Skyblock
Minecraft minigame
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Skyblock is a downloadable world and minigame in the sandbox video game Minecraft. The original world consists of a small island floating in the air, on which a player must survive on with limited resources.[1][2][3] It was originally created by a user named Noobcrew,[4][5] who published the official version of the map to the Minecraft Forum on September 4, 2011.[6]
Being one of the first pieces of user-generated content for Minecraft, Skyblock has become iconic and has been used on various Minecraft servers.[7][8] It has also inspired various Minecraft mods and maps,[9] as well as derivative game modes for other games.[10][11]
Gameplay
In the original Skyblock, the player spawns on a tiny L-shaped grassy island suspended in the sky, populated with just one oak tree and a lone chest. The chest contains a limited amount of materials that must be strategically used with the main goal of surviving, expanding the island, completing challenges,[12] obtaining food, and continuing to stay alive. Depending on the version selected, an additional sand island, access to the Nether, or the materials in the chest may differ, which can ultimately change the objectives a player can achieve. There is typically no end goal with Skyblock.[13]
History
According to skyblock.net, Skyblock and all of its original versions have been downloaded over 12.3 million times.[14] Since the release of the map, various YouTubers have made videos about the map, which greatly increased its popularity.[15]
Skyblock has its own official Minecraft server.[8][16] Variations of Skyblock have also been created on several Minecraft servers, such as Hypixel,[17] the most popular server in the game.[18] Hypixel's SkyBlock minigame was released on June 11, 2019. It differs from traditional Skyblock in that players still start out on their own islands, but a lot of the gameplay takes place on public islands which are also floating in the sky.[19] The Stranded game mode offers an experience closer to traditional Skyblock, but still having unique items, mobs, and mechanics.[20] However, this game mode is considered end of life and is no longer under active development.[21]
Adaptations
Minigames similar to Skyblock have been created in other video games, such as Terraria,[22] Roblox[23][24] and Fortnite.[11]
Various user-made Skyblock-style maps were created for Terraria.[22] In August 2023, Re-Logic announced in a blog post that a Skyblock mode will be officially added into the game in the form of a map seed.[25] Lead developer Andrew "Redigit" Spinks stated that he has spent a lot of time working on the seed to ensure that it isn't "as hardcore and grindy" as the community maps.[26][27]