New on Realms: Above and Beyond

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

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

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

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

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

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!