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Marc Watson
Written By
Marc Watson
Published
6/30/17

New on Realms: Above and Beyond

Our biggest update ever takes to the skies!

Realms aficionados, rejoice!

Every few weeks, we lovingly package up new maps, minigames and experiences made by the community, and make them freely available to Minecraft players on the Java Edition of Realms. We've been a little quiet recently - but only because we were busy preparing the biggest Java Realms update ever!

We've got amazing adventures, perplexing puzzles, baroque boardgames, manic minigames and many other things that just won't alliterate no matter how many thesauruses I check. It's probably the most diverse update we've ever done, as well as the biggest, and it's fitting that its contributors span veteran Realms creators and neophytes alike.

Friends, enemies, parents or pets: we think that this update has something for everyone.

Untold Stories 4: Corona Trials

by RenderXR

Corona Trials is huge. A few hours into reviewing this map and I had to switch to flying through in creative/spectator modes, with Let's Play videos on my other screen, in order to get through the whole thing! For those unfamiliar with the Complete The Monument genre, Corona Trials’ challenge is to travel to progressively difficult areas of the map, grabbing different wool blocks, returning them to your home area and slotting them into the spaces which await them there. We’re thrilled that a mapmaker has sent in a fantastic CTM map, and hope this encourages others in the future!

Shulker Rush

by MineMakers Team

The Minemakers Team returns to prove once again that they are masters of combat minigames that take place in the sky! In this variant, you’ll have to employ a variety of land and airborne strategies to locate and destroy the enemy team’s shulker. This map is perfect for competitive PvPers, and we think that this map has a ton of replayability, as crafters devise new, brilliant strategies for getting to the other team’s base.

Control

by Plagiatus, dragonmaster95, Etex, and Tomhelduf

“This is the greatest Elytra board game I’ve ever played.” - Moesh

“My favorite feature was crushing my enemies and hearing the lamentations of their characters.” - Marc

Control is a Minecraft boardgame that makes you forget that you’re playing Minecraft. Your goal is to take over all of your opponent’s pieces before they consume yours. Each round has two phases: first, you can spread out or take over other spaces; then, you get to increase the height of your game pieces based on how many spaces you control. Spreading out earns you lots of resources, but can make you vulnerable to a rapid takeover. Consolidating your forces can make those spaces stronger, but you’ll eventually be out-spent and out-built by the end of the game. Oh, yes, and there’s a full elytra race course for you in the lobby, designed to help you kill time while you gather your friends for the next round.

Castle Collection

by MCNoodlor

MCNoodlor’s last map, ChunkWorld, kicked off a whole new category of Minecraft maps. Now he returns with a follow-up in his trademark style, this time with a series of his diverse castle designs. Replicate one of the castles as a whole, or let elements from each of them inspire your next creation in your survival world.

Space Wars

by Mapmakers from Space

Quick rounds and spacey powers are what Space Wars is all about. Drop into the level, grab your powerups, then join the free-for-all! Players start with a laser sword for up close attacks, but can pick up additional items like the bridge-creating particle enlarger, or ammo for your planetoid-destroying energy gun. Space is a vast and dangerous place, so keep in mind that if you fall away from the play area, you’ll be lost forever! Or at least until the next round.

Puzzles & Powers

by PingiPuck and Master_Nati

Flying over this map in creative mode, you wouldn’t think that there’s a lot to it. You need to travel in a straight line through several doors, and then you’re done. Simple, right? Once you’ve started the game, you begin to realize just how densely-packed the levels are. Using the powerups to run faster and jump higher is important, but it’s easy to get stumped if you’re just looking forward. Don’t be afraid to backtrack through this challenging puzzle map!

Duel TNT

by ChainsawNinja

This isn’t your granddaddy’s Spleef; this is enhanced with explosions! In a normal game of Spleef, players remove one piece of wool at a time, hoping that distracted players will fall into the hole. But why approach the play area in such a quaint and polite way? Just blow it all up! It’s a great stress relief.

