Minecraft: Builders & Biomes

Overview

Minecraft: Builders & Biomes is a board game adaptation of the Minecraft video game. Players explore the Overworld, mine resource blocks, build structures, and fight mobs. The game features a 3D cube of 64 resource blocks that players mine from, and a grid of face-down tiles representing the Overworld to explore. Three scoring rounds occur when layers of the block cube are depleted, each scoring a different criteria. The player with the most experience points wins.

Components

• 64 resource blocks (wood, sand, stone, obsidian, emerald) arranged in a 4x4x4 cube
• 4 player boards
• 4 player skins (wooden figures)
• 64 building/mob tiles (arranged face down in an 8x8 grid minus corners)
• Weapon tokens
• Experience point tokens
• 4 wooden hearts per player
• Overview cards

Setup

1. Build the 4x4x4 cube of resource blocks in the center of the table.
2. Arrange the 64 tiles face down in a grid pattern.
3. Each player takes a player board, skin figure, starting weapon, and 4 hearts.
4. Place each player’s skin on a corner of the tile grid.
5. Reveal the four tiles surrounding each player’s starting position.

Turn Structure

On your turn, take exactly 2 of these 4 actions (you may take the same action twice):

1. Explore: Reveal 2 adjacent face-down tiles near your skin.
2. Move: Move your skin up to 2 spaces orthogonally on the grid.
3. Build: Construct a face-up building tile adjacent to your skin by paying the required resources.
4. Fight: Battle a face-up mob tile adjacent to your skin.

After taking your 2 actions, mine 2 blocks from the resource cube.

Actions

Explore

• Flip 2 face-down tiles adjacent to your skin’s position.
• Tiles may be buildings (with biome and material types) or mobs.

Move

• Move your skin up to 2 spaces in orthogonal directions.
• You may change direction during movement.

Build

• Choose a face-up building tile adjacent to your skin.
• Pay the required resource blocks shown on the tile (return them to the box).
• Place the building on your player board in a connected group.
• Buildings have a biome type (forest, desert, snowy tundra, mountain) and material type (wood, sand, stone, obsidian).

Fight (Combat)

• Choose a face-up mob tile adjacent to your skin.
• Roll 3 dice. You need to match or exceed the mob’s strength using weapon bonuses.
• Success: gain the mob tile (worth experience points) and potentially a new weapon.
• Failure: lose 1 heart. If you have no hearts, no additional penalty.

Mining

• At the end of your turn, remove 2 blocks from the resource cube.
• You may only take blocks that are accessible (top or exposed side of the cube).
• Blocks must be removable without disturbing others.
• Collected blocks are placed on your player board.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Three scoring rounds occur when each layer of the 4x4x4 cube is depleted:

1. First scoring (after top layer): Score for the largest connected group of buildings sharing the same biome type.
2. Second scoring (after second layer): Score for the largest connected group of buildings sharing the same material type.
3. Third scoring (after third layer): Score for the largest connected group of buildings with the same biome OR material combination.

Scoring scale: Based on group size (larger groups = exponentially more points).

At game end, also score:

• Experience points from defeated mobs
• Remaining hearts
• Emerald blocks (if any variant)

Winner: Most total experience points.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Building placement on your player board matters: buildings must connect in groups for scoring.
• Weapon upgrades replace current weapon (keep only one).
• If all face-down tiles around you are already revealed, exploring still counts as an action but does nothing useful.
• Players cannot occupy the same grid space.
• The final layer of the cube triggers the last scoring round; any remaining blocks are not scored.

Player Reference

Turn: Take 2 actions (explore/move/build/fight) -> Mine 2 blocks from cube

Scoring rounds: 1st = biome groups, 2nd = material groups, 3rd = biome OR material groups

Resources: Wood, Sand, Stone, Obsidian (for building); Emerald (bonus)

Combat: 3 dice + weapon bonus vs. mob strength; win = XP; lose = -1 heart