Minecraft: Story Mode

Minecraft: Story Mode is an episodic point-and-click graphic adventure video game developed and published by Telltale Games, based on the sandbox video game Minecraft. The first five episodes of the game were released between October 2015 through March 2016, and an additional three episodes were released as downloadable content in mid-2016. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Nintendo Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Android, iOS, and Apple TV. The game was developed in association with Mojang, the original developer of Minecraft. A retail version was released in December 2016.

The game follows the episodic format that Telltale Games used for its titles: The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, Tales from the Borderlands, and Game of Thrones. The game centers around a new character named Jesse, who can be either male or female, as they and their allies attempt to save their world by defeating the Wither Storm.

A second five-episode season was released by Telltale in July 2017, continuing the story from the first season and influenced by players' choices made during that season.

Gameplay
Minecraft: Story Mode is an episodic interactive comedy-drama point-and-click graphic adventure video game. It was released as a number of episodes similar to Telltale Games' other games. Players can collect items, solve puzzles, and talk to non-player characters through conversation trees to learn about the story and determine what to do next. Decisions that the player makes affect events in both the current episode and later episodes. However, Minecraft: Story Mode is intended to be a family-friendly title, unlike Telltale's previous games, which tend to carry more mature or emotional overtones (including the death of major characters). As such, the decisions are intended to be pivotal and emotional but not to involve mature imagery or themes. Elements of crafting and building were included in the gameplay which are central to Minecraft. The game includes combat and other action sequences, carried out through both quick time events and more arcade-like controls, such as steering around debris on a road.

Setting
Minecraft: Story Mode takes place in an interpretation of the world of Minecraft. The main character Jesse is a passionate newbie Minecraft player who sets out on a journey with friends within the world of Minecraft to find The Order of the Stone (Gabriel, Ellegaard, Magnus, Soren, Ivor), five legendary adventurers who saved the Minecraft world. The game includes settings that are normally difficult to access from within Minecraft, including the Nether, The End, and the Far Lands.

Characters
The player can customize Jesse, including choice of gender and skin tone. Jesse is voiced by Patton Oswalt if male and by Catherine Taber if female. Other characters within the Minecraft world include the humans Petra (voiced by Ashley Johnson) Axel (Brian Posehn), Olivia (Martha Plimpton), Lukas (Scott Porter), Maya, Ivy, Fangirl (GK Bowes), Owen (Owen Hill), Gill (Phil LaMarr), Aiden, Otis (Matthew Mercer), Ivor Sigge (Paul Reubens), Usher (Jason 'jtop' Topolski), Fanboy (Billy West), Lydia (Lydia Winters), the Announcer (Erin Yvette), Jesse's pet pig Reuben (Dee Bradley Baker) and the four Order of the Stone members: Gabriel the Warrior (Dave Fennoy), Magnus the Rogue (Corey Feldman), Ellegaard the Redstone Engineer (Grey Griffin), and Soren the Architect (John Hodgman). Stauffer said that the human characters as a whole represent the different types of gamers who play Minecraft. Billy West narrates the first four episodes of the story.

Plot
''This is a broad overview of the plot. Certain decisions made by the player will alter details of specific events.''

The Order of the Stone (Episode 1)
Jesse (Patton Oswalt or Catherine Taber) and his/her friends, Olivia (Martha Plimpton) and Axel (Brian Posehn), along with his pet pig Reuben (Dee Bradley Baker), go to the EnderCon building competition, which they lose every year to a rival team called the Ocelots. Despite this, they manage to build an impressive contraption, which Ocelot member Aiden (Matthew Mercer) jealously sabotages, scaring off Reuben. Jesse and the gang goes after Reuben or Axel and Olivia stays to save the build. Jesse went out to find Reuben, interacting with things around too, when Reuben is found, Jesse and Reuben is surrounded by hostile mobs, Jesse has a choice to tell Reuben to run or stay beside him, Jesse (and Reuben) (is/are) saved from mobs by their friend Petra (Ashley Johnson), who convinces Jesse to help her with a business deal: selling a Wither skull for a diamond.

Back at the competition, that Jesse's team wins/loses, the deal goes bad when Ivor (Paul Reubens), the man Petra sells the skull to, rips her off and flees. Jesse and Petra, joined by Axel, Olivia and the sympathetic Ocelot leader, Lukas (Scott Porter), follow Ivor into an underground laboratory. There, they discover him making a Wither, an incredibly dangerous creature, but are unable to stop him. The creature attacks the event and targets Gabriel (Dave Fennoy), a member of the legendary Order of the Stone, whom Ivor seems to know. Ivor loses control of the Wither, which, with the power of the special 'command block' implanted in the Wither's chest, transforms into an advanced, more horrific version of itself, called 'The Wither Storm'. It then destroys the town, forcing the group to escape into Gabriel's fortress, where Gabriel sends Jesse's group to find Order members Magnus (Corey Feldman) and Ellegaard (Grey Griffin), and gives them an amulet to guide them. They head into the dangerous Nether, leaving Petra and Gabriel behind in the process ( as one of them being sucked into the Wither Storm, depending on your choices).

