When it was first released on iOS devices in 2011, Minecraft: Pocket Edition was just a shadow of what it was on the PC. Where as the PC version contained infinite worlds, Pocket Edition’s worlds were tiny and self-contained. There were no monsters, nor underground chasms. And so on.
For Minecraft fans hoping to play the game on the go, these omissions were disappointing. But over the years, slowly but surely, Pocket Edition has caught up with the features of its progenitor, and the 0.9.0 updated, released yesterday, makes Minecraft: Pocket Edition almost indistinguishable from having the PC version in your pocket.
In an update that Mojang calls “the biggest update to Minecraft: Pocket Edition so far”, yesterday’s update introduces infinite worlds, just like the PC version. Now, you can continue exploring in any direction (except up or down) without ever coming to the end of the planet.
That’s a big change — Minecraft: Pocket Edition previously felt claustrophobic compared to its bigger brother but there’s more. Here’s the change-log:
Infinite worlds!
Caves!
Loads of new blocks and items including Monster Eggs and huge mushroom blocks.
Wolves! Tame a loyal companion.
Loads of new flowers! So pretty.
New mobs, including the spooky endermen and less spooky Mooshrooms.
New biomes from the PC version, including mesas, jungles, swamps and extreme hills.
Abandoned mineshafts, villages, and many other cool places to explore.
A brand-new “interaction” button. Never accidentally punch a sheep again!
New feature generation, including lakes, vines and monster rooms.
Many bugs fixed, and possibly a few added.
These are all huge changes. At this rate, I won’t be surprised if the 1.0 update to Minecraft: Pocket Edition has complete feature parity with the desktop version.
Minecraft: Pocket Edition can be downloaded from the App Store for $6.99.
