Two Apes in Iowa Were Taught to Play Minecraft
Researchers often use games for enrichment and to study learning.
Two apes in Iowa were taught to play Minecraft, the block building game where players explore, gather materials and build things.
The teaching was done by the Ape Cognition and Conservation Initiative, a research center in Des Moines that studies ape intelligence.
The apes were taught, and no details of the lessons or results were reported.
In general, researchers use touchscreen games as enrichment to keep apes mentally active.
Games like these can also show how apes understand symbols, numbers and cause and effect, but no results were reported for this Minecraft training.
Questions people ask
How big is Minecraft?
Minecraft is one of the best selling video games ever, with hundreds of millions of copies sold. Its open design, with no fixed way to win, has helped it spread to schools, museums and research settings.
What else was happening with Minecraft around that time?
In June 2025, Minecraft released the MLB Fan Cave add-on by Pathway Studios, which lets players decorate homes with gear from all 30 baseball teams. Around the same time, A Minecraft Movie made just over $800 million worldwide.