State of Minecraft

Before we dive into those tasty, tasty strategies you came to this book for, let's take a moment and look at the state of the Minecraft phenomenon and where it has come in the last year.

Biggest Year Yet

It's not often that a video game (or anything for that matter) reaches its greatest successes yet nearly five years after originally coming out, but that's exactly what has happened for Minecraft! 2013 was truly Minecraft's year, as not only did the fan-base absolutely explode, but the game itself became much more complex, and there were even two entirely new versions of the game released for the Raspberry Pi and the PlayStation 3!

Speaking of the fans, just take a look at these numbers: It took the PC version of Minecraft from 2009 until January 2011 to be downloaded 1 million times, but as of 2014, the computer version of this much-loved game has now seen an absolutely stunning 13 million downloads. That's 12 million new copies downloaded in just three years! The Pocket Edition and Xbox 360 version have equally impressive numbers, with the PE earning 10 million downloads (calculated May 2013) and the Xbox version having been purchased a cool 8 million times (August 2013). Considering that these numbers don't even include the brand-spankin' new PS3 version or the Pi version, not to mention the months since May and August (for the PE and Xbox, respectively), the number of official copies of Minecraft out there is estimated to be over 40 million as of the start of 2014, making it one of the biggest entertainment titles in history.

Two New Platforms to Craft on in 2014

If 2013 was Minecraft's biggest year so far, 2014 looks like it just might rival that title in a big way.

To begin with, Mojang and 4J (the makers of the console ports for the game) have stated that not only will Minecraft continue to be updated for the Xbox and PS3, but that a version will also be released for the new PS4 and Xbox One systems! These versions are said to be compatible with the previous version for each system, meaning players should soon be able to move their Xbox 360 and PS3 worlds onto the newest, most powerful gaming systems on the market.

What to Expect Next

As we've mentioned, this book deals primarily with the two fastest-growing versions of Minecraft (the console and Pocket Editions), and boyoh-boy is there a lot of new stuff that is set to come out soon for both platforms!

For the PE (Pocket Edition), it's been hinted that an official, working multiplayer version is soon to be released, and we can only hope that such an update will also bring the PE closer to the console, adding more materials, mobs and features.

On the console side, we've already seen one major update since the last Minecrafter, and that added such awesome new features as the Jungle Biome, the fearsome Iron Golem, the adorable Ocelot and new events like Villager breeding and Zombie raids. This may seem like a lot, and it definitely has made the game even more interesting, but it seems that the best is yet to come for the console versions.

Among the rumored additions in the upcoming TU14 update for the console are the long-awaited Horses (you can ride `em!), Withers, Anvils and Hoppers, with some hopeful Minecrafters saying that there's a chance we might see Emerald Ore, Ender Chests, Temples and even trading with Villagers added in. These have all been in the PC version for some time now, and we should see at least a few (if not all of them) on the console in upcoming months.

Speaking of the PC, while this book isn't specifically about that version of the game, we can learn a lot about what's to come for the PE and console versions by looking at what has come out for PC. 2013 saw one of the biggest updates yet to any version of Minecraft with version 1.7.2 for the PC (October). With an absolutely massive amount of new content, including new Mobs, new Biomes and tons of new materials (Stained Glass!), not to mention the awesome new Amplified world type (ravines that go all the way down to the Bedrock!), this update was called The Update that Changed the World, and it shows us that over the next year or so we should continue to get huge amounts of new content added to the other versions of the game.

Where We're At

With all of this (and who knows what else) in store for us from the folks at Mojang, and with Minecraft expanding to just about every major platform out there, this is the most exciting time yet in the world of Minecraft! For you new folks, welcome to one of the most exciting phenomenons and communities in entertainment, while for you veteran Crafters, let's get to work and make even bigger, even better builds. As they say, the sky's the limit in Minecraft.

What Exactly Do We Mean by "Biome?"

This might seem like an easy question to answer, and in a basic sense, the definition of "Biome" in Minecraft is pretty straightforward: Biomes are the different types of land you can find in Minecraft. However, there are actually two distinct types of Biomes that can be found in the game. For this book, we'll call them "Area Biomes" and "Feature Biomes," respectively, and you'll notice when you play that you'll often find them existing together, with the Feature Biome set within the larger Area Biome.

Area Biomes: We use this term in Minecrafter to refer to the large sections of land that contain certain plants, mobs and aesthetics (for instance, Desert Biomes are mostly yellow and tan with little life, while the Jungle Biome is lush with life and is full of deep greens and browns). When running around the world of Minecraft, Area Biomes are what you'll most often be in when above ground, and the border between one Area Biome and the next is usually pretty easy to see, as the ground will change color from one Biome to the next. Think of Area Biomes as different types of nature, or environments.

Feature Biomes: Where Area Biomes refer to areas where certain plants and mobs live, Feature Biomes are more recognizable by their shape. Think of them as natural structures, including Beaches, Rivers, Ravines and Hills. Caves aren't technically considered a Biome, but we've included them with Feature Biomes as they have many similarities.

Why You Should Know Your Biomes

Other than the obvious reason that you want to be an ultra-level, super-guru, Minecrafter genius-person, there is an important practical reason that knowing your various Biomes is a great idea: some items, mobs, structures and even Feature Biomes exist mostly or even exclusively in specific Biomes.

For instance, say you're looking for a lot of Wood and you need it really quickly. Well, if you know your Biomes, you know to stay away from the Desert Biome, and hopefully there's a Jungle Biome nearby. Ready to go cave-diving? The Extreme Hills Biome is your best bet, and you're...