The World Premiere of Minecraft: the Exhibition at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture at Seattle Center

First of all, how cool is it that Seattle has a Museum of Pop Culture? In all of our travels, I haven’t yet seen any other place quite like this anywhere in the world. The MoPOP celebrates creativity, connection and culture and it is one of my favorite places to hang out in Seattle with my family or when we have guests. It is only fitting that the MoPop would be where the World Premiere of Minecraft: the Exhibition would happen. And it is only fitting that this kind of exhibit would be created here in Seattle too.

The Museum of Pop Culture’s mission is to make creative expression a life-changing force by offering experiences that inspire and connect our communities.

https://www.mopop.org//about-mopop/mission/

Early beginnings of Minecraft: the Exhibition

I was invited on a press tour to check out Minecraft: the Exhibition before it opened to the public and I learned that just like good coffee in Seattle, good ideas need to percolate. Apparently the idea for this exhibit began 4-5 years ago when curators at Seattle MoPop started to dream up a Minecraft experience that would help players and non-players of all ages immerse themselves in the world of a game that has now become the best-selling video game of all time. The opening of Minecraft: the Exhibition coincides with Minecraft’s 10 year anniversary and I can’t believe this game has been around this long. Can you believe how popular this game is?

What to expect at Minecraft: the Exhibition at the Museum of Pop Culture

Because I have two 11-year old boys I have a total love/hate relationship with Minecraft and maybe you do too. They can spend hours playing it, imagining it, drawing it, breathing it and fighting over it. And Minecraft has been a part of so many of their days.

As I entered the exhibit and into a world that resembled everything I’ve seen on the screens my kids play on, I realized that I haven’t given this game a fair chance. I could recognize things like the llama, the wolf and the pixelated paintings. Words like ‘crafting table” and “creeper” hinted at a language I could sort of understand from our dinner table conversations. Even the lights in the exhibit were little torch replicas of the ones my kids have shown me in the game and it suddenly felt like I could see everything my kids have been seeing all along. This game is more than just a game-it is part of all our lives.

How much time will I need at the Seattle Minecraft exhibit and how long will it be at the Museum?

Minecraft: the Exhibition takes up about 6000 square feet of floor space at the MoPop but don’t forget to look up too. There are details even in the sky-like a Phantom that is hung from the ceiling in one room. Even the music that you hear while you walk through the exhibit is a Minecraft score. Someone on our tour commented that Minecraft music is so soothing that it makes great background music and this made me think I should figure out how to download it for when the kids are doing their homework.

We went at a quick pace and there was enough to see for at least a 30 minute visit. But there were no crowds and I didn’t spend any time playing any games. I could have also spent way more time taking selfies with all the Minecraft paraphernalia but no one else on my tour was doing that so I refrained.

There is an area with Xbox controllers, computers and other devices loaded with various Minecraft tasks that I know will become a time-stopping vortex for my family. So I will know more about how long a visit will actually take when I bring my kids next week. They can spend hours in another area of the MoPop that has video games so I can only imagine they will want to spend as much time as possible in the Seattle Minecraft exhibit too. It runs until September 2020 and while I anticipate the exhibit to be very busy on the World Premiere weekend, I’m sure there will be quieter days in between now and the end of the exhibit’s time in Seattle for sure. It also costs a little extra to go to Minecraft: the Exhibition on top of a regular visit so after the first couple months it might be less busy as well.

How to Save Money at Minecraft: the exhibition

The easiest way to save money at Minecraft: the Exhibition is to buy a family membership at the MoPop. For $139 you can get entry to the regular exhibits for the whole family for the year as well as 4 free guests passes and the Minecraft exhibit is only a 6 dollar extra cost per grownup member each visit while members under 17 get in free. The Minecraft Exhibition will be here until September 2020 so that gives ample time if you want to go again and again.

After just showing my kids pictures from my visit (we will be going together next week) they have already declared that we will go weekly. The MoPop membership includes discounts to the Living Computer Museum + Labs which is another favorite in our family. And if you get your Membership before October 20th I noticed there is a member morning with coffee and bagels that starts at 8am that day where you don’t have to pay any special exhibit fees until 10am too.

Will there be Minecraft themed food in Seattle?

Will someone please make Minecraft themed food in Seattle? Like maybe a Minecraft tea that my guys can bring me to on Mother’s Day or a Minecraft bento we can enjoy together when we go out for a meal? When the Hello Kitty exhibit was at the MoPOP a few years ago, there were some restaurants that had cool Hello Kitty themed meals around the city and it was fun to try and visit them and see what they were making. Rumor has it that a wizard themed bar and wand shop just popped up in Seattle, so I know you just have to dream it and maybe your wishes in this city might come true.

Do you or your kids play Minecraft ? And can you believe it’s been around for 10 years?

PS….

(PS. If you want to see more of what the exhibit looks like, I included a few more videos/photos in my instagram highlights that you can check out but I thought I’d leave as much to your imagination as possible just in case you just want to go and experience it for yourself. The Minecraft exhibit was only temporary so has since moved on like the Disney costumes exhibit and the HelloKitty exhibit, but hopefully one day they’ll be back to Seattle.)

(PPS. I combined my visit with a ride on the Monorail to Westlake Center where I had a green tea drink that had a background that unintentionally complemented the Minecraft theme of the day.

Terumi

Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys.  She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live.  She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)