Arena Rumble

by Archee, pdungey, pollieboy, and Synthestra

Arena Rumble is a combat minigame about decisions. Players start across the level from each other, but they’re still within running distance. You could rush your opponent, or you could wait for the first round of chests to open, giving you access to needed weapons and items. Do you attack then? Or do you sneak around cautiously, avoiding combat and waiting for the second wave of more valuable chests to open? Whatever you decide, make sure that you’re the last one standing!

A Knight’s Tale

by LetzTaco

The king slime has taken over your village and made off with the local royalty! Defeat slime monsters in slimy levels to get the kingdom out of a sticky situation. Complete your quest and be hailed as the hero throughout the land.

Simple Checkers

by Code__

My first introduction to checkers was in kindergarten, where a lack of understanding of the rules and frustration with other children reportedly led to my first table flip. My second introduction to checkers was playing with my baby sister, who used questionably-legal moves such as the “butterfly jump”, allowing her to take several of my pieces at once. Simple Checkers won’t allow you to do either of these things, but it’s a darn good checkers minigame.

Blast Off

by NeoMc and iWacky

Most minigames don’t let you totally destroy the arena, but that’s what happens quickly in Blast Off. Armed with a surprising amount of firepower, your goal is to knock your opponents out of the arena. You can accomplish this with traditional knockback weapons… or just blow up the part of the map they’re standing on. The more players you have, the crazier the rounds become!

The Witch

by LetzTaco

You and your band of adventuring friends find yourself on a mission to a small town, nestled in the centre of a spruce forest. A witch has been terrorizing the small town, and the mayor wants you to do something about it! You’ll be in town for a while, so it’s best to get started meeting the townsfolk and learning more about the area before you employ your best detective skills. Turn the music up: this one has a custom soundtrack!

Colors

by CommanderRedstone

If you’re familiar with CommanderRedstone’s previous creation, Gray, this map will feel familiar to you. Colors is a worthy successor to Gray, as its predecessor’s gameplay has been upgraded with new features that take advantage of the bright-hues. Dip your game piece into a red pool and all of the blocks you cross are now red! You’ve got to color all of the spaces in a minimal amount of moves, so think ahead and move wisely.

Palette Paint

by hgbf and Archee

At first glance, we weren’t sure what to do with this map. You enter one of five areas, each a mostly blank canvas. Tools let us paint or edit the terrain. And then… we can fly? And all of our friends can throw rainbow paintballs? It became clear that we could do mostly anything we wanted, from (poorly-drawn) caricatures of our friends, to creating elytra courses. Minecraft usually allows you to create however you’d like, but Palette Paint nudges you in a specific direction, creating an experience that we played for fun, long past the end of our review.

And we're not even finished! Good gravy!

In addition to these newly-added creations, the following older maps are 1.12 compatible, and are on Realms now:

TNT Run, Memory Battle, SunBurn Phoenix, 3D Minesweeper, Don’t Go Insane, The Present Factory, Blocked In Combat, Makers Spleef, Where Next, Clambering Cubes, Ludo, Imperium, Gray, Herobrine’s Mansion, The Dornenstein Estate, Unsighted Shadow, Western Dodge, Negentropy, Makers Punch, Logic&Elves, Ice Wars, Battle of Gods, Redstonia, Big Giant Lightshow, Carrot Catcher, Elytron, Sky Desert Challenge, Palette Slam, Monster Kids, Albert AI, ChunkWorld, Chunk Runner, Fortress Frenzy 2

OK, that's it. For now.

We know Java Realms users have been hungry for more minigames, adventures, and new experiences, so we’re very happy to be able to publish so many new creations all at once. With the release of the World of Color update, now’s the perfect time to hop back in and see the new features that these creations take advantage of.

To learn about loading this and other content into Java Realms for your PC, visit our help site. If you haven't yet tried Realms for yourself, you'll have a blue diamond on the Minecraft Realms button, located on the main screen of Minecraft: Java Edition. Click it, then follow the instructions to try Realms free for 30 days.

We’d love to get your feedback on Realms maps. Are they fun? Do you play them occasionally, or eagerly await new releases? Which is your favourite? If you have comments, please reach out to me or any of the mapmakers; we want to know what you’re thinking.

Happy Minecrafting!

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