What are biomes?
Minecraft divides the Overworld into biomes, which are essentially connected areas with a variety of specific features, adding a sense of exploration to your game. Different biomes are home to various resources and animals, as well as multiple NPC buildings, like temples, huts, and villages. Here's a guide to the biomes you'll find in Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta.
Plains
Plains are wide, mostly flat expanses covered in grass and flowers. Here you will find plenty of caves to explore and plenty of livestock to herd, including horses. Plains biomes are home to many villages.
Forest
Forests are usually hilly areas covered in trees, flowers, grass, and mushrooms. Here you'll encounter all types of livestock, including wolves.
Dark forest
These forest variations are made up of dark oak trees and are sometimes referred to as "roofed forests." Find large and small mushrooms here, and be careful when navigating these biomes as they are dark enough to spawn enemy mobs during the day.
Birch forest
This is a variation of the forest biome made up entirely of birch trees.
Desert
Desert biomes can be quite expansive and are made up of sand and sandstone. There are plenty of cacti, but usually no trees. Desert biomes are the only place to find desert temples and desert wells. You can also find villages here.
Beach
You will often find a beach where a desert biome abuts an ocean, but beaches can technically be found anywhere there's water. Beaches are almost always made up of sand, but can sometimes be made up of gravel.
Cold beach
Cold beaches are snow-covered variations of regular beaches.
Stone beach
Also known as a cliff, stone beaches are tall walls of stone that connect to an ocean.
Swamp
Swamps are usually quite flat and consist of pools of green water with lily pads and trees covered in vines. If you're looking for a lot of sugar cane or mushroom, this is the place. Be careful when traversing at night — slimes come out in force.
Jungle
Jungles are extremely lush biomes covered in towering tropica trees. Climb vines, harvest cocoa beans and find jungle temples full of treasure. If you're looking for melons or a pet ocelot, head for one of these biomes. They're usually pretty easy to spot thanks to the tall trees and are generally quite wide.
Mesa
Mesa biomes are extremely rare — they are made up of multiple colors of hardened clay. These biomes are important, as they contain gold ore at any height and can have abandoned mineshafts above ground.
Bryce mesa
The Bryce mesa biome is similar to a standard mesa biome, except it has towering spires of hardened clay.
Taiga
Taiga biomes are usually quite hilly and have plenty of spruce trees. You can find villages here, and wolves are common.
Mega spruce taiga
These biomes have a ton of spruce trees grouped closely together. You'll find podzol on the ground, as well as mossy cobblestone.
Mega taiga
A variation of the standard taiga biome, here you will find enormous spruce trees and podzol blocks rather than grass blocks. Mossy cobblestone can be found here.
Tundra
Tundras are relatively difficult to survive in thanks to a lack of resources and animals. You will find an oak or spruce tree here and there, but for the most part, you'll only find snow and frozen rivers.
Tundra spikes
Tundra spike biomes are small and quite rare, so take a screenshot if you find one! These are basically tundras covered in towering spires of packed ice.
Savanna
The savanna biome is sort of a cross between plains and desert. You won't find much water, and the grass is a darker green. The acacia trees found here make great decoration thanks to their unique color — villages you find here will show this off well. You will also find plenty of livestock, including horses.
Mushroom Island
Found way out in the ocean, mushroom islands are made up of mycelium blocks instead of grass and dirt. Huge mushrooms that resemble trees grow here, and the only mobs you'll find are mooshrooms — a cow and mushroom hybrid animal. If you're looking for a spot to build without being disturbed by enemy mobs, this is the place.
Hills
Hills can be found in most other biomes, and take on the properties of that biome.
Mountains
Mountains, also known as extreme hills, are found in many other biomes and can reach all the way up into the clouds. These biomes are very fun to explore and provide a good base for building some wild structures.
Your favorite biome
What is your favorite place to make a home? Do you love tree-forts in towering jungle trees, or do you prefer a hideaway tucked into a mountain? Let us know in the comments section below!