In the Nether, Jesse's group finds a train track left by the Order, and goes to the Overworld, where the group decides to bunk for the night. Axel is bitter towards Lukas, and Jesse must choose who they will side with. The next morning, the group arrives at the Order Fortress, where they discover that Ivor had actually been a member of the Order, but had been inexplicably kicked out. They later find a contraption that, when hooked up to the amulet, shows on a map the current locations of the members of the Order. Lukas decides to stay and fortify the fortress, and asks that one of the four stay with him. The player then has a choice: to go with Axel to get Magnus, or with Olivia to get Ellegaard. As Jesse and Axel/Olivia prepare to leave, the Wither Storm approaches.

Assembly Required (Episode 2)
Jesse and Axel/Olivia head to Boom Town/Redstonia to recruit Magnus/Ellegaard to help them. After successfully getting Magnus/Ellegaard to join them (with different mishaps), they return to the temple to discover that Olivia/Axel (whoever didn't accompany Jesse) has subsequently retrieved Ellegaard/Magnus (whichever one Jesse did not personally find), and are now reunited with either Petra or Gabriel (depending on who Jesse saved before entering the Nether). Returning to the machine, they discover that it now shows the location of the last, long thought lost member, Soren (John Hodgeman), as well as Ivor, who is heading towards him. Ellegaard reveals that she and Soren had been building a "Formidi Bomb" (an incredibly powerful explosive), and proposes this as a solution to the problem of the Wither Storm. The group leaves to find Soren and his secret lab. There, Jesse, Lukas and Reuben find a massive herd of endermen. Magnus and Ellegaard (who clearly don't get along well) depart in two different directions to find the "F-Bomb". Jesse and Petra/Gabriel follow one, while Lukas, Olivia and Axel follow the others. As they walk, Petra/Gabriel reveals to Jesse that, despite his saving him/her, they have "Wither Sickness", which gets worse by the minute. Eventually, they confront Ivor, but he taunts them and uses a splash potion to slow them down, saying that the Order will be unable to do anything to stop him, then escapes.

The Last Place You Look (Episode 3)
The group is trapped (Ivor's doing in the prior episode). They manage to escape, but end up in the foreboding End. There, they spot Soren and follow him into his massive house, where Jesse finds him researching the dangerous Endermen. Jesse convinces Soren to help destroy the Wither Storm using the incredibly powerful Formidi Bomb, just as the Wither Storm attacks. They return to the surface, where they reunite with Magnus and Ellegaard. Soren asks for a volunteer to set off the Formidi-Bomb, reminding them that the bomb will go off seconds after being made. This task falls on Jesse's shoulders. Accepting either Magnus or Ellegaard's armor, Jesse constructs and uses the Formidi-Bomb, and survives, but Magnus/Ellegaard (whoever gave Jesse the armor) is killed by an attack from the Wither Storm. The Formidi-Bomb destroys the Wither Storm, freeing the citizens it ate, including a now amnesiac Gabriel or Petra. Unfortunately, due to the bomb not reaching the Command Block keeping it alive, the Wither Storm reforms, having split apart to make three Wither Storms, forcing everyone to flee.

A Block and a Hard Place (Episode 4)
The group is forced to flee the new Storms. They then encounter Ivor, who wants to fix his mistake and offers a solution: using a book of enchantments he has at his house in the Far Lands that can enchant a weapon so powerful it can destroy the command block. The group (possibly without Axel, Lukas and the sick member) goes to Ivor's house, where they learn that the story of the Ender Dragon battle that made the Order famous wasn't entirely true: Soren just used the Command Block to glitch the Ender Dragon out of existence. Ivor left the Order in disgust and summoned the Wither Storm to show the world that the Order are frauds.

Despite this shocking truth, Jesse constructs the weapon which, with the unwitting help of the Endermen, they use to enter the Wither Storm and destroy the Command Block, though Reuben is fatally wounded in the process and dies shortly after. As the world praises the new heroes, Jesse makes a memorial to Reuben and convinces Gabriel, who is now cured (same with Petra), to either tell the truth about the Order's past or continue keeping it a secret. Either way, Jesse and their friends are then made the famous New Order of the Stone.

Order Up! (Episode 5)
Sometime later, the New Order goes, on a tip from Ivor, to a temple where they discover a mysterious enchanted flint and steel. Outside the temple, they're accosted by Aiden, who usurped Lukas as the new leader of the Ocelots (now going by the "Blaze Rods") and is bitter towards the fame the New Order has attained, though they manage to chase him and his lackeys away. Back in town, the group shows their found loot to Ivor, who reveals the enchanted flint and steel to be the key to the Eversource, a source of unlimited building power. Returning to the temple, Jesse, Petra, Lukas and Ivor find a portal, which Jesse activates with the flint and steel. Unfortunately, the Blaze Rods surprise them and enter the portal first.

