The truly staggering thing about Minecraft is that you're practically unlimited in what you can build in the virtual world. With the right amount of time and a certain degree of talent, epic cities can rise out of fantasy, or real life buildings can spring into life. There's really nothing that you can't accomplish. Don't believe me? Well, below is my pick of the most staggering Minecraft worlds out there. Whether you want to take a look around the Titanic (Leo being pushed off a door is not included) or try and win the Iron Throne in Westeros, the scope of these virtual worlds is quite amazing. You can check out all of the worlds for real in Minecraft: even if you're not interested in the subject matter, you can learn a lot from how these were created.
WesterosCraft
A staggeringly complex recreation of the Seven Kingdoms, WesterosCraft pays glorious tribute to George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones. This map is huge and hugely demanding: you’ll need dedicated graphics to make the most of it. It has all of the main locations from the books and television series: King’s Landing, Winterfell and Castle Black among many others. Join the multiplayer server and start exploring – it’s bewildering how few people are playing this incredible build.
Titan City
An epic modern metropolis, Titan City is the sum total of two years’ of its maker’s life. It’s like taking a walk through Canary Wharf: there are enormous, varied skyscrapers wherever you look. Its maker, YouTube user Colonial Puppet should be snapped up by architects, such is the variety and excruciating amount of detail in the build, which comprises 4.5m blocks. It’s free to download and there’s plenty of scope to adapt.
My Mother’s House
A great example of one of the more cerebral builds, My Mother’s House is Victoria Bennett’s ode to her dying mother, an interactive poem that unravels as you walk around the various rooms. The poetry is delivered in many forms: sometimes the narration kicks in as you move from room to room, sometimes it’s displayed in text, sometimes the poems are tucked inside books hidden in Minecraft chests. The build is extraordinary enough in its own right, but the moving poetry is equally enthralling.
The Titanic
Claimed to be the “most detailed Titanic out there”, this massive feat of shipbuilding took a year to complete, according to the charmingly named builder, Deadkoalas. We know that’s his name, as he’s plastered it on signs all around the ship, but we’ll forgive his aggressive claim for credit because the downloadable build is remarkably detailed, from the train journey to the ship when you first land, to the individually marked cabins and stores down below, to the rigging on the deck. This one’s truly unsinkable, too: it can’t move.
The Heist
The Heist is a terrific example of how it’s possible to build standalone games within Minecraft. This immaculately made espionage adventure has you ducking past security cameras, seeing through walls with your x-ray vision and hacking into computers. There’s none of the normal Minecraft mechanics of building and crafting: you just bundle through the linear levels, trying not to raise the alarm and alert the guard robots.
Quartz Castle
The screenshot barely does justice to how big this castle island build is. It’s an enormous gothic build that pokes through the clouds – you’ll need a PC with a reasonable level of graphical poke just to take it all in. Even more extraordinary is that its creator claims to have knocked it up in only five hours when bored at Christmas. We’re not sure we believe him. The castle is an empty shell, which is one of the many reasons we like this build: it’s a work in progress that there’s scope to adapt yourself.