The Minecraft Blockdown Simulator map has arrived as a free piece of content for fans around the world and it's got a pretty neat concept: it will teach you about the powers of social distancing.
Check out the Minecraft Blockdown Simulator trailer to get a quick overview of what the map looks like:
Blockdown Simulator is part of Minecraft's efforts to spread useful information about COVID-19 and encourage social distancing. This creative new experience lets you serve as an observer of a village or take a more active role as a nurse.
A control tower lets you change various settings within the level. From that tower, you can spawn zombies and watch an infection spread in realtime.
Infected villagers aren't doomed, though! As any seasoned Minecraft player knows, it's possible to cure zombie villagers and return them to normal. The Minecraft Blockdown Simulator map has the same tools available, although there's a twist — there is only one "hospital" available, limiting how quickly you can restore them.
While it's not a truly accurate simulation, Blockdown Simulator will give you a good idea of what can happen when an infection spreads in close quarters. The map (which was created by the design and innovation company AKQA) is still in beta; the creators encourage people to share it and try to innovate on it even further if they so choose.
How to Get Minecraft Blockdown Simulator
If this seems like a neat experiment you'd like to try, it's not too hard to get your hands on it. You will, of course, need a copy of Minecraft Java Edition.
Once you're covered there, you can grab Blockdown Simulator at blockdown.net. You can also buy Minecraft Java Edition via Mojang's website.
Read more about how the COVID-19 novel coronavirus is affecting the gaming world at our Coronavirus Gaming Convention Cancellations and Game Delays Hub.
What do you think of Blockdown Simulator? What useful things could we learn from this experiment? Let us know in the comments below!
