How to Build Paper Minecraft: A Complete Guide to the Fan-Made Papercraft Game
Paper Minecraft is a browser-based, 2D fan recreation of the iconic Minecraft universe — built in Scratch by developer griffpatch. It captures the core survival loop of the original game: gather resources, craft tools, build shelters, and survive the night. But instead of 3D blocks and a full game client, everything runs flat in your browser window, making it surprisingly accessible and genuinely fun to play and even study from a design perspective.
If you've landed here wondering how to "build" Paper Minecraft — whether that means playing and constructing within the game, recreating it yourself as a coding project, or building a physical papercraft version — this guide covers all three interpretations clearly.
What Exactly Is Paper Minecraft?
Paper Minecraft is a 2D Scratch project that mirrors Minecraft's core mechanics in a side-scrolling format. The world generates procedurally, biomes shift, mobs spawn at night, and the crafting system mirrors the original game's recipes. It's fully playable in a browser via the Scratch platform at no cost.
The game was originally built on Scratch — MIT's block-based visual programming language — which means the source code is publicly viewable, remixable, and educational. This is a key reason it appeals not just to casual players but to learners interested in game development.
🎮 Building Inside Paper Minecraft (Playing the Game)
If your goal is to actually build structures and survive inside Paper Minecraft, here's how the core loop works:
Starting Out: Resource Gathering
When the world generates, you spawn with nothing. Your first priority:
- Punch trees to collect wood blocks
- Open your inventory (press E) to access your crafting grid
- Craft a crafting table first — this expands your crafting grid from 2×2 to 3×3, unlocking most recipes
Essential Early Crafting Recipes
| Item | Materials Needed |
|---|---|
| Crafting Table | 4 Wood Planks |
| Wooden Pickaxe | 3 Wood Planks + 2 Sticks |
| Wooden Sword | 2 Wood Planks + 1 Stick |
| Furnace | 8 Cobblestone |
| Torch | 1 Coal + 1 Stick |
These recipes mirror the original Minecraft crafting system closely, so if you know one game, the knowledge transfers.
Building Structures
To build, select a block from your hotbar and place it using the mouse. The 2D format means structures are essentially cross-section views — you're building walls and enclosed rooms in a flat plane. A functional shelter needs:
- Walls and a ceiling to block mob spawns inside
- A door to enter and exit safely
- Torches to prevent hostile mobs from spawning in dark interiors
- A bed (crafted from wool and wood planks) to skip the night cycle
Survival difficulty ramps up quickly once night hits and skeletons, zombies, and creepers begin spawning.
💻 Recreating Paper Minecraft as a Coding Project
This is where the topic gets more technically interesting. Because Paper Minecraft was built on Scratch, the full project is publicly available to remix — meaning you can open the source, study how griffpatch implemented mechanics, and build your own version.
What Skills Are Involved
Building something like Paper Minecraft from scratch (lowercase) requires understanding several concepts regardless of the platform you use:
- Procedural world generation — using noise functions or randomized seeding to create varied terrain
- Tile-based rendering — drawing a 2D grid where each cell is a block type
- Physics and collision detection — ensuring the player can't walk through solid blocks
- Inventory and crafting logic — data structures that track items and validate recipe combinations
- Enemy AI — basic pathfinding and aggression triggers based on player proximity or light levels
Platform Variables That Change the Build
The tools and environment you use significantly affect how you approach this:
| Platform | Skill Level | What Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Scratch | Beginner | Visual blocks, limited performance, great for learning |
| Python (Pygame) | Intermediate | Text-based code, more control, runs locally |
| JavaScript (Canvas API) | Intermediate | Browser-based, similar to the original Paper Minecraft |
| Unity or Godot | Advanced | Full engine support, steeper learning curve but scalable |
A Scratch remake will behave differently than a JavaScript version in terms of performance limits, asset handling, and how complex you can make the world generator.
📄 Building a Physical Papercraft Minecraft
A third interpretation: actual physical paper models of Minecraft characters and blocks. This is a different craft entirely.
Minecraft's official website and various fan communities offer printable papercraft templates — pre-designed net patterns you print, cut, fold, and glue into 3D figures. Steve, Creepers, TNT blocks, and Endermen are common templates.
Key variables in physical papercraft builds:
- Paper weight — standard printer paper (80gsm) works but heavier cardstock (160–250gsm) holds shape better and lasts longer
- Cutting precision — a craft knife and cutting mat produces cleaner edges than scissors
- Gluing technique — PVA glue or a fine-tip glue pen gives better control than a glue stick on small tabs
- Complexity of the model — beginner templates have fewer fold lines; advanced builds like full scene dioramas involve dozens of interlocking pieces
The accuracy of your folds matters more than the tools — a clean score line (gently dragging a blunt knife or empty pen along the fold before bending) makes a significant difference in the final shape.
The Variables That Determine Your Approach
Whether you're building inside Paper Minecraft, coding your own version, or constructing physical papercraft models, the right path depends on factors specific to you: your technical background, your available tools, your age and patience level for fiddly tasks, and what you actually want to get out of the project.
Someone learning to code will get completely different value from this topic than someone who just wants to survive their first Paper Minecraft night — and both experiences are genuinely worthwhile in different ways.