What is Minecraftle and how to play it?

As the single best-selling video game of all time, Minecraft has inspired countless people to create, not just in the game but outside of it as well. Fans have been making art, Minecraft modpacks, and more for almost the entire decade the game has been out. For example, Minecraftle is a Minecraft version of Wordle, a word-guessing game so popular that even streamers like xQc have played it.

Minecraftle was created by Tamura Boog, Zach Manson, Harrison Oates, and Ivan Sossa Gongora with the goal of using uniquely Minecraft-style gameplay and game knowledge to guess rather than simple letters. How they achieved this goal, along with an explanation of how to play Minecraftle, can be found below.

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What is Minecraftle?

There is also a list of rules (Image via Minecraftle)

As mentioned previously, Minecraftle is a Minecraft version of Wordle. In Wordle, players are asked to guess words and then given information about whether the letters used are in the target word. There are limited guesses until a player loses, pushing the stakes even higher.

This Minecraft port replaces English words with Minecraft crafting recipes. Players are presented with an empty three-by-three crafting grid along with a small inventory of materials. This inventory includes several iconic items (such as redstone) that are used in many advanced Minecraft farms.

Players will have to craft different items, and they will be told which items are also used to make the target item. The colors used are the same as Wordle, making it easy to jump in. Any items highlighted in green are both the correct item and in the right spot. Yellow items are used in the recipe but not where they have been placed. There are 10 guesses before the player loses.

This might seem like a lot of guesses, but Minecraftle does have an interesting bit of extra difficulty: unlike English words, a lot of Minecraft's recipes use the same items five or six times. Unlike Wordle, players might need to use eight wooden planks to craft a chest in Minecraft.

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How you can play it

1) Go to the website

A blank crafting interface has never been so intimidating (Image via Minecraftle)

The first thing you'll need to do to play the game is find the website. Thankfully, a simple Google search for the name will pull the official website up at the top of the results. This will launch straight into a game, ready to play. Now, you'll need to get the ball rolling by making a guess. In this example game, the first guess was a piston.

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2) Make a guess

The first crafting recipe attempted can reveal a lot (Image via Minecraftle)

Referencing the rules, this reveals that the real recipe does include four cobblestone, but only three of the piston's cobblestone are in the right location; the last will need to be moved. The wooden planks, minable Minecraft iron, and redstone dust are unfortunately not used in the target item.

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3) If at first you don't succeed

A second guess, this time crafting a furnace (Image via Minecraftle)

The large amount of cobblestone used in the recipe means there might be more. The easiest crafting recipe to see where more stone might be used is a furnace, used in the construction of super smelters. The example game's next guess is furnace, which indicates that, yes, more cobblestone is used, but only in the bottom left of the crafting grid.

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4) Refine and try again

A final, correct guess confirms the item as stairs (Image via Minecraftle)

Thankfully, the fact that there is only one other place for the last piece of cobblestone to go means the solution is obvious. This puzzle's solution is cobblestone stairs, resulting in a victory when crafting them. If you've played the daily puzzle, the website will show you some statistics, but playing a new game is as easy as hitting the "Random" button.

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This interesting and unique Minecraft fan game is a great way to make sure you stay up to date on the game's crafting recipes, so you don't forget how to craft a piston when you really need one.