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.

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Sewer survival is a minecraft combat and survival map that requires the player (or indeed players, being designed for up to four players) to not only survive but also battle their way through ninety nine waves of aggressive mobs spawned inside the sewer arena.

In the spirit of many other assault style maps. There are four classes to choose from, Chef, Archer, Knight and Tank. Each class comes with its own gear and even its own rooms. I played Archer, though I’m not sure that was wise. A single player might want to play a class with a higher defensive ability.

One thing this map did make me yearn for was a decent AOE effect, it was so easy to get mobbed by a bunch of different monsters, some with great ranged attacks, some with devastating melee capabilities.

Aside from the interesting design, there are many nice touches in Sewer Survival, one of them being the way that there’s a juke box in the center of the room with a bunch of records in a chest nearby. You can choose the soundtrack to your adventure.

A well made and fast paced map, this is a must play for anyone who likes battling waves of baddies and unlocking rewards for doing so. Pretty much all gamers ever then.

Download Minecraft Defense Sewer Survival Map

This is a challenge based survival map set on a single 50 by 50 cube of varying terrain. It will appeal to people who like to complete challenges rather than attempt to find meaning in the general idea of surviving. Some of the challenges will be fairly difficult, such as creating an underwater house and getting a pet wolf. Others, like collecting twenty pieces of zombie flesh are pretty much just a matter of time.

I especially liked the way this map has an ‘exit strategy’. Most minecraft survival maps are played until the player simply loses the will to live and starts doing something else instead. This one requires you to build yourself a minecart rollercoaster back to the ground.

Although the prospect of spending a game trapped in a 50 by 50 secion of land might seem intensely boring to those who lack imagination, this is a prime opportunity to think inside the box (we’ve all been thinking outside the box for so long we’ve forgotten that good things sometimes come in boxes, like candy.)

If you’re looking for a compact survival map with defined challenges, surprises galore and a defined end point, Survival Cubed ticks all the boxes.

Click here to download the map!

Hatchet is a Minecraft survival map with a bit of a story. Something about being a 13 year old boy and losing your dad somewhere. I forget the specifics. All I really remember is that your name becomes Brian, which is fun if you’re a female, because it opens up a whole new world of gender possibilities.

There are a lot of shouty rules which I pretty much ignored, because some of them are simply invasive and go to play style, which a map maker has no business dictating. If you’re going to tell people how to play your survival map you may as well download yourself and play it for them too.

The game starts with a bang. That’s all I have to say there. Then you’re directed by a sign to a creeper infested hole and the game begins in earnest. Because I played this map on the 12w6 snapshot release, there’s an interesting dynamic in that the beasties coming out of the cave sometimes hide from the sun. I spent an inordinate amount of time being killed by creepers, which wasn’t nearly as much fun as it sounded. My efforts to build a sword were interrupted by being blown to smithereens every few minutes, which I found less than entirely enjoyable.

The storyline stops shy of making this an adventure map, but it’s not so much a survival map beyond any ordinary survival map you generate and load on your own. So, should you download it? Well, it certainly exists, and those who enjoy completing challenges might very well find it amusing. I also found it substantially filled with monsters, even though I only played it on easy mode. So, you know, monsters plus being named Brian, that’s got to count for something.

Download Hatchet Minecraft Survival