Mine 64

Mine 64 is a homebrew game by Silicon Sloth initially released on 30 April 2024. It’s a clone of Minecraft on the N64 where you can build and destroy terrain.

You can get the ROM from its download page by using the password mineycrafta. You can also get it from the Github releases page.

About Mine 64

Minecraft needs no introduction, it’s literally the best selling video game in history. Since it was first released in 2009 by Notch, the game has had many updates that added mobs, inventory, survival mechanics, the end dimension and much much more. Mine 64 is most similar to the Classic version of Minecraft, that is the pre-alpha version.

Here you can build like in sandbox mode. There is no inventory, you essentially have an infinite amount of every block and there is no crafting or furnace.

There are several blocks that you can choose from:

• Cobblestone
• Sand
• Wood
• Leaves
• Planks
• Brick
• Dirt
• Stone
• Grass

Mine 64 features a fairly accurate world generator. It makes a 64x64x32 world (131,072 blocks), but it doesn’t expand the way Minecraft does so you’re stuck within those bounds. You can save your world if you’re using a flash cart, it’ll create a mine64 folder and save your world in a 64k file. This doesn’t work on emulators though; you can just use a save state in that case.

Review and conclusion

When I first heard about Mine 64, I expected it to either run like a slug or be limited to a very small world size like 1 chunk. I was pleasantly surprised to see it running at a cheeky 60 frames per second with a very detailed map.

The game is very simplistic by today’s Minecraft standards so there’s not really much to do or explore. You can make your own constructions, but you’re limited to only use the available blocks. There’s no stair blocks or half blocks so it’ll all end up looking a bit blocky.

I think that technically given what Mine 64 is, it could sacrifice some frame rate (eg go to 30fps) and add a few more things like dynamic loading of chunks from the SD card or even add in a mob or two.

It still has room to grow, but even now it’s a fantastic showcase of what a little creativity can squeeze out of the N64.