Here’s how to play the new Adventures in Minecraft Earth

Minecraft Earth has undergone quite a few changes since its initial rollout to a select few testers, and continues to evolve as time goes on. A few weeks back, the interactive “quests” known as Adventures got a fresh coat of paint in an update, and now Mojang is making it even easier to play from home. For the people still playing the game, Adventures can still be tricky, for people trying out the new social distancing-friendly features, Adventures can be nearly impossible.

Here’s what you need to know to master them.

How do I master Adventures in Minecraft Earth?

Adventures previously were a little difficult to find. They spawned sporadically, and were only available for a maximum of ten minutes before they vanished into the void. Now with the introduction of Adventure Crystals, players can spawn an Adventure right on top of them, making them a lot more accessible. All players are given one Adventure Crystal for free daily, but you can also find more in chests. With these changes, you can now play Adventures at home, where the time limit isn’t as much of a concern. Let’s start with placing them down.

Minecraft Earth relies more heavily on AR even than comparable titles like Pokemon Go, which Earth takes heavy inspiration from. Unlike Pokemon Go, which lets you forgo the AR features if you desire, Adventures require your device’s camera. This means you’ll want to check a couple of things before you play:

• Make sure you have plenty of light. Daytime is best, but if you’re playing at night make sure your environment is very well-lit. Darker play spaces may lead to Minecraft Earth not being able to track the Adventure properly, and it could slide all over the place, or not show up at all.
• Make sure you have plenty of space. Adventures may have you move around quite a bit, so you’ll want to have some space to play in. If you’re playing indoors, be mindful of furniture and other obstacles. I recommend playing outside, if you have a yard or nearby park, as long as you’re mindful of other people.
• Make sure your device is charged up. Just like Pokemon Go, Minecraft Earth can be quite the drain on your phone’s battery. GPS tracking, high brightness, camera usage, and just running a game, in general, all lead to an empty battery.
• Don’t wait around. Even the Adventures generated from Adventure Crystals only stick around for a maximum of ten minutes, so only spawn it when you’re ready.

Once you know where to play, there’s a few things you’ll want to do to make sure you’re prepared. Adventures can lead to you running into hostile mobs like zombies, and also mean you’ll need to collect resources using various tools.

• Weapons. You need to at least have one sword in your inventory, preferably of stone quality or higher.
• Tools. Various tools like axes, shovels, and pickaxes all work similarly to vanilla Minecraft, so they might be useful to have around. Most things you can get with your hands if you’re okay with taking longer, but you need to at least have a pickaxe for harder resources. Again, I recommend a minimum of stone.
• Food. No armor or shields in Minecraft Earth means a fight can very quickly turn deadly. Make sure you have some food to heal up if you need to. You only get one life, or you lose everything on you.

Exploring the Adventure

When you first open an Adventure to play it, you’ll see your hot bar down at the bottom. These are the items and tools you can bring with you on the Adventure. Make sure you have a variety of tools in good condition, as well as some food to heal up if you need to. If you need to conserve space, make sure you at least bring a sword and a pickaxe. Stone is the minimum I’d recommend (if all you have is wood, it might be best to avoid Adventures for a little longer,) but iron will ensure you won’t miss out on even the most valuable of loot.

Once you load up the adventure, you’ll need to select a location to place it. This is where your well-lit, open space comes into play. Once it’s placed down, you’re free to explore the area as much as you want. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• You have the freedom to move around within the Adventure, with limits. You can walk around in the real world and explore the Adventure, but this is strictly horizontal. You won’t be able to walk over blocks, or go underground.
• Items and blocks won’t leave the boundaries of the Adventure, but mobs can. Adventures have set borders, and nothing will generate outside of them. Underground, these borders are lined with bedrock, so you can’t try anything funny. However, mobs can and will wander a little bit outside of the borders, so keep an eye out for livestock—and baddies.
• Adventures have underground areas. You may not be able to see it at first, and may have to clear some stuff out, but Adventures do have underground areas. This is where you’ll find the loot, like valuable ore and even chests, occasionally.
• You can explore these underground areas, to an extent. Like mentioned previously, you can’t go underground. However, the magic of AR is that it is fully three-dimensional, so you can crouch, lean, and pivot your way around to get all the valuables.
• Be wary of colorful chests. Colorful chests are usually the “big reward” behind Adventures, but they also usually signal the beginning of a fight. When you see one, make sure you’re prepared for a battle before opening it.

Combat

Combat is simultaneously tricky and easy in Minecraft Earth. It is easier to engage with your foes, and it’s easier to move around if you’re in an open area. However, the lack of armor or real protection means you have to be cautious and quick, or risk being taken down instantly. If you die in an Adventure, that’s it. Your loot is gone, and you don’t get another chance. Here’s how you can fight for survival:

• Stay mobile. It may seem like a simple suggestion, but when you are the main character, physically moving around to avoid a zombie may slip your mind. Move around the area, and be careful not to let your enemies get too close to you.
• Use your reach to your advantage. Swords and axes have a lot more range in Earth than vanilla Minecraft, so you can dish out damage from a decent range.
• Use the terrain. With no armor to defend you, you need to be clever. Use the terrain in the Adventure to help you out. You’re not obstructed by blocks, but your enemies are. You can even go so far as placing down the very blocks you mined up to halt them in their tracks.
• Don’t be afraid to back off. Hostile mobs can only follow you so far outside the range of the Adventure. If you need to, retreat to eat some food and heal up. Your health is limited, so you’re only ever a few hits away from defeat.

Go explore

Minecraft Earth may be far from perfect, but the latest changes haven’t been all bad, making the game more accessible for people who really shouldn’t be out exploring the city. The new Adventures Crystals aren’t adding an additional layer of monetization either, which doesn’t fix the game’s pre-existing issues, but it doesn’t add to them either. For those of you stuck at home, playing Adventures could be another way to stay entertained. Hopefully, the new features don’t go anywhere, and the game continues to improve.