Minecraft gamers recreating entire state of NJ

Now, I’m no gamer. So when I read that gamers heavily invested in Minecraft are setting out to recreate every single last part of the state of New Jersey, the questions in my head wouldn’t stop. Is this even possible?

They say right down to every jug handle and every pothole, so does that mean my house will be in it? Every single house and every single building in every single town in New Jersey?

How many people would this take? How long would this take?

As a guy whose go-to was the simplicity of Space Invaders as a kid in the '80s, I can’t quite imagine this.

But when I told my 16-year-old son, an avid Minecraft player, he thought it was a very cool concept and totally doable.

“Dad, remember when you tried to make that bridge and it took you like an hour? I made that in 30 seconds.”

Ouch. Okay.

So here’s the deal. Some guy in Seattle who is a gamer (and a YouTuber named PippenFTS) started this project, which is way beyond just New Jersey. It’s just that Jersey is the part of this I care about. They eventually want to recreate the entire world in the image of Minecraft landscape.

For those who don’t know, everything built in Minecraft is in cubes, whether land or water or buildings or living creatures. All cubes.

You can learn more about this build the Earth project here. (Story continues below).

Different build teams are representing different states. New Jersey is being built by well over 1,000 gamers. And these people are committed. They’re using Google Maps and street view to get every last building and street down and trying to match it as closely as possible with the 256 types of cubes they have available in the game as far as color, texture, etc.

When certain spots can’t be seen, like alleys, the folks are going in person to take photos to build from.

More questions. Will this ever really get done? I mean, even all of New Jersey let alone the whole planet? If this started as a pandemic lockdown boredom thing, will people maintain their interest level?

Since you can already use Google to look at pretty much any place on Earth as is, will people other than Minecraft fanatics appreciate this project if it’s ever done?

One last question. Whoever builds my house in Hunterdon County, can you give it a paint job and a power wash, please?

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski. Any opinions expressed are Jeff Deminski's own.