Today marks the release of the official trailer for “A Minecraft Movie” – and those with keen eyes might have already noticed some familiar elements from the game. The cast and crew have put a lot of work into staying true to Minecraft, and that includes bringing to life beloved features that have shaped players’ adventures throughout the years. 

If you’re new to the Minecraft universe, some of these references may have left you scratching your head, but fret not! I’m here to explain some of the most iconic elements from the trailer, what they do, and how they’re useful to Minecrafters. 

The Pickaxe 

In Minecraft, you can build almost anything. But in Survival mode, you need to start somewhere, and for most players, one of the first steps of that journey is crafting a humble wooden pickaxe. However, try to mine diamonds with it and you’ll watch that precious ore crumble into voxel dust. You’ll have to work your way up to stone, and then an iron pickaxe – much like the one that Steve has in the movie – to mine most materials in the Overworld. But to reach other dimensions, you’ll need a couple more upgrades… 

The Crafting Table 

Few blocks are more recognizable than the crafting table, which unlocks countless recipes, from more durable tools to refined materials and various contraptions. You can place a crafting table in your base like Steve does in the trailer, or you can carry it around with you in your inventory to use as needed in your adventures. Crafting tables are often accompanied by furnaces for smelting ores, as well as enchanting tables that add special properties to your gear in exchange for experience points. 

You could technically play Minecraft without ever making a crafting table, if you wanted to. Would it be difficult and keep you from discovering many cool things? Absolutely. But there’s no wrong way to play Minecraft, so you do you! Or would it just be Mine then?… 

Creepers 

To this day, the sight or hissing of a creeper sends chills down the spines of Minecrafters everywhere – and that’s no different in “A Minecraft Movie.” Unlike skeletons or zombies, creepers don’t have any upper limbs to use against you, so it’s understandable if you assume they can’t hurt you. However, at close range, you’ll discover the creeper’s devastating attack: a literal explosion. Many playthroughs have been cut short by these stealthy ambushers… so keep your head on a swivel when exploring the darker corners of the Overworld.  

Piglins 

Native to the Nether, these bipedal pig-like creatures normally can’t live in the Overworld, as they become zombified by the clean, spore-less air. However, in “A Minecraft Movie,” they’ve apparently found a way to not only enter the Overworld but also cause major trouble. What can you expect from them when playing Minecraft? The piglins you’ll encounter in the Nether are a bit more receptive to the idea of not attacking you on sight – as long as you’re wearing a piece of golden armor. Bring some gold ingots and they’ll even trade various items for them! And if you’re lucky, you might even get to see a baby piglin riding a hoglin. Awww! 

Villages 

In “A Minecraft Movie,” the protagonists pass through a village where Steve demonstrates his favorite way of cooking chicken. We’re still recovering from that one. And while you don’t get to witness any creative culinary feats in the in-game villages, they’re a huge boon for Survival mode players in need of resources, especially sustenance. The villagers might “hrrrm” and “haaaaah” as you raid their homes and farms, but they don’t really care! That’s just how they talk. In fact, they’ll also trade various goods for emeralds; the cartographer will even sell you maps to hidden treasures… but that doesn’t mean finding them will be easy. 

Ender Pearls 

You may have noticed Garret accidentally using a curious item called an Ender pearl in the official trailer – the last one in Steve’s stash, no less! In-game, Ender pearls are dropped by defeated Endermen and work in the same way: you throw them, and you get teleported to where they land. An even more interesting use for them is to craft eyes of Ender, which help you locate portals to the End dimension. This is an odd, desolate land of floating islands populated by Endermen, at the center of which lives the Ender Dragon, the largest mob in Minecraft and what is considered to be the ‘final boss’ of the game.  

Why would you even want to start a fight with the Ender Dragon? For the heaps of experience points but also for the rare dragon egg, which you can display in your base for bragging rights. If you just want to see the egg up close without fighting, you can always switch to Creative mode and place one from your unlimited inventory! I won’t tell if you don’t. 

Redstone 

Ah, redstone! Hard to learn and even harder to master in my experience – but the payoff is worth it! This crimson element can transmit signals between different components to create various automations, such as Steve’s minecart system from the trailer. Using redstone is one of the most technical skills to master in the game, but it unlocks a world of possibilities in terms of both functionality and creativity. Minecraft players have used redstone to create firework shows, automate resource farms, and even build actual computers inside of Minecraft… then played games on them! I wasn’t joking when I said you could build almost anything in Minecraft. 

I hope this brief deep dive helped you understand a bit more about how Minecraft works and why Steve yearns for the mines. But the Minecraft universe is literally endless, and I’ve barely scratched its pixelated surface – so why not grab a virtual pickaxe and see what secrets you can uncover for yourself? There’s plenty of time to practice until “A Minecraft Movie” comes out in theaters on April 4!