Minecraft Earth is scheduled to make its Android debut next week, expanding the closed beta test that kicked off back in July. Microsoft’s upcoming augmented reality (AR) spin on its best-selling blockbuster has garnered notable attention, merging its creative sandbox with the real world. The upcoming Android release brings the app to more beta registrants, ahead of a broader public release going forward.
The upcoming change will provide a chance of playing to those registered via the Minecraft Earth website. As with prior Minecraft Earth tests, developer Mojang has committed to five cities: Seattle, London, Stockholm, Tokyo, and Mexico City. While the final launch sets sights worldwide, early beta testing locks the experience down to a pool of hotspots with no plans to increase. As a result, Android tests will see similar restrictions, fixated on the same five regions.
Minecraft Earth also requires an Android device running Android 7 Nougat or later, alongside support for Android’s ARCore augmented reality platform. Android’s open nature makes it harder to identify all Android 7+ phones compatible, although most released in recent are covered. You can check if your Android phone meets Minecraft Earth’s requirements using our handy guide.
Invited iOS beta applicants experienced up to a month of trials, with August 26 bringing a full server reset, wiping player progress ahead of the Android launch. Tapping into real-world map data, the game sees players collecting nearby virtual blocks, before scaling AR creations. With Pokemon GO changing mobile gaming back in 2016, Microsoft has high hopes for its AR adventure.
A Valley High School student has recreated downtown Des Moines in stunningly exact detail within the realm of a popular video game.
Sean Eddy, 16, is a resident of Beaverdale. Over the past two and a half years, mostly during summer breaks from school, he has worked on meticulously recreating the downtown Des Moines area within the open-ended, world-building video game Minecraft.
The 801 Grand building in downtown Des Moines recreated in Minecraft by Sean Eddy. (Photo: ProjectDSM/ Special to the Register)
After recreating Stillwell Junior High School when he was in seventh grade for a school project, Eddy decided he would get more ambitious with his Minecraft projects. He started what would become the downtown project by recreating the 801 Grand building.
After opening up a server that would allow people to publicly see his downtown Des Moines recreation project in 2017, Eddy has spent the majority of the time since working on the project, spending the past summer, in particular, going back over previously built buildings and adding more specific details.
In order to faithfully recreate intricate details and the interiors of buildings, Eddy has looked to Des Moines Register photos of areas like the Tea Room at Wilkins, Cowles Commons redesign and even those of the Younkers fire in order to capture downtown as precisely as possible.
In a video posted to the ProjectDSM YouTube channel, Eddy has shown exactly how meticulously he’s recreated the downtown landscape.
Though Eddy does all of the exterior detailing himself, his friends Henry Shires and Luke Okland have contributed with designing interiors and managing the technicalities of running a server for the public.
Though he’s about to embark on a particularly challenging year of high school, Eddy is looking ahead to eventually expanding east and west in his downtown project to work on the Court Avenue District and Pappajohn Sculpture Park areas.
The sever the downtown area is stored on is entirely public and accessible to anyone with a Minecraft client for PC compatible with the server. The ProjectDSM website has more information for those interested in exploring the recreation.
Screenshot from the ProjectDSM Minecraft recreation of downtown Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo: Project DSM/ Special to the Register)
Don’t worry, Android fans — if you’ve been wondering when you can try the augmented reality experience of Minecraft Earth, you don’t have too much longer to wait. Mojang and Microsoft have revealed that the Minecraft Earth beta will reach Google-powered devices sometime next week. It’s encouraging users to sign up to get their earliest possible shot at playing.
To recap, it’s not just an extension of the world-building game in the real world, although you can play i like that. You can take on challenges when you step outside, and it encourages you to go on joint adventures with friends. Think of it more as a truly social Minecraft experience that just happens to use AR as its conduit.
Android players, we’ve heard your call. Next week, we’ll be bringing the #MinecraftEarth beta to your devices! Make sure to sign up now for your chance to join the fun!
The latest AR game that’s set to hit smartphones is Microsoft’s Minecraft Earth. Today, Minecraft Earth has finally arrived on the Google Play Store for Android, but it’s only in beta for the time being.
Just like with other apps and games that have used the functionality, pre-registering for Minecraft Earth on the Google Play Store will send you a notification as soon as the game has been released for download. There’s no date just yet as to when Minecraft Earth will debut on Android, but now that the game is listed in the Play Store probably means it will be sooner rather than later.
If you want to give it a shot even sooner, Minecraft Earth is available now in beta for Android. You’ll need to sign up for the closed beta and have a Microsoft or Xbox Live account to participate. Sign-ups are now available on the official Minecraft website.
Minecraft Earth should work on most Android devices, so long as they support ARCore and running Android 7.0 Nougat and above.
Discover a new dimension of Minecraft as you create, explore, and survive in the real world. Join a community of builders and explorers spanning the planet, collect resources for your builds, craft in augmented reality and then place them at life-size. You can even team up with others for mini-adventures!
To sign up, you’ll also need a Microsoft or Xbox Live account and app store login. By signing up for the beta, you can get a free skin for Minecraft Earth and Minecraft Bedrock.
According to CNET sister site GameSpot, you can explore the Minecraft Earth world to find treasure chests, block clusters and mobs called “Toppables.” You can build permanent structures on Build Plates, and, by coming across an Adventure, you can also experience a full Minecraft overlay where you can collect resources and dispatch mobs.
Multiplayer capabilities are also expected in the future.
Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee bring some major changes to the traditional Pokémon experience, but they also shake up some of the little things on your return to the Kanto region of generation one, from what items are available and where, to the trainers you battle and the Pokémon that can be found along the way.
Here in our Pokémon Let’s Go walkthrough and guidehub, we assemble all our individual Let’s Go guides in one place for you to quickly flick through them, on top of our list of every page of our complete walkthrough to Pokémon Let’s Go, from Pallet Town to the Elite Four and beyond. Enjoy your adventure!
Pokémon Let’s Go walkthrough for Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee
Each walkthrough page in our guide covers all the Pokémon, Items, and battles or Trainers that we’ve discovered on every route or location along the way.
Our walkthrough is now complete, but we’ll be doubling back and adding any additional finds along the way if we spot them. With that in mind, here’s our walkthrough of every location you’ll encounter in your quest, in order:
Pokémon Let’s Go walkthrough
Pokémon Let’s Go walkthrough part 1: the Boulder Badge
That’s the end of our now-complete walkthrough, but keep checking back for more standalone guides and explainers to the game’s systems and mechanics in the section just below!
