Spooky writers’ challenge

Occasionally the writers of Minecraft.net put down their pens, pick up their keyboards (or controllers!) and venture into the Overworld to undertake a challenge. As October is Spookyfest, and because it also gets pretty dark here in Sweden, I thought I would construct us a challenge in the deepest, darkest parts of the Overworld. “Please tell me this is a joke,” was the general reaction from this quill-loving team, but venture into the deep dark we did, and at least one of us survived to tell this very tale…

Before our story begins, if you want to go into the challenge with fresh eyes and try it for yourself before reading what we brave moderately-courageous writers did, then you can do that here! Choose your own path, and find your own way to the elusive chest in the ominously beating heart of the ancient city, before trying to make your way back to the base! Otherwise, read on for some deep dark chaos…

The challenge

The task was simple: make it through the deep dark, all the way to the center, and retrieve the diamond I left in the chest! You nabbed +40 points for achieving that great feat, and an extra +10 points for making it back to base. If the warden found you with the treasure, you would lose your inventory and -20 points. If the warden found you before you reached the chest, you could claim +20 points for your bravery. Surely three writers with more than a few years of Minecraft experience should be able to do that? Well…

 

Contestant 1: Sofia Dankis

Sofia’s score

Time spent in challenge: 1 minute and 58 seconds

Warden-related accidents: 1

Total points: 20

Sofia met the warden! And earned 20 points for her bravery.

Sofia’s strategy was speed, speed and more speed! Could it have paid off, if done slightly differently? Find out for yourself in your very own Spooky Challenge! 

Next through the thick iron doors was our very own Editor, Per Landin! Per was out there for so long we thought he’d started building a base in the deep dark. Turns out he was just reading the instructions very very carefully! What was your strategy, Per?

Contestant 2: Per Landin

Per's score

Time spent in challenge: 13 minutes and 30 seconds

Warden-related accidents: 0

Diamonds gained: 1

Total points: 50

Slow and steady seems to be a great method! And it was certainly how our next writer, the fierce Cristina Anderca started out her challenge in the deep dark. Before diving through the iron doors, she ate a loaf of bread, and psyched herself up by leaping from the vines. “Fall damage doesn’t count, right?” Sofia could answer that one, Cristina! What was your plan, going into the challenge?

Contestant 3: Cristina Anderca

Cristina's score

Time spent in challenge: 11 minutes and 28 seconds

Warden-related accidents: 0

Diamonds gained: 1

Total points: 50

And the winner of the challenge is… Cristina! With her sprint finish, she made it back to the base two minutes ahead of our Editor, stealing herself the grand prize of... not having to fetch coffee in the office for a whole week. A whole week, Cris! What do you mean I promised you a fox plushie? Shh, I did no such thing! And I definitely wouldn’t have kept such a cute, cuddly plushie for myself as a prize for making the challenge in the first place…

If you want to get into the spooky spirit and try and challenge for yourself, go here! Otherwise we’ll see you soon for our regularly scheduled, non-spooky programming!