The Chamber of Secrets

Narrow, maze-like corridors. Carefully laid traps hidden from sight. A hostile environment crawling with never-ending waves of enemies. Trial chambers? What, no, I’m talking about the Mojang Studios office. But I bet you want to hear about the former? Fiiiiine! 

Trial chambers came with the Tricky Trials Update and are a new type of structure hidden deep below ground in the Overworld. Built from mostly copper blocks and tuff bricks – and filled with mobs that want nothing but to end your adventure – they’re a fusion of new and old structures, design, and gameplay styles. Since you, dear reader, are a fanatical consumer of everything Minecraft.net, you already know we’ve talked about trial chambers in great detail; from what type of snacks to bring, to what armor you could wear.  

But something we haven’t talked about is all the work that went into designing this challenging structure. Where do you even start when you want to craft a place meant to give players opportunities to find creative solutions to overcome a variety of combat scenarios? Apparently, with the past. 

”The Atrium“, a late addition to the trial chambers, was created to offer more points of interest in the corridors, while also giving a bit of a breather from tight corridors.

"We first recorded and measured the metrics for every hostile mob in Minecraft, such as their attack range, movement speed, and health,” says Matthew “Moesh” Dryden, Structure Designer and heartless architect of the trial chamber. “From there, we studied all of our existing structures and terrain generation, partially different cave generations.” 

The reason? A fancy excuse to play Minecraft during work hours To incorporate all the learnings into the trial chamber and create an interesting experience that challenges the player in both combat and puzzle-solving.  

That meant looking at old structures like the bastion remnant, ancient city, stronghold, woodland mansion, and the ocean monument. Who knows, maybe even the Mojang Studios office itself? We have a pretty cool spiral staircase that would make an excellent challenge! At least for your legs. 

”’Eruption’ was the very first room we completed, back when we focused on creating an area the breeze could thrive in. By utilizing a layout that favors how water flows, we flood the room with a single water bucket!” – Moesh

Instead of designing the trial chamber for a specific playstyle, Moesh and team aimed for what they call “opportunities for mobs to succeed”. By using columns and uneven terrain, mobs are encouraged to split up and surround the player, creating a more dynamic and challenging encounter. The design also includes U-turns and corners to allow mobs to potentially reroute and escape the player's sight.  

Another goal was to ensure that encounters worked with multiple group sizes and that players could tackle a trial chamber either by themselves or together with friends.  

“We also looked at the scale of the trial chambers,” Moesh continues, “Particularly horizontal spacing, which was designed around the capabilities of both the player and the mobs.” 

”We knew the player would be returning to this area as they travelled from chamber to chamber. By raising the ceiling height to include three floors, we are able to pack more encounters and other surprises into a tight space.” – Moesh

Designing content for mobs? What’s next, do the blocks have a say in it as well? Actually, in a way! The team created a general theory of difficulty based on the formula “stress plus time”. For example, a two-block wide jump can be very difficult for average players in a high-stress situation, but trivial when they have the time to prepare. The developers also measured the time to “block climb” walls and mine through blocks. Moesh elaborates:  

“We paired this with the movement speed of mobs to create a general idea of what the smallest game loops of fighting and surviving could look like. This all sounds so specific and meticulous. It is. However, it is part of the preparations of engaging with multiple complex systems across Minecraft. The hope is that the work behind these decisions is invisible and instead supports the gameplay features we place there.” 

“Chamber_8” was one of the first prototypes we tried out. Skeletons have the ability to cause some infighting amongst mobs, allowing the player to create a unique solution... if they’re clever enough.” – Moesh

The result is not only a structure with a philosophy, but a collection of rooms that each offer unique challenges that the player can take on in their own creative ways. Rooms like the arena-esque eruption trap room, the chilly powder snow room, or the cleverly crafted chamber corridors, are just some examples of what awaits visitors. 

“The powdered snow trap is something I’m particularly proud of. While it is not a particularly deadly trap, it can cause some players to panic. See, the trick is that players cannot jump out of powdered snow – they must break the snow to regain the ability to jump. This is where things start getting devious.” 

“Knowledge traps are a useful tool for open world/sandbox games. Even if you know how to defeat it, it is a constant presence that needs additional consideration while you fight.” – Moesh

Sharing development secrets here on Minecraft.net? Ludicrous! Luckily, there are even more secrets in the trial chambers; plenty of which we won’t spoil here. 

“As part of this collaboration process, I asked the folks I worked with to include a secret,” says Moesh. “While most of the trial chambers are built with rather strict build guidelines, these secrets were our chance to break the norm and create a unique space which deepens the mystery of the structure. The secrets which may exist are varied, small, but meaningful additions that represent the collaboration necessary to create something of this scale." 

There’s only one way find out (and no, it’s not to “google trial chamber secrets”) – dare to venture into your own local trial chamber and experience Tricky Trials firsthand with your own blocky eyes. If you’ve made it this far into the article, you should be more than equipped to handle whatever might be thrown at you. Me? I’m off to see if there’s any secrets hidden at the studio!