‘Minecraft’ PlayStation And Xbox Adds New Tumble Mini-Games, Battle Map Pack

Mojang released a second free mini-game Tuesday to Minecraft for the Playstation 4, PS3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360. Tumble, 4J Studios’ spin on the Spleef game mode, is available for console players to try out, along with a brand new Battle Map Pack and some changes to the Battle Mini Game.

Tumble challenges up to eight players to knock each other into lava by destroying blocks beneath each other’s feet. The mode is inspired by the Minecraft PC community favorite, Spleef.

“We wanted to bring that experience to console and, as with Battle, streamline the experience so players don’t have to worry about re-setting maps between matches or even keeping score,” Mojang’s Marsh Davies explained.

The Tumble levels are generated semi-randomly, according to the studio. Some will have multiple levels for players to battle on and come with other hazards, such as Slime and TNT blocks. Players can get stuck on the former or blow up with the latter.

Two variants of Tumble are available for Minecraft: Console Edition players. One equips players with snowballs to destroy blocks, while the other puts shovels in their hands. Each match is a best-of-three rounds, with the winner determined to be the last one standing.

As with the Battle Mini Game, Tumble is available as a free download for Minecraft: Console Edition on PlayStation and Xbox consoles. The Wii U will receive it later this week. New maps for the mode will be sold via micro-transactions later down the line.

Speaking of the Minecraft Battle Mini Game. Developer 4J Studio made some balance changes to the spawn chests and fixed some map issues as part of the Title Update 41 released Tuesday. Battle Map Pack 3 was also launched with three new maps. One is set in a “Colossal Castle,” another in an “Incredible Shipyard,” and the final features a “Terrifying Invasion.” The pack is available for $2.99 via the PlayStation Store and Xbox Store.

Here are the Title Update 41 patch notes for the Xbox 360 version of Minecraft posted to the Minecraft Forums by 4J Studios. These notes are the same across all platforms:

• Added Tumble Mini Game.
• Added Battle Map Pack 3 (Castle, Invasion & Shipyard).
• Added six new achievements for the Battle mini game.
• Re-enabled the previous Birthday and Minecon skin packs for players who had them.
• Battle Mini Game: Made some changes to chest refilling logic to make things harder for players camping beside chests.
• Battle Mini Game: Made some balancing changes to items spawning in chests.
• Battle Mini Game: Fixed some map issues in Cavern, Siege, Ruin, Lair, and Atlantis arenas.
• Introduced a “vote to kick” system for mini games. When there are more than three players in a public game, a player will be kicked from the game when they have received three votes. This scales down when there are less players.

Mojang and 4J Studios are working on additional mini-games to add to Minecraft. There’s no word on if or when these same updates will arrive to Minecraft: Pocket Edition and Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition.

The mobile and Windows 10 version of Minecraft has its own update that it is currently being prepared by Mojang. As covered yesterday by Inquisitr, the 0.16 update to these versions is adding bosses like the Wither and Elder Guardian to the mix, along with underwater monuments. New blocks and beacons are also coming, along with the ability to enter in Slash commands for the first time. Players will be able to give items away, summon mobs, change the time of day, and more as part of the initial list of 20 commands that will be available.

What do you think of the Tumble Mini Game coming to Minecraft: Console Edition? Sound off in the comments below.

[Image via Mojang]