Seattle's Child

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weekend picks: poster from "MInecraft: the Exhibition"

You can catch "Minecraft: The Exhibition" at the reopened MoPop

Block out some time! ‘Minecraft: The Exhibition’ is headed to MoPOP

A 3D, life-size walk through of the wildly popular Minecraft universe is coming to Seattle.

Is your kid sitting down? “Minecraft: The Exhibition” is creeping up soon at MoPOP to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the wildly popular video game.

We’ve seen the future: It’s green, brown and grey — and made out of blocks.

The exhibit will take up about 6,000 square feet of space at MoPOP, making it one of the biggest shows the Seattle Center museum has held. This three-dimensional, life-size walk through the Minecraft universe will feature the signature somber but neutral music — and giant figures, a world of Minecraft textures and colors, a made-for-real-life crafting table and many gaming stations.

The show is designed for all ages, and for players and non-players alike. Multiple film exhibits with the game’s designers will explore the creative thought mode that went into making this worldwide gaming phenomenon.

But what is the actual Minecraft video game all about, anyway? People can play in either survival mode or creative mode, and the latter choice, which seems to involve building and crafting and require a lot of redstone and iron, is usually what gets Seattle-area parents hooked on letting littler kids try a little screen time. (And there are a lot of fans here.)

Survival mode is a little dicier, and can result in players getting killed if they are not really careful about mobs and creepers overnight. Make a bed. Fence in your sheep! Fun fact: This exhibit, like the game, will include a day-night lighting cycle.

Back in 2013, I recall being begged by a child to put the app on my smartphone. That now eighth-grader is going strong with Minecraft again, after a brief foray into games that aren’t nearly as feel-good for parents and grandparents, like Fortnite.

He and his friends like to play online together at night now, and I can say I’m quite glad it’s not, say, Grand Theft Auto. And apparently these teens are just among millions of people around the world building their own global Minecraft diaspora. “We wanted to bring Minecraft to life in the museum to explore it more deeply, celebrate its community, and share this important phenomenon with the world,” said Brooks Peck, senior curator at MoPOP.

The exhibit will feature life-size creations from the best-selling game in history, including 15 colossal characters — including a Creeper and an Enderman — and blocks galore. It’s created for all ages, so parents can enjoy themselves too — and will likely not need to switch into their own survival modes.

Tickets for the show, the exhibit’s world premiere, went on sale Sept. 17 and can be purchased at at MoPOP.org/Minecraft if you want to avoid a mob at the ticket counter.

The exhibit will run until from Oct. 19 until September 7, 2020.

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About the Author

Jillian O'Connor

Jillian O’Connor lives in Seattle with her husband, two sons and a dog named after the Loch Ness Monster.