Minecraft is a fantastic game in its own right, and it’s getting better with every update. However, sometimes you just don’t want to play Minecraft; you want to play something new and exciting. That’s where minigames come into play. Small challenges that players have put together to provide a brand new experience in Minecraft. Our list of the best Minecraft Minigames is as follows:
1. Survival Games
This is probably the oldest, and best know Minecraft minigame out there. Survival Games used to be the only competitive multiplayer mode that was played, mainly because of its inspiration.
The minigame is based on the Hunger Games film series, specifically the battle royale Hunger Games that those books feature. In Survival Games, the rules are exactly the same.
Every Survival Games map is filled with items that players can pick up and use to their advantage, both for defending and attacking. There are also chests hidden underground, which can be dug up if players are quick enough.
The goal of this minigame is to be the only surviving player. This concept is easy to understand now that Fortnite has popularised it, but back when it launched, it felt unique to Minecraft.
2. Sky Wars
Now we’re getting into the more unique Minecraft minigames. Sky Wars is a game mode that many YouTubers picked up because of how different each match could be.
In a single match of Sky Wars, players must still fight to the death. Only the sole survivor can claim victory. The thing is, everyone spawns on their own island in the sky. Every island has tools for the players to use, including survival tools and weapons.
However, it’s pretty hard to kill every other player if you’re all separated and floating in the sky. This would lead to some players attempting to build bridges over to other islands, or even fly and jump. It twists the battle royale genre completely on its head and makes it quintessentially Minecraft.
I think this minigame is best played in small teams. It allows for each player to have a role and leads to some hilarious encounters between islands.
3. Block Hunt
Block Hunt is inspired by the incredibly popular Garry’s Mod minigame Prop Hunt. Instead of players hiding around the map as objects, though, they need to hide as different Blocks.
Once the Hiders have found a good place to disguise themselves, the Seekers are released to find them. The goal is to find every Hider before the end of the match timer.
As you can imagine, this leads to some fabulously unique gaming moments as well. Seekers run around, hitting every Block possible in the hopes of finding a Hider. It’s such an unnatural way to play Minecraft that it almost feels like a totally different game.
I think this minigame is best played when the Hiders get cocky. Some players start to hide near the spawn for each Seeker and even make themselves look deliberately out of place. When a Seeker completely misses them, it leads to fits of giggles that only toddlers can match.
4. Skyblock
Skyblock is, in my opinion, one of the best Minecraft minigames ever made. The minigame sees players start alone, or with friends, on a single square of Blocks high up in the sky. They have a Tree, some Dirt, and a chest of basic items such as food that they need to start out on a journey to survive for as long as possible.
The goal with a Skyblock game is to build up your island to be bigger and bigger by using what items you have. With Lava and Water, you can make more Blocks to build up the island with, and then you can begin farming to get enough food to stay alive.
Skyblock games are made even better when played in Hardcore Mode. This erases the map when you die, meaning this is a truly once in a lifetime run at survival on a tiny Block.
I think that Skyblock is enhanced by the fact that you must defend yourself from mobs each night, and there’s nowhere to hide for the first few days. Until you reach the point when you have a castle in the sky, you’re going to be fighting for your life every day, and that’s what makes this minigame so good.
5. Build Wars
Build Wars is a much more friendly Minecraft minigame. One that relies on a large group of players all working together. The idea is that all players are split into groups, or work individually, to build an object that is defined by a randomly chosen prompt or word.
As each player, or group, builds their creation, they’re able to make whatever they want. This is where the most creative builds in Minecraft come from.
Once the time limit is up, players will rate each other’s builds. After the ratings have been compiled, a winner is chosen. I think that the ultimate goal for this minigame is just to have fun with others, though. It’s always nice to build with other players, and seeing the impressive creations that other people can put together is the essence of what Minecraft was made for.
6. Parkour
This is a minigame built for those who enjoy fun traversal games such as Fall Guys or Human Fall Flat. All Parkour maps are built to challenge players as they would be in real life if they were trying to do a parkour run.
Players need to race each other from the start to the finish of each map, but it’s a bit more complex than that. Every map is built with big, precise drops, and some very dangerous runs to make. Players need to be in tune with how they move in the game if they want to make it to the end in the shortest time.
Most Minecraft minigames tend to focus on building. This is one that changes things up a bit, forcing players to try something totally new in Minecraft. That’s why I think it’s so special.
7. Death Run
Death Run is another very unique Minecraft minigame. It sees players split into two teams, Runners and Deaths. For Runners, the goal is to get through the map as quickly as possible, avoiding all of the dangers along the way.
Then there are the Deaths. This group of players needs to kill all of the Runners before they finish the map. Luckily there are traps all around it that can be triggered. Deaths just need to get the timing right.
As you can imagine, this tightens a multiplayer game because of the smaller space. However, the dangers are very real on each map. The fun comes when Deaths activate traps at just the right time.
At no other time in Minecraft will you ever play as a character trying to actively kill all other players while they just play the game. I think that most of the enjoyment comes from watching and waiting as a Runner. It’s a game of chicken you play with the Deaths, and they almost always get the first player to head through a trap.
8. Spleef
Spleef is the meanest Minecraft minigame on this list. It’s another battle royale game, but with a twist. You can’t kill the other players with weapons or punches; it would take too long. Instead, you need to remove the Blocks under their feet.
Usually, these maps are built with Snow Block floors, which are easy to remove quickly. There is almost always a huge drop to certain death, or Lava to ensure all players die when they fall.
I love this minigame because it once again twists the Minecraft formula in a fun new way. When there are just two of you left, and only a handful of Blocks on which to stand, the match becomes a game of cat and mouse that could see one player fall to their death. It’s just a matter of time.
9. Bed Wars
Bed Wars is yet another twist on the battle royale genre. Here, players can respawn infinitely, killing other players as much as they want to. The key to winning, and emerging as the sole survivor, is in finding your opponent’s beds and destroying them.
I like this minigame because it pushes players to the outer limits of each map. It forces you to explore everywhere you possibly can in order to find those beds and take them out. But it also makes you fight other players more often than you would in any other minigame, so it’s in your interest to find the beds as fast as possible.
Quite often, these matches descend into players running after one another as they look around the map for a bed, only to be killed by the bed’s owner. They’re also great fun, though, and no match is ever the same.
10. Build Your Own
This last entry in our best Minecraft minigames list is simple. Just build what you want to play. Many players put together their own dungeons for others to explore and even place traps with intricate mechanisms. Minecraft is all about building whatever you can imagine, and making something for your friends to enjoy is the ultimate expression of that.
Conclusion
Those are the best Minecraft minigames that you can play today. Whilst some of them are available on all platforms thanks to Mojang’s continued support of the game, others are only available as mods. The best thing to do is check what is available in Minecraft proper, and then explore each of these avenues depending on which one you think looks best first.
If you’re looking for a dedicated server on which to play these games with your friends, check out our list of the cheapest Minecraft server hosts.
If there are any minigames that we’ve missed, please let us know what they are in the comments.
