Especially in this time of never before seen Church crisis, creative methods are needed to get the message of the faith out. I have stumbled upon an idea: displaying content as book items in Minecraft.
The organization “Reporters Without Borders” (RSF) released in 2020 a Minecraft map called “The Uncensored Library”. In it, they make make articles from journalists around the world available as books in a Minecraft world. Their goal was to make articles accessible in countries where there is censorship.
A screenshot from the Uncensored Library promotional video, here.
Background
Minecraft is one of the most successful videogame franchises in history. In the game, the players find themselves in a randomly generated 3D world made up of blocks. They can explore the world, mine resources, build a house or farm crops. The game has no fixed goal. Instead, it focuses on exploring and creativity.
There are also free and open-source games similar to Minecraft, for example VoxeLibre and Mineclonia, both of them using the free and open-source client Luanti.
How does it work?
One of the game items a user can obtain in Minecraft is called “Book and Quill”. The user is able type text in the book and save it. The user can then store the book in a chest or display it on a lectern. The same user, or another user who plays in the same world can pick the book up later and read it.
So, one can hide information in the game. The idea is to create a lot of books in one Minecraft world, store them in chests or on lecterns and then save a map and distribute it.
Someone who downloads the map can load it in his own game and start playing at the same point the original user left off.
Example of an opened Minecraft book item (source).
Limitations
There are some limitations with this idea. Firstly, depending on the edition, Minecraft books can only be either 100 or 50 pages long. Secondly, the books can only contain text, not images. Thirdly, user-friendliness can be another issue. In case of a Minecraft map, the user has to buy the game, and in case of the free alternatives, importing the map requires a bit of effort.
A screenshot of a typical biome in Minecraft in 2015.