by Carly Van Heerden
Instructions on how to make your own cardboard armor, crafting table and a few tools to play Minecraft in the 'real' world are provided below.
Minecraft is probably one of the most popular games available to computer gamers these days. And it’s not surprising, when one considers just how deep this game actually goes.
The concept of the game is based on using blocks to build structures such as houses, castles and underground lairs... you name it, you build it! The mining aspect revolves around searching for various materials like coal, iron, obsidian, and of course diamonds. Finding your first diamond in Minecraft is apparently one of the best days of any player’s life!
The crafting aspect revolves around using a crafting table (as constructed in this article with a cardboard box) upon which the player can craft hundreds of things from swords to cakes; book shelves to torches; armor to trail-mix and so on.
In the game itself, as with any good game, there are the good guys and the bad guys - namely the herobrine, zombies, ghasts and the enderman to name but a few. Friendlier animals can be tamed like wolves, ocelots (leopard like) pigs, chickens, sheep and cows. These can also be used for food, but for those who are strictly vegetarians there is sugar cane, fruit, wheat and more.
It would be impossible to explain this brilliant game in a single article without using various links, so if you would like to find out more, please see the link below.
http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Minecraft_Wiki
The game works on a ‘levels’ basis, meaning you have to accomplish all tasks on one level without being destroyed or losing all your ‘stuff’, before you can move to the next. As you progress you can then move to the ‘nether’ (underworld) and discover new challenges there.
On the internet you will find a number of forums that will help you to progress, and on You Tube a number of mod (modification) reviews will spur you into purchasing new modifications to make the game more interesting, as if it’s not fun enough already!
Below is an example of a few modifications that you can create yourself.
So, now you know a bit more about this game, we move to the purpose of this article - how to make your own armor, crafting table and a few tools to play Minecraft in the 'real' world. Note there's usually a bad guy in any game, so we have made a creeper! Creepers leave many crafters totally distraught as they have a terrible tendency to sneak up on players and blow-up - destroying everything that the player has spent hours, days, maybe even weeks constructing!
1. Cardboard boxes - 2 x small, 1 x long, various others to cut to shape
2. Scissors
3. A pencil
4. Paint and paint brushes
5. Packaging tape
6. A blank sheet of paper
7. School glue
In Minecraft one can only craft (create objects) on a crafting table.
1. This is relatively simple. You can use a smallish cardboard box, the size of a microwave.
2. You will need to open the box/turn it inside-out in order to use the ‘inside’ for the ‘outside’ - which gives you a blank surface to paint on.
3. Seal the box inside-out with your packaging tape as seen in the image below.
4. Close the ends of the box, sealing them with packaging tape too.
5. Because paint won’t adhere to packaging tape, you can stick a sheet of paper over one end of the box, which will be the surface of your crafting table.
6. Find an image on the internet showing you the colors of the table, and then paint your box as such, as seen in the image below.
1. As mentioned previously, finding a diamond is a victorious moment for any first-time Minecraft player. After mining for some time, you can use these diamonds to make tools that obviously have far greater strength than those made from wood, for example.
2. To make a pick axe, which helps you to mine through sandstone, silverfish bricks and other hard surfaces, simply find the image of a Minecraft pick axe on the internet and cut your card to shape. Paint it according to the colors you see, which will be blue with a wooden (brown) handle.
3. To make a diamond sword, do the same. A diamond sword has the ability to take-out most of the bad guys (mobs) with only two or three blows, as opposed to a wooden sword which would need to strike the bad guy roughly fifteen times before he falls. These are also blue with a wooden handle.
4. You can also make a few diamonds, which you will find when digging with your pick axe. They can be oval, the size of a large orange and painted blue.
1. Of course you eventually end up needing armor in this game, to protect you from the bad guys.
2. Use a small box that should fit comfortably on your child’s head (presuming you are making the armor for your child). Turn the box inside-out once again, leaving you with a clear surface to paint on. This will make a diamond helmet. To make a diamond helmet you will need to cut out two arches next to one another, leaving a covering for the nose as seen in the final image below. Once again you can search the internet for images of a diamond helmet for further inspiration. Your diamond helmet will be blue.
3. To make your armor/chest shield use a large piece of card, the reverse side with no logos or writing, and cut it to shape to fit your child’s chest. It should also be painted blue.
4. To make the straps on the back you can simply use two large strips of packaging tape. Fold each piece of tape over itself, so that it sticks to itself. Then fasten the straps to either side of the armor with more packaging tape as seen in the image below.
1. As mentioned, creepers are perhaps the most frustrating characters in the game of Minecraft as they explode when they are near you, at random. So whatever you have built or saved over a period of time gets destroyed in less than two seconds.
2. To make your creeper, simply turn a longish box inside-out and seal it closed again with the packaging tape. Leave two of the flaps open on the bottom, for the creeper’s legs. Creepers are green all over with two black eyes and a down-turned mouth. You will easily find creeper images on the internet.
Finally your game can begin!
This is a wonderful and cost effective way to spend a day with your child, especially if they’re already a Minecraft fan. Obviously there is so much more that can be made when it comes to constructing Minecraft tools and objects from cardboard boxes, as everything in Minecraft is square in shape!
To end this article on a fun note, see the link below to the top 10 Minecraft parodies for June 2013.
Yes - this is how big this game is at present! Top songs have been converted to ‘Minecraft songs’ to be enjoyed by the thousands of Minecraft players out there today.
Enjoy!
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