Pursuing them, the group ends up in a sky dimension, where they have to build a bridge with dirt. They come to Sky City, a metropolis island in the clouds, where building is strictly regulated by the town's stern Founder. Unluckily for the group, Aiden gets to the Founder first and tricks her into turning the whole town against the Order. Though Ivor and Lukas are captured, Petra is saved by Milo, a barman and the leader of an underground resistance called Build Club (Jesse's decisions choose who he goes with). They are quickly reunited, and soon find the Eversource, revealed to be a chicken which lays spawn eggs.

The group is then attacked by the Founder and Aiden, only for him to betray her and knock her, Jesse and possibly Lukas over the side. They land safely on land below, which is surprising to the Founder, as she thought there was nothing but an abyss. She and Jesse (Lukas will sit this out, feeling weak from fighting Aiden in the palace) build a tower back to Sky City, which is now overrun with monsters Aiden summoned from spawn eggs laid by the Eversource chicken. Though Jesse defeats Aiden and his cronies, the city is lost and the remaining townsfolk get into a waterfall and flow safely down to the land below. After deciding what to do with Aiden and the Eversource and how the new government should be run, Jesse and the group use a portal they and the Founder discovered while building the tower to return home, only to find themselves in a corridor filled with portals.

A Portal to Mystery (Episode 6)
After entering one of the portals, Jesse, Lukas, Petra and Ivor end up in a world very similar to their own, except there are two moons, and everything appears swampy. After reading an invitation and escaping a massive horde of zombies, they end up in the mansion of other invitees, who end up to be five well-known Minecraft YouTubers: CaptainSparklez, StampyCat, DanTDM, LDShadowLady and StacyPlays, as well as two other fictional ones: TorqueDawg and Cassie Rose. They are revealed to be just as oblivious to this place as the New Order, since portraits of the Youtubers and the Order somehow appeared in the house. While meeting Sparklez and TorqueDawg, all lights go out and TorqueDawg is mysteriously killed by a trap with poisoned arrows.

Through a series of investigation, causing the death trap of CaptainSparklez, right after his announcement of the fact that the murderer (who referred to him/herself as the 'White Pumpkin') was killing them off for the enchanted flint and steel (such as the one as Jesse has), as well as the death of Lizzie/Dan, the majority of the Youtubers point the evidence at Lukas, but Petra and Jesse fiercely disagree. The two, along with Stampy, (who then reveals that he had an enchanted flint and steel), prove that Cassie Rose was the White Pumpkin, who then accidentally sets off one of her own traps and dies. Jesse, Petra, Ivor, and Lukas peacefully depart with the remaining Youtubers. The New Order walks over to an unlit portal frame, and attempt to use the flint and steel on it, and open another portal back to their home.

Though the flint and steel had the power to send them back to their world, it is revealed that the portal was a trap from Rose, who was not dead. While she threatens them with Endermites, Jesse is able to defeat her with his/her sword and his/her own collection of Ender pearls and leaves her to be eaten by the Endermites, while Jesse and his/her friends return through the real portal, although it is unknown whether they return home or not.

Access Denied (Episode 7)
Back in the portal hallway, Petra, who is bitter towards Jesse for leading to nowhere in multiple worlds and portals, flees into a redstone portal, concluding that redstone meant "smart people". Jesse, Lukas and Ivor, having no choice, follow her into the portal.

Upon arrival, they are taken hostage by a population of players controlled with redstone chips by the mad artificial intelligence computer screen PAMA (Prototype: Autonomous Management Agent), who was created by redstone user Harper but, against Harper's will, controlled the population in order to "make them useful". Wanting to invade Jesse's territory and world, PAMA questions him and takes over Petra and Lukas, allowing it to see what they know. Jesse and Ivor escape PAMA with the help of Harper, who shows them her laboratory, where she reveals that she is an "old builder". They are soon attacked by PAMA controlled monsters, alongside the mind controlled Lukas and Petra. Through a stroke of luck, Jesse manages to destroy the redstone chips controlling some spiders, and either Lukas or Petra.

Harper is captured by whoever Jesse didn't free by orders of PAMA, and Harper tells Jesse to find the 'headset'. Eventually, after solving Harper's puzzle, Jesse finds the headset, and wears it. It allows Jesse to take control over and migrate into PAMA-controlled mobs, all while in the laboratory. Eventually finding Harper being captured by PAMA, Jesse is able to free her, only for her to be recaptured, but finds out from her that PAMA's internal redstone heart is supposed to be destroyed. The group heads to the city and using one of Ivor's potions, Jesse is able to break into PAMA but is engaged in a fight with either Lukas or Petra before destroying PAMA's heart. After the townspeople are freed from PAMA's possession, they discover that Harper had created PAMA, and immediately hate her for it. Harper accompanies the group to the portal hallway, where she unlocks a stairway with the redstone heart leading to where the 'Old Builders' live, who might be able to help them find their way home, via a "Portal Atlas".

