In Minecraft, players can create various types of worlds, including vanilla survival worlds, creative worlds, flat worlds, adventure mode worlds, and more. They can even download variants made by other players. This allowed its vast playerbase to create some of the best Minecraft maps and share them online. These maps can be based on a storyline and can contain different texture packs and data packs, allowing users to explore the sandbox game in a completely different way.
Here are some of the best custom maps to try.
Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinion. Even though this list is for 2023, there are a few maps that are quite old, but they are iconic and worth checking out.
Best Minecraft Maps in 2023
1) SkyBlock
SkyBlock custom map has been around for quite some time and is still one of the most famous concepts today. When players enter a regular world, they usually have plenty of resources to gather. However, SkyBlock pushes them to survive with limited resources and still progress in the vanilla storyline.
2) Herobrine Mansion
Herobrine Mansion is another famous custom map. Players can get through the massive mansion, fight several enemies, craft and use unique weapons and armor, and try to uncover the secrets behind the game's most famous mythical creature.
3) Parkour Paradise
Parkour is a popular mini-game that players enjoy in the sandbox title. This particular custom map is quite entertaining as it is divided into many parkour sections with different themes. This is a fun creation to play and compete with several friends.
4) OneBlock
One of the most fascinating custom maps inspired by SkyBlock was OneBlock. This custom map takes it to the extreme and spawns players on a single grass block. However, that block can be mined endlessly to obtain all kinds of different blocks. This way, players can gradually progress and complete the vanilla storyline in a completely unique way.
5) POISON 2.0
Poison 2.0 is clearly not for the faint-hearted. It is an extremely scary custom map where players must fight against villagers and pillagers with custom textures, behaviors, and sounds. It has brilliantly made structures that one needs to traverse while evading terrifying villager and pillager mobs.
6) Crafty Cannoneers
Crafty Cannoneers is a new custom map made in 2022. It is a multiplayer map where two teams are created with as many ships. First, players need to collect all the resources from the island between the ships, then use the resources to create weaponry to shoot and destroy each other's vessels. It is an extremely fun game mode that can be played on a multiplayer server.
7) Dave's Curse
Dave's Curse is a sequel to Barosa's Curse custom map. It continues with the storyline of a curse that has been inflicted on the in-game character's friend, Dave. The objective is to play as two characters to save Dave by going through several puzzles and fighting the curse plaguing him.
It has a brilliant storyline worth checking out, even though its mechanics and animations feel basic.
8) Diamond Sword RPG: Full Remaster
Inspired by series like The Legend of Zelda, the original Diamond Sword RPG map is heralded as one of the most beloved in Minecraft’s long history. It was only reasonable then that the map would eventually receive a remaster, and fans of fantasy narratives and RPG gameplay won’t want to miss it.
Complete with tons of puzzles, bosses, and a story to defeat an encroaching evil, Diamond Sword RPG’s full remaster is still well worth a player’s time.
9) Dance Floor
Contrary to the name, Dance Floor isn’t just a map where players can do a little bit of crouch dancing. Instead, this map offers 11 distinct minigames that can be played both solo or with friends. From tossing tridents at zombies to guessing pixel art and king of the hill, there are plenty of options in this lone map.
There’s no doubt that this map has its own dance club theme, but the minigames hold up on their own if nothing else.
10) The Hypercube
For a pretty mind-bending experience all within Minecraft, The Hypercube is a spectacular map option. Although the map begins in a fairly standard 3D environment, players have possession of a trinket that is capable of rotating their surroundings around the XW plane, creating four-dimensional puzzles.
Although this map isn’t the longest if players know what they’re doing, figuring out the puzzles without any form of guide or walkthrough can vastly extend the map’s time to completion.
11) Guardians of the Nether
Although it’s an older Minecraft map, Guardians of the Nether remains a great role-playing map with a solid storyline surrounding the titular defenders of the burning dimension and the Nether Stars. The player must assist the guardians against the attacks of the sinister Halton Agency, which has some pretty bad plans for invading the Nether and swiping away the stars.
With two hours’ worth of gameplay, custom gear and items, and eight boss battles, players should get their fill of action in Guardians of the Nether.
12) The Horror Experiment
Sometimes, Minecraft creators make a map so unique it almost feels like a game of its own. This is exactly what The Horror Experiment accomplishes, as its expert use of custom models, textures, sound effects, and other assets creates a horror experience that not many maps can match.
Complete with cutscenes, a sweeping and engrossing set of locations, and custom creatures stalking in the night, The Horror Experiment remains one of the best horror maps to come out of the Minecraft community.
13) The Ends’ Lament
If Minecraft players have always envisioned a more robust-looking version of the End dimension, then this map may very well suit their needs. The Ends’ Lament is focused around a story in the otherworldly new biomes of the End and heaps of intense PvE combat. Even better, it features voice acting, custom textures and content, and even custom music.
It’s clear that this map is a labor of love, and Minecraft fans will likely appreciate its innovative work to revitalize the End and make it feel brand new even to veterans.
14) Rewind Time
One of the more interesting entries in Minecraft maps in recent years is Rewind Time, which leaves players with only 60 seconds to save the world from Armageddon. The only trick is that they have a device to rewind back 60 seconds and start over. By quickly solving puzzles and rewinding time, players will eventually be able to overcome the incoming calamity and save the world!
15) Silent Hills: Playable Teaser
Before it was removed from digital storefronts by Konami, the game demo known as PT created by Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro was planned to be a teaser for a Silent Hill title known as Silent Hills. Unfortunately, this never came to pass, but gamers still regard PT as one of the most exciting and well-made horror experiences of all time.
This map, as the name implies, is a recreation of the beloved PT demo all within Minecraft’s engine. It isn’t a perfect one-to-one clone, but it’s remarkably well-made all things considered. If players love horror, it’d be a shame not to give this map a try.
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