Minecraft is a favorite of gamers (and many kids) as it fosters creativity as you build and problem-solve. Now, a Build The Earth team is recreating the state of New Jersey in a 1:1 scale! So far, 913 members are working on builds of Newark, Jersey City, Princeton, Trenton and many other towns, getting the details right down to the potholes.
The project began at the start of the pandemic when a gamer started a website to build a life-size recreation of Earth on a 1:1 scale. Soon, teams to recreate other countries and states started to form. NJ’s build team is the second largest team of the 90 that have been created.
James Brodowski started building the streets of his hometown of Cranford. The 20-year-old Monmouth University student found it fascinating that you could build specific turns on roads that were unique to the Garden State.
Others agreed and joined in on the fun but the task of building NJ isn’t an easy one. Team members have used Google Maps to find coordinates and construct specific areas. They do their best to match the textures and colors of the buildings and roadways, using the 256 different blocks at their disposal.
Some builders are even driving or biking to specific destinations in order to photograph them and build them in Minecraft. And on holidays, the team holds special events to quickly recreate appropriate monuments such as the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark which they made on Easter.
Be sure to check out their “Builds of the Week” including this amazing recreation of a Wawa in Lawrence Township!