A Journey's End? (Episode 8)
Arriving at the Old Builder's village, the five accidentally interrupt a game of "spleef" hosted by the Old Builders; Hadrian, Mevia and Otto. Lukas and either Ivor or Petra (whoever Jesse doesn't choose to help) are seemingly killed, but respawn to be sent to the Nether mines, where other losers of the Old Builder's games are sent. Jesse strikes a deal with Hadrian: if Jesse wins the games, they get the Portal Atlas and go home. In the village, Harper explains to Jesse that Hadrian and Mevia began to force players from other worlds to play the games – they would only be free if they won the games, which was virtually rigged.

After freeing Lukas and his other companion from the mines, Jesse successfully completes the second game, despite Hadrian sending the green team to eliminate Jesse. Ivor/Petra (whoever Jesse saved) are killed, but quickly respawn. Harper convinces sympathetic Old Builder Otto to help Jesse. Hadrian reveals to Jesse that he kept Olivia and Axel captive using the Atlas, and makes another deal: If Jesse loses the games, Olivia, Axel, Petra, Lukas, Ivor and Reuben (Hadrian confused the latter with the EnderCon Usher) can go free while Jesse stays imprisoned. Otherwise, everyone stays imprisoned.

The next day, on the third task, Jesse eventually convinces the other teams to cooperate and rebel against Hadrian and Mevia by all winning. Otto accepts this victory, but Hadrian and Mevia trap him and most players in obsidian, and kills Jesse. He respawns in the respawn area, where Emily, leader of the green team, Olivia, Axel, Petra, Lukas, Harper, and Ivor have stolen items for Jesse, including the armor of "Tim", (a made-up character by Hadrian in order to inspire the others to continue playing), to defeat the Old Builders. The plan is successful, and they eventually receive the Atlas from Otto. Back in the Portal Hallway, Otto plans to work on making the games fun again. Harper and Emily either return home, stay in the games, or leave with the Order (Jesse's suggestion), and the Order of the Stone return home. There, after Jesse shows Axel and Olivia their new artifacts, Ivor takes the enchanted flint and steel and the Atlas, in which Jesse and the others go after.

Hero in Residence (Episode 1)
Lukas narrates a novel about Jesse and their friends' adventures and their popularity. As he finishes, Jesse, Axel, and Olivia provide feedback for the novel. Along with Radar, Jesse's new assistant, they leave the Order's palace to prepare for Founding Day celebrations throughout the world. Radar stays with Jesse to help with various tasks in Beacontown, while the others leave for their respective cities. Afterwards, Jesse heads to the mines to meet Petra, who has been sent to find a mysterious creature by Stella, the leader of a rivaling city, "Champion City", who has Petra's golden sword.

In the mines, Jesse and Petra fight off zombies, then race through the mine shaft to find the creature, which turns out to be a "treasure-sniffing" llama named Lluna. They capture the llama, and also find a strange gauntlet on top of a pyramid that whispers Jesse's name. As Jesse reaches for it, the gauntlet clamps to his hand and the pyramid collapses, revealing a bottomless pit. They close off the pit and escape. Back on the surface, Jesse leaves a warning sign, and they head to Champion City to take Lluna to Stella. The two meet Stella and give Lluna back to her as she informs Petra that the "adventure" was a scam and doesn't return the sword. The two decide to steal the sword back. Once they reach Stella's treasure room, they find that the sword is missing. Stella shows up, and accepts defeat after inadvertently revealing she's a fan of Jesse, and gives the sword back.

As they head back to Beacontown, the bottomless pit blows open and spews out charged creepers, and they fight them off before sealing it again. They head straight to Beacontown to meet Jack, a former treasure hunter. Jack talks to Jesse about the gauntlet, and introduces them to Nurm, Jack's map-maker. The four get some armor from the Order's palace, and head to an ocean temple. As they travel, Jack informs them how the ocean monument is run by "the Admin", a being of infinite power. They suit up in water helmets, and swim to the ocean monument. Jesse completes a door frame, and frees Vos, Jack's old friend. Jack is surprised to see Vos alive (as he had supposedly been killed on their previous visit). The five reach the main part of the temple. They find the two structure blocks, and pick one. After fighting off stone guards, including the Admin, a giant colossus statue, the five then escape back to Beacontown. The group close the pit with the structure block, and celebrate Founding Day. As the celebration starts, the Admin goes after Jesse, vowing to demolish them.

While Lukas is at his house finishing his novel, he sees the Admin approaching Beacontown, he suits up and rides off to help Jesse.

