2025 snapshots - Intentional Game Design Podcast

Intentional Game Design is a podcast dedicated to Minecraft. Hosted by two experienced Minecraft players, the podcast offers their insights on upcoming changes to the game and ideas for playing Minecraft. This is Episode 1 - we hope you enjoy it.

Hosts:
Darke https://www.youtube.com/@darke-minecraft
VidMC https://www.youtube.com/@VidMCU 

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In this inaugural episode, we discuss the first 5 snapshots of 2025 realized so far:25w02a, 25w03a, 25w04a, 25w05a, 25w06a .

The Intentional Game Design podcast is all about Minecraft, and in this episode, we (Darke and VidMC) go over all the 2025 snapshots released so far.

We talk about new mobs, like the cold and warm pig variants, which seem to be aimed at new players. They add variety but don’t really change much for experienced players. Cow variants are a bit more useful since people actually farm them for food, and we also got new chicken variants, including blue-feathered ones that lay blue eggs, which is interesting.

There are new decorative blocks, including wildflowers and leaf litter, which allow more detailed landscaping. Leaf litter can now be placed anywhere, which is a nice change. There are also new falling leaf particles that add ambiance, and fireflies finally got added—not as mobs, but as particles that come from a firefly bush. Another new plant is the cactus flower, which can be harvested, but it’s tricky since cactus blocks destroy items when broken.

On the technical side, some big changes have happened. Loadstones are now much cheaper to craft since they no longer require netherite, just iron and chiseled stone. Zombified piglins now only drop XP if killed by a player, fixing an old exploit.

The biggest change for technical players is that chunk loaders can now process random ticks, meaning crops, vines, and amethyst will grow even if the player isn’t nearby. This is huge for automation.

There were also some movement fixes—sprinting and elytra flight work properly again after being broken in earlier versions. Desert and Badlands biomes now have ambient wind sounds, which help with immersion.

Overall, we like the direction Minecraft is going with these small updates that make the world feel more alive. It’s interesting to see more variety in mobs and vegetation, even if it doesn’t affect technical gameplay much. However, we do have concerns about how frequent updates break mods and servers, making it hard for players who rely on them. We also talk about ideas for the future, like improving food mechanics and expanding crafting possibilities.

This is just the beginning of our podcast series, and we’re looking forward to covering more updates and sharing our thoughts on game design in Minecraft.

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