Kickstarting a Masters in Minecraft

When we were scouting potential sites for our European Operations Centre (Dublin, Belfast, Galway, Berlin), we met a lovely gentleman by the name of Mark Naguraski. Mark was one of our hosts in Derry via Invest Northern Ireland.  He was the festival director and CEO of CultureTech at the time, and he is a very good ambassador for Derry and its active and growing digital sector.

Since that time, Mark has put together an amazing opportunity for youth through his company MakeMatic… a Minecraft Mastercourse! His team will teach a variety of cool techniques and tools for creative builders. In honor of their Kickstarter program launch, we had a Q&A with Mark about his passion for the program, Minecraft and youth, and utilizing Kickstarter as a platform.

What inspired the idea for building a design Masterclass for youth using Minecraft?

We’ve done a lot of work with young people over the years and Minecraft has been an amazing engagement tool. Young people are already familiar with Minecraft and love to challenge themselves to create even more amazing creations; this feeds a natural curiosity to learn new skills. Our job is to help young people learn those skills but also make sure that they are transferable. Learning to create 3D models for example is not just a skill that kids can use in Minecraft, it’s something they could use in animation, design and architecture. For a lot of the kids who will take this class, this will be the first time they’ve been exposed to these subjects.

Can you share a bit about your personal experience and viewpoint of Minecraft?

I started working with Minecraft through an annual digital festival that I ran for 4 years. We had invited some Minecraft YouTubers to take part in the event and there were literally lines around the building to get in. Then we started taking it out into schools and saw kids coming in early and staying after class to work on their projects. Ultimately Minecraft is simply an open platform where players can build their own creations – and check out amazing things other players have created. Why it works so well, and why it’s got something like 100M players worldwide, is that you can start with absolutely no knowledge and be building right away. And once you’ve developed your skills there’s no limit to what you can create.

How has your experience been designing the course and using Kickstarter to support and promote it?

Designing the course has really been about collaborating with our tutors. These guys have been building in Minecraft for years and doing it for some of the world’s biggest companies. They’re also passionate teachers and love sharing their skills with other players. It’s been great fun trying to unlock what they know and finding a way that we can get that knowledge to young people through the masterclass videos.

Coding, UI design, and engineering are a few of the platforms that kids can conquer through Minecraft. Can you speak a bit about your experience with students, and how the education and entertainment factors in the game may help propel futures?

We believe that the first step in any learning experience is engagement. If young people want to learn then teaching becomes tremendously easier. We’ve seen that when we’ve used Minecraft in the classroom, at events and in the sample video classes we’ve made. Using Minecraft allows us to put coding, design, 3D modelling and all kinds of other skills in the context of a game young people love, meaning we have engagement from the very start. Learning becomes natural and self-motivated.

What are some of the creative inspirations you drew on as a kid? And what have you seen kids gravitate to most, both in your program and in Minecraft itself?

I’ve always been a bit of an omnivore when it comes to creative inspiration. I love books, museums, movies, music, design, science – anything where people are taking new ideas out of their heads and making them come to life in the real world. I see that same vibe around Minecraft, kids can come up with some of the most amazing and unexpected ideas – Minecraft helps them turn those crazy ideas into something real. That’s the whole point of what we’re trying to do.

Why do you think Minecraft draws such a diverse range of fans?

Minecraft offers something for players at all skill levels. If you’ve never played the game before there’s a real sense of achievement in building that first mud house. And if you’ve been honing your skills for years, you’re constantly challenging yourself to create even bigger and better builds.

We’re so excited for Mark and the Minecraft course. If you’re interested in learning more about the program, please enjoy this voice (or click this link to visit the Kickstarter page).

Izzy Neis
Director of Engagement & Strategy