Minecraft Realms is the online service Mojang pitch at families not stubborn enough to work through the arcane process of setting up and running servers. For a monthly subscription, Realms players – mostly parents – get access to one of Mojang’s secure servers and can invite 20-odd friends to deface a new world.
That’s probably not for you texture pack-savvy, adventure map-happy lot. But some of Minecraft’s best-loved maps are likely to be opened up to a brand new audience with Realms’ new “mini game” option.
Mojang’s Jens ‘Jeb’ Bergensten posted a clip showcasing the work-in-progress feature’s functions yesterday. An update in March will render mini games selectable via a ‘switch to mini game’ option on the main Realms submenu, and will introduce users to some familiar names:
The current list of mini games includes FVDisco’s Cake Defense 2, SethBling’s Blocks vs Zombies and Autospleef, Hypixel’s The Walls and Dragnoz’s Dash of Doom – with plans for more “later on”.
Realms worlds will be temporarily converted to the relevant map once a mini game is selected – and can be returned to their original state “without losing anything”.
“The most important thing is if I’m ending the mini game, it will restore my Realm exactly as I left it,” said Jeb.
Minecraft Realms is currently available only in Sweden and Minecon attendees, but Mojang have plans to extend its reach to the rest of the world “as soon as possible”. It’s going to be huge, and will introduce the magic of Hypixel to players yet to download their first adventure map.
In other news: Jeb’s a crack shot with the Minecraft bow at range. Who knew?