Giant Consequences (Episode 2)
The Admin meets Jesse at Beacontown, and the two fight, damaging Beacontown in the process. The Admin uses a giant clock to turn day into night so that monsters would invade the city. The Admin also swallows the structure block. Just as the Admin is about to swallow Jesse, Lukas distracts him with an arrow to the face, and saves Jesse. Jesse notices the symbol on the Admin's head was the same symbol shown on the back of the Prismarine Golems at the ocean temple, and Jesse realizes that destroying the symbol is the only way of destroying the Admin. Jesse takes Lukas' horse, climbs up the Admin, and kills him, dropping the clock, which Jesse uses to raise the sun.

In the aftermath, Jesse and others begin rebuilding Beacontown, Jesse can give either Lukas or Radar the title of "Clockmaster", which basically involves watching a giant clock all day. Jesse then meets up with Jack and Vos, who unintentionally spill that they are about to go on a new adventure with Nurm and Petra. Suddenly, Jesse and Petra see snowflakes falling in Beacontown and one of them ends up melting inside the gauntlet, revealing the Admin to be a snowman. The Admin gives Jesse a challenge: Beacontown will remain dark and surrounded by hostile mobs until Jesse reclaims the giant clock, which the Admin says is "at the tippy top of my awesome, fantastic, super-deadly icy palace of despair". Jesse and the others fight off numerous monsters and zombies, and the group (consisting of Jesse, Petra, Lukas, Radar, Jack, Nurm and Vos) head toward the ice palace. On the way to the ice palace, the group encounter Lluna and Stella, who eventually tags along with them in order to "keep an eye on them".

At the ice palace, the snowman drops the group into the pit. The group eventually end up in a roller-coaster-like maze, and meet the Admin once more, giving the group several challenges. Nonetheless, the Admin insists that only one person is supposed to win, and throws Radar/Jack into another challenge, with Vos randomly disappearing. The group then mine their way out with a diamond pickaxe and face numerous Snow "Endercreepers". Jesse can then choose whether Petra or Jack should get the clock. Petra/Jack makes it up to the clock and destroys it, turning the world back to normal time. Lukas leaves immediately, but Jack insists on finding Vos, and the rest help Jack to try and find him. Soon, it is revealed that Vos was actually the Admin the entire time as the real Vos died years ago, and he is convinced on partnering up by Stella. The Admin then transports the gauntlet to whoever destroyed the clock and proceeds to teleport Jesse and friends, minus Lukas, to a jailhouse.

Jailhouse Block (Episode 3)
Jesse arrives at the "Sunshine Institute", an underground prison where the Admin likes to keep people that he detests and their loved ones as prisoners, as well as people meant to act as guards. Jesse immediately tries to escape with help from Jack/Petra (who was not chosen as a champion) where they discover that the prison is in the middle of a labyrinth filled with dangerous monsters. They are immediately apprehended and sent back to the prison. Jesse meets the Warden, a former "Guest" (prisoner) that was promoted, who proceeds to torture Radar in order to coerce Jesse into becoming an "Associate" (Guard), which Jesse can either accept this new role or refuse it. If he accepts the role he will be an Associate, but if not the Warden will break Radar's glasses and give him a black-eye. They also discover that Stella is also an Associate of the deeper floor. After hearing of an attempted escape from Prisoner X, they discover that they need her help in order for them to get out of there.

As an associate/guest, Jesse will find another guest's secret stash, a Mooshroom. Once the Warden finds out, he will ask Jesse to shear the mushrooms from the Mooshroom to change it back to a regular cow promising a promotion to the lower depths if he obeys. If he shears the cow, Jesse will be promoted to an associate in the lower depths (Jack/Petra, Nurm & Radar will cause trouble to be demoted to follow you), but upon refusal, Jesse and his friends will be demoted to the lower depths as guests. Once in the lower levels, Jesse asks assistance from Stella to make a lever to open Prisoner X's cell. You can either promise to help her escape as well or not. After successfully opening the gate to Prisoner X's cell, the Admin shows up, fires the Warden, and forces Jesse and Jack/Petra (whoever became the champion in the previous episode) to fight to the death, but they instead cooperate to try and attack the Admin. Annoyed by this he abandons the Sunshine Institute. Before leaving, however, the Admin comes up with a new plan to impersonate Jesse and take over his life in Beacontown and takes Stella with him.

The group proceed to Prisoner X's isolated cell, which is rigged to explode if no one is standing on at least one stone pressure plate, which means that either Nurm or Lluna need to be left behind so that they can escape. After their escape they learn that Prisoner X, whose real name is Xara, is a former Admin. They were told that Xara and another Admin named Fred fought "Romeo" (the Admin's real name) for control of the world, but Fred was killed and Xara's powers were taken away.

