure out if I can automate farming or other production on these platforms, but based on what I watch my 6yo and 8yo do, I think I might have the tools to get there.The one piece of advice that I impressed the kids with was making a light randomizer using pressure plates, pigs, redstone (and cubes) and a glass cage for the pigs. In order to do this I had to work off the image in the book because it doesn't actually spell out directions. If you're looking for step by step, this isn't the book for you. I used other images to inform some others tips I tried including running redstone up walls to connect lights to pressure plates. I hadn't seen my kiddos do THIS yet (though they have an very impressive array of skills with switches, buttons, and pressure plates) so I wasn't sure how obvious it might be to other casual users.The ADVANCED in the title really means "I, as the author, am making the basic assumption that you, my reader, know the terminology I'm using and have already figured out many of the foundational elements of crafting so I will not hold your hand." This is not meant for readers under the late middle school years.When I went back to the specs (and looked in the book), I really couldn't find anything that says "Don't buy this if you're looking for pocket edition or xbox edition strategies". As I said, it really isn't geared for that, but SOME of the content is transferable.Of course my son is BEGGING me to download the computer version so he can record and vlog his Minecraft experience...and this book does tell you how to do that. Though, since he's only nearly 6yo, we didn't go down that path.In general, I think this book might be frustrating to some who are look for quick tips across platforms, but for the advance user perhaps they would really love it.

My kids really enjoyed this book. My fourteen year old took many of the specific examples in the book for automating farming and used them as tutorials to create systems that he really enjoyed showing off to me. My nine year old seemed to have liked flipping through the book but did not seem to get as much take away information from it. So it seems to be a better book for the older children.They both read it while on a long road trip and used their iPads to test out some of the concepts, but said that the book went beyond the limited capabilities of the mobile Minecraft app, so many things were not tested until we got home and they could use the full PC version. So This also seems to be a fairly in depth book that needs the full version to fully appreciate.We worked together to install a couple of Mods that were suggested in the book which seem to have expanded their enjoyment of the game. when I asked them, both said this is easily a 5 star book, which comes straight from the expert enthusiasts' mouths. Personally, I couldn't be happier because it passed many hours on a 13 hour drive. So 5 stars from me too!

This is a very thorough and readable book on advanced Minecraft topics such as:- Mods. Custom server and client settings to extend the basic Minecraft functionality.- Automation and mechanisms. - Automatic produce farms - Mining and Automatic Ore Generators - Traps, defense, and mob farms. - IndustrialCraft, RailCraft, and BuildCraft, all mods that add features. - Creating your own adventure game within minecraft.If you want to dive into these sorts of advanced Minecraft topics, this author is well-regarded on the subject, having published some top-rated minecraft books. We found the book to be dense with information, but easy to read and follow.Highly Recommended.

Most game guides leave me shaking my head, I mean most of them are just rephrasing of the manual or less information than a simple search can reveal. So, I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It starts with a quick setup chapter and then jumps right into some interesting structures for farming. From there it provides useful information with screenshots aplenty. I'm sure the information is available elsewhere, but the book is nicely laid out, contains substantive information and is handy to have around. It mentions 1.9 but without enough to make it more than a gimmick to lure you in so I knock it a star for that. Otherwise, I can say this is one of the few guides I found useful. Good book.

Our family has only played Minecraft on a basic level, playing with the game as it is loaded on the XBox. I've had family friends talk about adding mods, and extras from external sources, and honestly, was really really confused by it. The book does go over what they are and how to use them which was really helpful.We are still using the book as a resource, as well as a few other books that talk about how to build specific things. I see us being able to use it until we are more advanced in game play, then I see us able to move on to more advanced things.I love the sections that talk about ways to make items for the game that help you do specific things.

The book was a bit to hard for 6 year old minecraft lover, so I had to read it for him. The teenager said he didn't find anything new in the book. There is a lot more in the book than in the simple four tome minecraft book for kids that is sold everywhere, and it uses much more advanced building techniques, but, again, the teenager said he figured out most of the stuff in the book long ago. I like that the books gives some room to grow for the 6 year old. His favorite was the chapter on pixel art, that is his favorite thing to do in minecraft currently. The main question remains - why did they put non-minecraft picture on the cover?!