Minecraft Earth has gone global. Now anyone in North America can play the next big augmented-reality adventure game. Unlike Pokémon GO and its focus on collecting (and battling) Pokemon, Minecraft Earth is all about expressing yourself and adventuring. You can build whatever you want on squares of virtual real-estate called Buildplates, and anyone in your area can explore these spots in life-size.
To get Buildplates and earn items, you’ll need to explore and find little markers on your map called Tappables. Kind of like PokeStops in Pokémon GO, you’ll want to track down these floating icons and tap them to reap rewards. You’ll get XP, items, and some rubies that can be spent on more items in the Minecraft Earth store. Naturally, you can buy more rubies with real-world money, but that’s not necessary to play and have fun.
Here, I’m going to share some of my experienced tips and explanations for the systems. We’ll start with the simple, and move on to more complicated tips — for example, lava is the best fuel source, and you can make an infinite amount. Get even more tips in the full guide below.
More Minecraft Earth guides:
How To Start Playing Right Now | Compatible iOS & Android List
#1: You Can Invite Friends To Work On Your Buildplates With You
Buildplates at the best new feature in Minecraft Earth. Every 5 Levels, you’ll gain a new Buildplate, and each Buildplate is set to a specific biome. On these plates, you’ll be able to build whatever you want using items found in your inventory. Items and XP are earned by tapping Tappables, objects you’ll see in the world map.
Buildplates are how you can share your creativity with the world. Anyone can visit your buildplate — but don’t worry, they can’t actually change it. The only way a friend (or anyone) can change your buildplate is if you invite them. They also have to be in the same locations as the buildplate itself. Bring a friend to your room, and you can work together to create a beautiful house, sculpture, or anything else you can dream up.
#2: Tappables Give You Items That Match Their Theme
Tappables are how you’ll earn XP and random items. And each tappable has a theme — tap mobs to collect different mobs that you can place in your buildplate. Trees give you wood, and so on.
There’s a whole lot of tappables out there, so exploring and tapping them all is the best way to fill your bottomless inventory. You can only carry so much in your quick bar, but your inventory is bottomless.
#3: You Can Place Yourself In Your Buildplate!
Just what the tip says — you can place an NPC version of yourself in any Buildplate by selecting the Mob-of-Me item. You’ll place a mob with your very own character skin and name — and yes, you can import skins from any other version of Minecraft you own.
Your friends can even join you. Just invite them into your Buildplate, and you can build a scene with your favorite avatar skins. Anyone can explore your Buildplates, and now they can say hello to the creators, too.
#4: Use Swords While Adventured To Clear Spider Webs Faster
Adventure areas are life-size locations you can explore in your world, turning a Minecraft map into a real-life survival experience. You’ll be able to dig up blocks and have fun in these zones — but you’ll also deal with annoying problems like mobs.
One of the most common in underground mineshafts is the spider, and they’ll leave swarms of sticky webs around. The sword is the best way to clear out the webs, and a great way to kill spiders, too.
#5: Use Lava For Smelting – It Makes Smelting Faster & You’ll Have Way More Fuel!
Lava is the best fuel source when you’re smelting. It makes smelting faster, and you can generate an endless amount of lava by creating a ‘lava tower’ — make a silo shaped object and pour lava. You only need one bucket, but when the lava pours out, you can recollect it and pour it again. Keep doing it until you’ve got a limitless supply of lava!
#6: Use Stone Pickaxes For Digging, Iron Pickaxes For Ore
Here’s a simple tip. If you don’t have a lot of iron ore available, I recommend sticking with stone pickaxes. You’ll be able to craft an endless amount of stone pickaxes, so you can waste them — cut through the earth while adventuring, and only get out your valuable Iron Pickaxes when you find ore and need to excavate.
That way you’ll always have an Iron Pickaxe ready when you find Gold, Diamond, or more Iron Ore. When you have enough Iron, you can swap over full-time, but stick with Stone until you’ve got a huge stockpile.
#7: Don’t Wreck Your Own Builds! Fire Burns Wood Fast & Water Washes Away Mud.
A simple tip that you’ll want to watch out for. If you’re carefully placing mud blocks on your buildplate, don’t pour water from a bucket or you’ll wash away your hard work in an instant. Fire also spreads significantly faster in this version of the game. If you want to burn down a tree or clear out some mud, just be aware before making a time-consuming mistake.
#8: Not Seeing Any Tappables? You Can Actually Improve Coverage!
If the game isn’t spawning many adventure areas or tappables in your area, it might be due to a lack of information for your area on Open Street Map. Open Street Map is a community-driven mapping source, and anyone can add street names, businesses, and more information. If you want more play areas in your town, it might help to add ass much info to the map as possible.