After fighting through the monster-filled labyrinth, Jesse can either choose to help Xara when she ditches them, or to leave her to fend for herself. Whatever the player choose they will meet up with her at the base of a Diamond Tower. Xara explains that there is a passageway beneath the tower and they need to dig into the bedrock to escape, she also explains that the secret to rid Romeo of his abilities also lies there as well. They enter the passageway, with a Giant Enderman in the approaching.

Romeo, in Jesse's form, proceeds to give the Order of the Stone's Amulet to an armored assailant to try and hunt down Jesse and his friends.

Below the Bedrock (Episode 4)
Jesse and company reach the "Underneath" the first world created by Romeo, Fred and Xara. Xara explains that this place was sealed by Romeo a long time ago after killing Fred and imprisoning Xara. After arriving at Xara's ruined city "The Oasis", Xara points them to a destroyed portal that could bring them to the surface. Jesse asks Xara to rebuild the portal while Xara tells them that they need an object from Romeo or the Surface to help power the portal. She tells them to head to "Fred's Keep" to find the weapon that can stop Romeo, and to look out for anything that can be used to power the portal.

While travelling via minecart to Fred's Keep, the group are assaulted by the Giant Enderman, which leaves Jesse and Jack precariously on the edge of a giant cliff. They are met by scavengers who demand their weapons for safe passage. If Jesse refuses, Jack will seemingly fall to his death.

Jesse and company find themselves in Fred's Keep where they discover a group of people who venerate Fred as their former protector and the creator of their safe village. Jesse asks to enter his house to look for the weapon, but only the winner of the annual Fred Trivia Contest may enter. After winning the trivia contest or sneaking inside, they discover that the weapon is found in the original house, a cabin, Fred, Xara and Romeo used to live in. The leader of Fred's Keep, Binta, gives them a device to point them in the right direction in exchange of helping the get “Friends of Fred” (villagers) out of the Underneath. If Jack and Nurm are still in the party, they will stay behind to convince more people to join; if not, Nurm will stay to wait for Jack.

While travelling to the Admins' First Home, they are assaulted by an Armored Assailant, or ninja, who is revealed to be Ivor. Ivor informs the group of the admin's misdeeds and proceeds to fake a report to buy them time to look for the weapon. Before Ivor leaves, Jesse asks for the Amulet of the Order of the Stone to use as a part of the portal.

The trio discover that the Admins' First Home is in Romeoburg and they needed to complete his challenges to proceed. Inside the cabin they find Fred's Journal, containing a keyword (#potato451) and a set of instructions on how to defeat the Admin. Realizing how similar their and the Admins’ former friendship were, Petra becomes emotional and worries that their own friendship would end just like the Admins’. She also confesses to Jesse that her place is not in Beacontown, but she wouldn't leave if it means she would lose Jesse. Jesse could either promise Petra to leave with her or wait for her as long as it takes.

Upon returning to Oasis, Jesse and company activates the firework to signal Fred's people that they are ready to leave. He also gives Xara the diary, and she swears vengeance on Romeo. The fireworks attract the Giant Enderman as well as several mobs of monsters. Depending on previous actions Xara either stays to help fight off the mob or abandons the group. The people of Fred's Keep will arrive to help; Jack will also reemerge here if he fell down in the first act. Radar discovers that the Giant Enderman is angry at him after he attacked it earlier and asks Jesse if he can use himself as bait to save Fred's people. Jesse is then given the choice to either leave Radar behind or to abandon Fred's people.

Upon entering the portal they find themselves on the outskirts of the Temple of the Order of the Stone, and are horrified of the new Beacontown.

After the credits we see Lukas just getting back from the Ice Palace greeting Jesse (Romeo) asking where everyone is. The Admin's eyes glow red as the scene cuts to black.

Above and Beyond (Episode 5)
Jesse, Petra, Jack, Radar/Binta and Nurm/Lluna use the mines to enter Beacontown in secret. In the town they discover Romeo (In Jesse's Form), Stella, Axel, and Olivia preparing for JesseCon, a narcissistic Festival for himself. If Xara left to abandon you she will attack Romeo and get killed by him. If Xara stayed behind Romeo will blow up Champion City in front of Stella as an example to them.

They deduce that the Giant Tower in the middle of town is the "Primary Terminal", the place or object in the diary's instruction, but they will need a plan to get there. Jesse reveals himself to Axel and Olivia who follows Jesse to Jack's shop where they discover its contents were looted. They discover the Elytra Wings in the looted shop, then Ivor appears in the shop having rescued Nurm/Lluna and they start planning on how they are going to get to the "Terminal".

After successfully enacting their plan to fly to the tower they discover that Lukas has freed Romeo's prisoners and have banded together to create the "New Ocelots", after proving to them that he's/she's the real Jesse they head to the roof only to discover that Romeo is in his office, You can choose to attack him or talk to him. Regardless of the choice Romeo determines to give up on the world. He decides it deserves the same fate as the old world. As he is encasing the entire world with bedrock, they make their way to the "Terminal Space" portal on top of the roof.

