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Minecraft is occasionally regarded as a creative way for children to keep themselves entertained, allowing them to build fantastic worlds and let their imagination run wild in a fun environment.

But psychologists have warned that playing the game is actually inhibiting the imagination of children, and encourages 'labour' over 'love'.

Research suggests that putting children into such 'structured' play time can affect their development - and parents need to give them more free time to let their imagination run wild.

A New York-based study says kids need more unstructured entertainment. It says giving children access to games and TV can inhibit their development of social skills. The study says games like Minecraft (shown) ultimately encourages 'labour' and monotonous tasks over 'love' and having fun

In an article on Quartz, Jun Lee from New York-based ReD Associates and Robert Pasin from Radio Flyer explained that Minecraft can discourage imagination in children.

'In Minecraft, kids can build and explore new worlds and manipulate them with unprecedented control and precision,' they write.

What is Minecraft? Watch the trailer and find out more

'The underlying creativity is baked into the program - the combinations, tools and materials - so the players have only one task to complete: design ever more complex structures.'

'Though this seems like the pinnacle of an imaginative play experience, the kids we studied said they felt "edgy" and "irritable" after Minecraft sessions.'

They continued that the game, once kids have mastered it, becomes 'less about open-ended play and more about working to complete the never-ending stacks of buildings.'

What their study says is that children play the game simply to eat up time and alleviate boredom, rather than finding more imaginative ways to stimulate themselves such as playing outside or inventing their own make-believe games.

They say that children must be given more opportunities to have 'unstructured' play time at an early age away from video games and television, so that they learn the skills to overcome frustration.

Otherwise, as found in their study, they will become irritable and confused when presented with free time, which can apparently lead to difficulties interacting with other children.

What their study suggests is that children play the game simply to eat up time and alleviate boredom, rather finding more imaginative ways to stimulate themselves (stock image shown) such as playing outside or inventing their own make-believe games

Speaking to MailOnline, child health education specialist Dr Aric Sigman from East Sussex agreed that there is concern at the amount of time children of a young age are spent in front of a computer or television.

He explained that in these scenarios, children are increasingly told how have to have fun, rather than come up with ideas themselves.

In order to properly develop their social skills with others, he says that it is imperative that children are allowed to become bored with no easy form of entertainment.

'Children really must be given the gift of boredom,' he said.

'Boredom and under-stimulation are two fears of modern aspirational parents, and this is a terrible misnomer.

'It is absolutely necessary for children to become bored so they can learn early on how to stimulate themselves, and how to seek stimulation.'

He suggests that children under the age of three should not be encouraged to use television or computers at all, to allow their brains to benefit from free time.

At higher ages he says brief exposure if okay but it is 'all about the amount' and parents should monitor closely the time they spend in front of a screen.