Gamer unveils a Blockpool Tower

It’s Blackpool’s most famous landmark...as you’ve never quite seen it before.
Blackpool Tower recreated in MinecraftBlackpool Tower recreated in Minecraft
Blackpool Tower recreated in Minecraft

An avid video gamer has transformed Blackpool Tower into a star of the small screen, by recreating the attraction using the digital gaming phenomenon, Minecraft.

Minecraft is a console and online video game where players “mine” blocks and then build houses, or whatever construction they fancy, using the materials they have mined.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Jonatan Edsinger, an 18-year-old student and Minecraft fanatic from Sweden, set about building Blackpool Tower in the game, and spent two weeks of gaming to complete the project.

The Minecraft version of the Blackpool Tower Ballroom.The Minecraft version of the Blackpool Tower Ballroom.
The Minecraft version of the Blackpool Tower Ballroom.

Jonatan started to build The Tower after a fellow gamer had seen his work building the Eiffel Tower, and decided to ask him to utilise his talents to construct the coastal landmark.

The Swedish gamer has never visited the Tower, but researched the landmark and used images online, combined with his vast building experience in the game, to piece an incredibly detailed construction together.

“The first time I played was on my brother’s computer a few years ago, because I thought it looked fun, and I’ve been playing ever since,” he told The Gazette.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I searched for the building on Google and found all the pictures I needed, and I also got some help with it from another gamer, ‘a380dan’.”

Having completed the impressive reconstruction, Jonatan says he would now like to come to Blackpool for real to see how his digital tower weighs up against the real thing.

“I have never been to the UK, so I haven’t been to Blackpool, but it would be a great experience to visit it in the future to see how it looks in real life,” he added.

“The building is quite amazing, I see it like the English Eiffel Tower!

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“The exterior took around three to four days to build and the interior took about nine days, but not in hours though, since I don’t play all the time.”

Even with such crude materials, Jonatan managed to capture an incredible amount of detail in the venue including the chandeliers, curtains and the Wurlitzer organ in the Tower Ballroom.

Completing the The Tower has not deterred the digital maestro, who has gone on to recreate other world monuments and vast buildings using the digital blocks.

“After Blackpool Tower I have made the Queen Victoria Building, a circus and a Indian church that I just finished. My projects at the moment are another shopping mall and to finish a train station.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

This completely unlimited way of playing has led to buildings from the real world being rebuilt in the digital realm, as well as buildings that are impossible to create in reality.

Minecraft has become a phenomenon in the gaming world after its release three years ago, and has become one of the best selling video games of all time, spawning toys and even a festival dedicated to the game.

Kate Shane, from Blackpool Tower, said: “Anybody that feels so excited about The Tower to create it in such a unique way is fantastic, we’re all passionate about The Tower and it’s wonderful to see.

“I don’t know much about Minecraft, but this must have been quite a task.”

Minecraft factfile ...

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The initial version was publicly released for PC on May 17, 2009, and after gradual updates, the full version was released on November 18, 2011.

Minecraft received five awards during the 2011 Game Developers Conference. In 2012, Minecraft was awarded a Golden Joystick Award in the category Best Downloadable Game.

As of October 10, 2014, more than 12 million copies of the game on the Xbox 360 and 17 million copies on PC have been sold; nearly 54 million copies have been sold across all platforms, making it one of the best-selling video games of all time.

On September 15, 2014, Microsoft announced a deal to buy Mojang, the developer of Minecraft, granting the company ownership of the game’s intellectual property. The all-cash deal was worth $2.5 billion and the deal was completed on November 6, 2014.