In the Terminal Space they discover a sealed door. The door is sealed with a puzzle whose answer lies within the keyword #potato451. After solving the puzzle, they are gifted with a hologram of Fred that gives them a Golden Gauntlet that can take away Romeo's powers. Romeo arrives immediately afterwards and Jesse punches him with the Gauntlet, Romeo immediately discovers that some of his abilities are gone.

Jesse and Romeo fight each other with Romeo changing locations and forms with each defeat. After removing Romeo's powers completely, "Terminal Space" begins to crumble, you can choose to leave Romeo behind or bring him with you. While the "Terminal Space" is crumbling around them, The Giant Prismarine Colossus glitches out and then starts attacking anything indiscriminately. If Xara and Radar was left behind, the latter will arrive, still being chased by the Giant Enderman, it then kills the Colossus allowing you to escape. Otherwise Romeo will sacrifice himself so that you can leave, after the destruction of "Terminal Space" the bedrock in the sky disappears. If Romeo and Xara survives he will do his best to try and make up for what he did, starting with Xara and the surviving citizens of the Underneath.

While Beacontown is being rebuilt, Ivor says that he will try to reconnect with the old Order of the Stone, Lukas, Radar, Jack, and Nurm decided to stay in Beacontown to help them rebuild. Depending on your relationship with Stella and Lluna, Stella could ask you to take care of Lluna in Beacontown while Champion City is being rebuilt, Lluna could choose to stay with Jesse against Stella's wishes, or both will leave. Axel and Olivia decide to return to their communities, but Petra decides to leave. You can choose to leave with Petra or stay in Beacontown.

If you decide to leave with Petra, you can assign Radar to be your temporary replacement or allow the citizens to decide a new leader, If Lluna stayed with Jesse, she will also accompany Jesse & Petra on their new adventure.

If you stay in Beacontown, Radar will tell you that he checked the mail chest and found some mail. The first letter is about Aiden wanting to redeem himself. The second letter is sent by WP (White Pumpkin) saying "Look out".

Season 1 (2015–16)
The main Minecraft: Story Mode game was separated into five episodes for Season 1, released in one month intervals. Three additional episodes were later released.

Season 2 (2017)
In July 2017, the first trailer was released for season 2 revealing a release date of July 11.

Development and releases
The idea for Minecraft: Story Mode came around the end of 2012 when Telltale Games was engaged in work for Tales from the Borderlands, an episodic series based on the Borderlands series. The idea of developing stories around other established video game franchises led the team to brainstorm the idea for a Minecraft-related game, given that the game was essentially a "blank canvas" for storytelling, according to Job Stauffer, and would create an interesting challenge. The two groups recognized the amount of fan-generated narrative content that existed in the way of YouTube videos and other media forms that demonstrated the potential for storytelling in the game. Many on Telltale's staff were also already fans of Minecraft, with a private server that they played on, with some of the incidents that occurred on there becoming ideas for the game's story. Telltale began negotiations with Mojang in early 2013, and began work on the title shortly thereafter. Stauffer noted that Microsoft's acquisition of Mojang was not a factor in the game's development, as their interaction with Mojang began well before Microsoft's negotiations.

Telltale opted to create a new main character of Jesse for Minecraft: Story Mode instead of using default "Steve" character from Minecraft, feeling that they did not want to attempt to rewrite how players already saw this character in the game. Other primary characters in the game are loosely designed around archetypes of common player-characters for Minecraft, such that those that engage in building, fighting, or griefing other players. The game will not attempt to provide any background for some concepts in Minecraft, such as the creepers, as to avoid the various interpretations that fans have done for these elements, though they are elements of the game's story.

Stauffer stated that the game's story would be aimed as family-friendly, similar to the films The Goonies or Ghostbusters; their intended content would be equivalent to a PG-13 or PEGI-12 rating. A number of the voice actors are alumni of such films of the 1980s such as Corey Feldman who starred in The Goonies, and the game includes various references to these types of films. Stauffer reflected that while Telltale's more recent games like The Walking Dead were more mature stories, their original adventure games like Sam & Max and Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People were written as family-friendly, and that they consider their approach to Minecraft: Story Mode as "part of our DNA". The story was aimed to be accessible to both existing players of Minecraft – both novice and advanced players – and to new audiences outside of the game.

Minecraft: Story Mode was formally announced in December 2014 as a collaboration project between Mojang and Telltale; the announcement was presented as an interactive adventure game named "Info Quest II". Its first trailer was released during the Minecon 2015 convention in early July. The game was planned for a five-episode series for release on Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation and Xbox consoles in late 2015; Telltale also released the game for the Wii U, only a month after the original Minecraft first came to a Nintendo platform. It was also the first time a Telltale title had been released on a Nintendo platform since Back to the Future: The Game. In addition, Minecraft: Story Mode – The Complete Adventure, incorporating both the main episodes and downloadable content, was announced for the Nintendo Switch.

