If you’re like me, you’ve spent months (maybe it’s even been over a year) for Minecraft Earth to come out. As Minecraft’s answer to Pokémon Go and Jurassic Park Alive, it has had a lot of hype for a mobile game that’s not a port. Well folks, the long wait is over, as Minecraft Earth has officially released in Early Access.
Minecraft Gets The Pokémon Go Treatment
Pokémon Go took an iconic game series beloved by both children and adults alike, and combined it with augmented reality and physical activity. Instead of catching Pokémon in a fictional world by pressing buttons, Pokémon Go brought pocket monsters into your own neighborhood, and to catch them you had to physically walk over to them (and then you had to press buttons, or at least a screen). In other words, Pokémon Go was an opportunity for gamers to get off their couches and get some physical activity in while also becoming more familiar with their neighborhood and maybe even the people around them.
Similarly, with Minecraft Earth, the mechanics and gameplay of Minecraft are integrated into the world you live in in a way that encourages physical activity.
Minecraft Android (Pocket Edition) Is Still Better
I poked around a bit in Minecraft Earth, and so far it seems like a fun distraction. I can gather materials like wood, sand, and cobblestone right from my apartment, and it looks like there’s a bunch of stuff nearby too. It also looks like there are “adventures” nearby, but the one closest to me is currently just outside of my range, and I’m too lazy to go outside to check it out myself (give me a break, it’s cold). In other words, if you’ve played Pokémon Go, nothing about Minecraft Earth will seem too out of place.
Unfortunately, it is still a mobile game. You can smelt sand into glass, but it’ll take much longer than it would in Minecraft itself, and I assume you can pay real money to speed up this crafting. On top of that, you get some buildplates (think of them like model sets) for free, but you can pay for other ones. Altogether, it doesn’t seem like Minecraft Earth is totally gonna break out of the mobile game mold, which is a shame. I would recommend just getting Minecraft for your smartphone if you want to play on the go, since it’s a much fuller experience.
Still, if you already have Minecraft on your phone or you want a more active version of the game, give Minecraft Earth a try. I mean, it is free. Happy playing!
Download Minecraft Earth for iPhone or Android for free
