Someone has beaten Minecraft without doing any mining
Just when you think you've seen everything in Minecraft, there's this.
Hedgey, who has chosen this project as his very first YouTube upload, has completed Minecraft - defeating the Ender Dragon at the game's conclusion - without mining a single block. The video, embedded below, is a sort-of highlight reel of what must have been a very long process.
There's some luck involved here - since so much of it relies on random spawns, and there's the possibility of hitting an impenetrable material at the game's end - but somehow, incredibly, Hedgey pulls it off.
They gather bread, paper, grass, water - just about everything you can gather without mining, relying on the random spawns of villages. They sleep in pre-existing homes. It looks time-consuming, and they have to beat up creepers using loaves of bread. Since they can't dig, getting underground involves using explosives, including exploding enemies. They manage to kit themselves out pretty well despite this handicap.
The Reddit thread about this achievement is currently sitting on 12.1k upvotes. The video is worth a look - even if you're not into Minecraft, it's an impressive achievement.
In other Minecraft news, the upcoming Nether update included a new race (the Piglins), and the game is getting a character creator.