A minecraft survival map with amazing scope, Eldaria Island is a very large survival map encompassing unique biomes, a custom nether and a true survival experience that is not limited to a box or an island in the sky but which extends for thousands of blocks in every direction.

This is the sort of survival map that will require multiple bases, a great deal of travel by boat and foot and the spark of adventure that lives inside those who are true explorers. This is one map that must be played to be understood. Whether you make your home in a lofty treetop or at the top of a massive desert mountain, it will be many hours before you tire of the spectacular terrain.

There is also the option to download the map in creative and hard mode versions, so players who want to either explore at speed or grind their way through the terrain at a more dangerous pace can do that if they want to.

Download Eldaria Island Minecraft Survival Map

Fond of the tales of Camelot? Of medieval knights and dragons and damsels in distress? You’ll potentially run into two of those three things playing Faraway Avalon, a minecraft sky island survival map. A castle to explore makes survival all the more exciting on this floating island in the sky. There are secret panels and passages to uncover, not to mention hidden rooms filled with spiderwebs and other useful items of, well, usefulness. Not all the passages are safe however, so best to be careful when exploring. Sometimes it is much easier to get into things than it is to get out of them.

Players looking for a whimsical survival experience will have a lot of fun with this map, which builds on the basic survival experience without going quite so far as an adventure map. With this new island world as your own, you become the master of all you survey, build your sky island kingdom to greatness or farm enough creepers to blow the whole thing, er, sky high.

Download Faraway Avalon Sky Island Minecraft Survival Map

One could be forgiven for thinking that Minecraft was all about surviving on islands. In this map the island is dead and you must restore the island to life. It’s a nice twist on an established theme, not only ensuring your own survival, but the survival of your environment. One might say it’s a map with a message, but that would probably be going a little too far.

You spawn on the island, which is rather large but contains nothing besides dirt, sand, mountains and a couple of trees. The starting chest contains a block of grass, some sugar cane, a pumpkin, two mushrooms, a melon, a cactus and 64 cocoa beans. Just moments after spawning, it began to rain,which imparted a rather gloomy atmosphere that went very well with the whole ‘dead island’ theme.

What’s nice about this map is that you need to travel to acheieve your goals for survival. Unlike other maps, which cramp you into a tediously small space, this one gives you all the room you could need and more. Of course, it’s up to you to make that space usable. There are surprises hidden here and there, but the map relies on solid minecraft strategies rather than gimmicks. To survive you’re going to need to cultivate the soil, drive off enemies and expand your holdings a little bit at a time. In many respects playing this map took me back to my very first days of minecraft when it was in alpha and dirt and wood were the staples of the game.

For an old school challenge with a fresh face, I reccomend this map.

Download Dead Survival Island Minecraft Map!

Not many survival maps are known for their spectacular landscapes, but this one is different. Survival is difficult on this particular island because one finds oneself continuosly distracted by the epic landscapes. Epic is a very much overused word, (and a wildly misused one at that, as the term refers to a long poem) but I think you know what I mean when I say this survival map is indeed, epic on account of the massive lava spewing volcano that dominates the main part of the map.

What’s very nice about this map is that it comes in three different formats, Creative, Survival and Hardmode. You know what hardmode is. I prefer to use that word because it doesn’t have connotations. This offers a full range of options for people who want to either a) play the map or b) toss random blocks at it in an attempt to be artistic or impressive.

There’s also a texture pack made especially for the map, just in case the massive volcano and surrounding ranges with pouring waterfalls aren’t quite impressive enough for you.

Wordpuncher’s Rating: 9/10 Absolutely gorgeous custom terrain made back when this sort of map was just getting started. Kurow Island is one of the forerunners of the large survival map genre.

Download this minecraft map!