The Legacy of New Wood Types in Minecraft Deserves a Spiritual Successor

The expansive universe of Minecraft is a treasure trove of blocks and items, ranging from the earthy dirt to the scarce Ender Dragon Egg. Each material serves its purpose, whether that’s for crafting tools, gathering food, or simply adding a touch of flair to one’s creations. Most newcomers start their Minecraft adventure by constructing their first home using wood, which offers a variety of choices now, from the familiar birch and spruce to the new pale oak. These wooden planks are among the most flexible building materials available in the game. However, there’s another block type that deserves a little more diversity: stone.

Diving Deeper into Minecraft’s Stone Selection

After assembling their initial wooden dwellings, players usually shift their focus to mining stone and its relatives. Stone is vital in the world of Minecraft, enabling players to extract iron ore, which in turn opens up the possibility of mining even more valuable minerals. Stone isn’t just about mining; it’s indispensable for crafting furnaces, stonecutters, and redstone devices. Cobblestone, for example, can be smelted into smooth stone, which expands the building possibilities to buttons, plates, slabs, stairs, and stone bricks. Cobblestone itself morphs into brewing stands, pistons, and dispensers, making it a cornerstone of any miner’s toolkit.

But gray stone isn’t the only game in town. In desert and badlands biomes, sandstone—both the regular white and the vibrant red varieties—lurks beneath the surface. Meanwhile, andesite, diorite, tuff, and granite are often found in abundance near the surface level. Go deeper, and you might stumble upon dripstone or obsidian before hitting the ominous deepslate rock. Each of these stones has its own transformation into slabs, stairs, and walls, with sandstones additionally being crafted into smooth and chiseled variants, while deepslate offers cobble, cracked, polished, and brick forms.

Cobblestone was, in fact, Minecraft’s original underground block, solely existing in this form when the game first launched in 2009.

Envisioning a Broader Stone Palette for Minecraft

Through Minecraft’s 15-year journey, wood and stone blocks have seen significant evolution and diversification. Currently, the game boasts nine stone varieties (excluding cobble). When you look at wood, there are ten distinct types of trees—oak, birch, spruce, jungle, acacia, dark oak, mangrove, cherry, and pale oak. Plus, the Nether and jungles offer crimson, teal, chartreuse, and bamboo wood-like blocks. With a total of 13 unique plank colors, there’s a case to be made for expanding stone varieties to match, enhancing the creative possibilities for building homes and bases.

One intriguing addition could be kimberlite, a deep volcanically-formed igneous rock often associated with diamonds in real life, mottled with gold and black tones. Providing hints of diamond clusters, kimberlite could become an exciting element deep underground for modern miners to discover. Other stones such as tachylite, jaspillite, and gossan also offer colorful alternatives, fitting to Minecraft’s principle that stone won’t burn, unlike wood or wool.

Stone Block Enhancements on the Horizon?

Mojang could shake things up with potential updates to not just introduce new stone types but also enhance crafting options for existing stones. Currently, andesite, diorite, and granite lack the versatility for converting into bricks or chiseled blocks. A minor update to enable these possibilities would be a boon for expert builders. Similarly, dripstone, while visually striking, doesn’t transform into stairways or walls, which seems like a missed opportunity ripe for rectification. Additionally, the labor-intensive obsidian and crying obsidian could be expanded to include more crafting options, like brick formation and stair construction.

Minecraft invites players to mold a universe uniquely their own. Whether you’re surviving against foes in the dark or crafting masterpieces from your imagination, the game is a sandbox of endless potential. As you alter landscapes and raise awe-inspiring structures, every block you place or break tells a piece of your Minecraft story. Share your ventures with fellow players or explore community-created realms. Each session can be a daring quest or a quiet retreat—whatever you choose, Minecraft is your world to explore and enjoy in countless ways.