Curling in Minecraft? Come Inside My Curling Stadium!

I have made an immersive walkthrough video of all components of the stadium- from the actual ice level itself, to the entrance, concourse, suites, player zones, and even washrooms. I detail my thought process going through the development of the stadium in the section below along with progress photos, but I also include a photo walkthrough at the end. Feel free to just watch the video or do both!

Starting this blog wasn't the only summer project I decided to tackle. After 18 months of watching live games (finally!), binging past games, and playing online curling on playcurling.com, I was still missing some truly immersive element to help tide me over until the start of the 2021-2022 season. 

Minecraft. Minecraft? I haven't played that in a while. Besides, students get Minecraft (at least the Education Edition) for free anyway. What could go wrong?

After loading a random world in creative mode, I thought to myself, what could I build? A small house perhaps, maybe even a mansion? No, I wanted to embark on my most ambitious idea yet: a curling rink. But not just any ordinary rink. I wanted to build a full-size competition-worthy venue with seating. And lots of it.

So where do we start? I could draw up a blueprint architect-style, but I was so excited I jumped right into it. 

The process (with progress photos!):

My first task was constructing the sheets. Using ice, blue, red, and white concrete blocks, I began making the ice and houses for Sheet A. I even tried to add the tee and centre lines, but that proved to be too big of a task for ol' Minecraft. And yes, I used an anvil for a hack. That's what revisions are for.

I did end up building a house before the stadium.
Who wouldn't want to live right next to a curling rink?

After lots of time and lots of TNT detonation, I finally finished the first sheet complete with houses, hog lines, and bumpers.

Anyone fancy some jungle island curling?

Hours and hours later, I finally owned four sheets of precious Minecraft curling ice. I now understand how long it takes and how much it work it truly takes for ice technicians to install and tend to curling ice. Thank your local ice maker!

Of course I also added blue carpeting and a scoreboard (only at one end of Sheet A thus far in construction) to give it a true competition feel. One caveat was that I couldn't find a way to centre two hacks, so I hope my minecraft avatar is fine with one centred hack. Lefties and righties rejoice! 

I've never curled 6 feet above sea level before.
Most rinks here can't even get 5 feet of curl.

After the ice was complete, I got to move on to possibly my favourite part of construction: the seating. I initially wanted to have a capacity as large as some NHL arenas, but again alas, that proved too tall of a task. The final capacity of the stadium stands at 1426 seats, with appx. 1700 including standing room, and up to 2200 with box suites factored in (yes there are even suites!)

I would become an engineer just to build
a real-life curling rink.

I then installed the roof with glass panes to light up the rink. Minecraft unfortunately doesn't have many options for interior lighting, therefore a glass ceiling would of course never work in real life. Building the entire rink took about a week with up to 8 hours a day of construction. 

A look at the finished product from seating Section J

Photo Walkthrough

Now I didn't just make some fancy curling rink per se. I attempted to think of everything a giant arena would entail. You can also watch the video I included at the top of the post, but I also share as much of the stadium as possible in photo format down below.

The entrance. Boating license anyone?

A closer look at the box office and entrance queues.

The west side of the lobby when you just walk in. You have to get past bag check so arrive early! Seating is plenty, in case you have time between draws. A water fountain also graces the entrance, providing a calming retreat to ease the mind before nonstop yelling. Did you know the world's largest fountain is in Saudi Arabia's part of the Red Sea?

The east side of the lobby. More decorative walls are shown. Lobby washrooms are to the right. This staircase is one of three providing access to the concourse and junior suites (which you'll see shortly). Elevators are a work in progress!

The view when you arrive at the concourse via the central staircase. More on the giant stone in the centre coming up.

One of the three suites found on the concourse level and not the dedicated box suites level (I call them "junior suites").

The restaurant/snack bar to satisfy your cravings. And no, there is sadly no alcohol because I'm still underage.

A separate dining room down the stairs offers views of the ice level just in case you prefer more privacy and warmth. Also an ideal location for crying babies.

Some pictures of the washroom facilities with the first photo being an accessible washroom. 

A pro shop (which is still yet to be stocked) is found on the northeast corner of the concourse. The stadium doesn't have a vendor yet, but five bucks it's going to be Goldline.

Attack of the mannequins! An elevated retail space that will specifically offer apparel. Do employees basically get free tickets? Sign me up! (five more bucks Goldline would also take over this space)

View from the concourse from the other end of the building. More flags!

Here is what you've been waiting for! Lo and behold the ice and all its glory. What do you think could be held here? I'm hoping a Continental Cup could be. The large rock is indeed a jumbotron, with two more screens to the side. 

Here's your chance to channel your favourite inner Sheet C TSN/WCTV feature game skip. I'm thinking a Brad Gushue or an Eve Muirhead at the moment.

The home end hosts the scoreboards and time clocks, as well as the team and media benches. Sections A-D are also pictured.

Up close and personal with the jumbo stone jumbotron (I hope that wasn't a mouthful). Accessible seating bottom, centre.

As I did not want all four sides of the building to house seating, I wanted to do something different with the last side. A viewing gallery is a perfect option for a close up, more intimate, warm view of the playing surface. Teams who are not playing, along with event officials and volunteers will surely be found here.

I know Tokyo 2020 is almost over, but who doesn't love flags? Bring on Beijing 2022!

Some behind the scenes views of where the players line up before entering the ice and a volunteer's lounge with ocean views to thank the people who help run events. Curling, check. Ocean views, check. What more can you ask?

Don't hit your head!

Second-to-last stop on the tour is the box suites level. There are a total of 31 box suites on this level complementing the three junior suites on the concourse level. Each suite is named for a specific element/material in Minecraft. Here is the honeycomb suite (like the Canadian band, Honeymoon Suite) which I think offers the best view out of the entire range of box suites.

Finally, we arrive at the basement level, the players-only area. 17 dressing rooms ensures that each team entered in a competition gets their own all week. A meeting room and player's lounge round out the amenities provided by the stadium.

Thanks so much for coming along on my stadium tour! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed making it. I haven't quite found a suitable name for the rink yet, so I'm open to any suggestions! Until then, make sure to follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @onthebuttonblog if you haven't already to support my blog :)