The series released for most systems on October 13, 2015, with the PlayStation Vita and Wii U versions to follow at a later date. A season pass of the game was available for purchase on October 27, 2015, which allows the player to access the other four episodes once they are released. Retail versions of the game were released on October 27, 2015.

Netflix and Telltale signed a partnership in June 2018 for Netflix to offer Telltale's games over the service starting later that year, with Minecraft: Story Mode as the first planned title for the service.

Sequel
Minecraft: Story Mode – Season Two was released on July 11, 2017 across five episodes, for Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, iOS and Android. It continued the story from the first season, with the player's choices affecting elements within Season 2. Patton Oswalt, Catherine Taber, Ashley Johnson, and Scott Porter were confirmed to continue voicework for the new season. The game supports the new Crowd Play feature that Telltale introduced in Batman: The Telltale Series, allowing up to 2,000 audience members to vote on decisions for the player using Twitch or other streaming services.

On August 3, 2017, Telltale announced that Episode 2, "Giant Consequences", was released on August 15.

On September 19, 2017, Episode 3 "Jailhouse Block" was released.

The fourth episode, "Below the Bedrock", was released on November 7, 2017.

The fifth episode and season finale, "Above And Beyond" was released on December 19, 2017.

Reception
Minecraft: Story Mode received mixed reviews from critics. It received praise for its humor, faithfulness to its source material, action sequences and light hearted tone compared to some of Telltale's previous works although the presence of technical issues was criticized. Critical reception to the story and characters was widely polarized.

Episode 1: The Order of the Stone
Episode 1: The Order of the Stone received "mixed or average" reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 71/100 based on 25 reviews, the PlayStation 4 version 71/100 based on 23 reviews and the Xbox One version 77/100 based on 13 reviews. On GameRankings, a score of 78.59% was given based on 11 reviews for the Xbox One version, 77.50% for Wii U based on 4 reviews, 73.53% for the PC version based on 16 reviews, and 73.29% for PlayStation 4 based on 21 reviews.

Episode 2: Assembly Required
Episode 2: Assembly Required received "mixed or average" reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 59/100 based on 13 reviews, the PlayStation 4 version 53/100 based on 7 reviews and the Xbox One version 61/100 based on 8 reviews.

Episode 3: The Last Place You Look
Episode 3: The Last Place You Look received mildly positive reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 73/100 based on 10 reviews, the PlayStation 4 version 73/100 based on 7 reviews and the Xbox One version 75/100 based on 9 reviews.

Episode 4: A Block and a Hard Place
Episode 4: A Block and a Hard Place received "mixed or average" reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 68/100 based on 8 reviews, the PlayStation 4 version 72/100 based on 8 reviews and the Xbox One version 71/100 based on 8 reviews.

Episode 5: "Order Up!"
Episode 5: Order Up! received "mixed or average" reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 70/100 based on 6 reviews, the PlayStation 4 version 72/100 based on 9 reviews and the Xbox One version 69/100 based on 6 reviews.

Episode 6: A Portal to Mystery
Episode 6: A Portal to Mystery received mixed reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 64/100 based on 5 reviews, the PlayStation 4 version 69/100 based on 6 reviews and the Xbox One version 71/100 based on 5 reviews.

Episode 7: Access Denied
Episode 7: Access Denied received mixed reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 69/100 based on 4 reviews, the PlayStation 4 version 68/100 based on 6 reviews and the Xbox One version 71/100 based on 5 reviews.

Episode 8: A Journey's End?
Episode 8: A Journey's End? received mixed reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the PlayStation 4 version 69/100 based on 6 reviews.

Episode 1: Hero in Residence
Episode 1: Hero in Residence received mixed reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the PC version 71/100 based on 8 reviews, the PlayStation 4 version 67/100 based on 8 reviews, and the Xbox One version 76/100 based on 4 reviews.

Episode 2: Giant Consequences
Episode 2: Giant Consequences received positive reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the PC version 74/100 based on 8 critics and the PlayStation 4 version a score of 73/100 based on 4 reviews. On GameRankings, the PlayStation 4 version has a rating of 65.00% based on 2 reviews and on the PC version, it has a score of 72.86% based on 7 reviews.

Episode 3: Jailhouse Block
Episode 3: Jailhouse Block received mixed reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the PC version 71/100, based on 8 reviews, and the PlayStation 4 63/100 based on 4 reviews.

Episode 4: Below The Bedrock
Episode 4: Below The Bedrock received mixed reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the PC version a score of 74/100 based on 5 critics.

Episode 5: Above And Beyond
Episode 5: Above And Beyond received positive reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the PC version a score of 78/100 based on 4 critics.