Blockbeard's Gold Race
An esports world that tests your Minecraft knowledge and skill, as you compete for the fastest time in a race through Blockbeard’s Island.
Open in MinecraftUpdated: March 26, 2025
Learning objectives
The goal of Blockbeard’s Gold Race is to cross the finish line to stop the clock with the lowest possible Final Time. In order to finish the race, you must hit all checkpoints in sequence. (If you arrive at the finish line without completing all checkpoints, you will not receive a Final Time.)
When the race starts, the course is completely open with no barriers. The only rule is to reach the checkpoints in sequence. You can be creative by choosing your own path but be careful not to get lost or injured.
This race is designed to challenge your Minecraft knowledge and skill. There are many ways to complete the course. Your goal is to find all the fastest paths, use your available resources, execute the most skillful techniques and finish in record time. Getting a good time in any speedrun requires practice, creativity and perseverance. How many tries will it take you to finish in less than 15 minutes? Or less than 10 minutes?
Whether it's the excitement of the classroom, an opportunity for demonstration of mastery, or a sense of community and leadership, esports can provide many of the same benefits as traditional sports in schools. Moreover, esports are often an outlet for students who might be “uninterested or felt excluded from traditional sports or other extracurricular activities.” (Rourke 2022) It’s a space and place for ALL students to shine.
Teacher prep and notes
Single Player or Co-Op Only
This is not a PVP world. Any players that join this world will be playing on the same team. The first player to reach a checkpoint will advance all other players to that checkpoint, so your total time will be the fastest times to each checkpoint. Make sure to share any items found in chests.
To compete against other players/teams, play each game on your own device and submit your scores to determine the winner. Updated Player Guide
Review the attached instruction guide and MInecraft esports subject kit at Minecraft Esports 2022 | Minecraft Education Edition
Guiding ideas
Creating a Minecraft esports and club program in your school and building the opportunities for your students to grow and learn together is now easier than ever. We partnered with Bronwyn Stuckey at Innovative Educational Ideas to develop two toolkits to help you jumpstart your club and learn how to host a Minecraft esports tournament at your school. Check out these resources to help you get started no matter where you are in your Minecraft journey:
- The Esports Club Toolkit is a step-by-step guide focused on developing esports competencies and how to develop Minecraft clubs within your school. You will find details of what it takes to create a Minecraft club, how to run club esports challenges, as well as templates and real-life examples you can apply for your own club! Download here.
Student activities
The first player to reach a checkpoint will advance all other players to that checkpoint, so your total time will be the fastest times to each checkpoint. Make sure to share any items found in chests.
To compete against other players/teams, play each game on your own device and submit your scores to determine the winner.
After passing all checkpoints and crossing the finish line, the clock will stop and you will get a “Final Time” displayed on the screen.
The Esports Competition Guide dives deeper into how to leverage your creativity in the next phase of your esports journey and provides a step-by-step strategy on how to create an internal esports competition within your school using Minecraft: Education Edition. Explore examples of how to develop your competition, build your bracket, and drive engagement across your entire school along with real life examples of successful Minecraft esports challenges for your guidance. Download here.
Performance expectations
The Esports Educator Framework is a compendium of research, how-to manuals for our subject kit, advice from mentor experts and rubrics for helping assess E sports competitions. Consider it your reference guide and easily accessible and amendable Minecraft Esports handbook.
External reference
Skills
- Collaboration
- Communication
- Critical thinking
Estimated time
30 min
Supporting Files
- Blockbeard's Gold Run Instruction GuideInstruction Guide