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Social distancing is a concept that I’m sure most of us never imagined we would have to employ. And as each of us tries to deal with the restrictions imposed on our daily lives, if we are not directly affected by the consequences of COVID-19, it can be difficult to remember why it is so important.
Fortunately, Minecraft It has a map that you can download that will teach you the importance of social distancing and why it is effective in fighting the coronavirus (thanks, Gamespot). The map, Blockdown Simulator, was created by design and innovation company AKQA and can be downloaded free for Java Edtion from Minecraft – So there are no console versions, unfortunately. You can watch the video below (or here is a direct link).
In Blockdown Simulator, you can play as an observer or take a more practical approach as a nurse. There is no specific game mode, but Creative Hard Mode is recommended for the simulation to “generate the right circumstances.” There are three different scenarios that you can toggle between: free for all, quarantine, and lock.
The map has two levels. The village is the main area and houses a tower containing levers and buttons that are used to simulate an outbreak and will spawn villagers and zombie villagers or lock or unlock doors. According to the official blog post, “By switching between different variables in the control tower, players can see how quickly villagers can become zombie villagers.”
The second level is a hospital that can be used to heal villagers. “To simulate a real life health system, only a Zombie Villager can occupy a ZICU [Zombie Intensive Care Unit] at the same time. The rest is up to the player, who must administer golden apples to all patients so that they can fully recover. ”
“We feel compelled to use our skills to make social distancing models accessible to everyone,” explains Joseph, co-creator of Blockdown, “especially to a younger audience who might be confused about the new reality in which We live. As a partner of Mojang and Heart17, we felt this was fertile ground to speak to new audiences on this topic. ”
“Minecraft it was the perfect platform to show social distancing in a more tangible and meaningful light, “adds co-creator Hugo.” By launching Blockdown Simulator to the community, we hope to foster positive discussions among its players and beyond. ”
A similar educational event was privately organized World of warcraft server, Elysium, a couple of weeks ago. During the event, the “virus” was placed on an in-game object and within 15 hours, it had infected more than 2,000 players. That number increased to 7,000 in one day and ended up hitting 88 percent of active players.
Virtual or not, it is certainly telling to see how fast a virus can spread if left unchecked.
