Summary
Alongside iconic enemy types like Creepers and Endermen,Minecraftis full of adorable animals based on real life creatures.Minecraft’s foxeswill pick items up off the ground, cats will scare off certain hostile mobs, and dogs will protect their owner. Polar bears roam the icy chunks of a world, while bats make their homes in caves. The list goes on and on, and thanks to an upcoming mob vote, it will soon grow larger. However, one cute creature is not in the lineup of potential mobs, but it certainly should be.
Soon,Minecraftplayers will be voting to decide whether a crab, armadillo, or penguin will come to the game. Crabs have a high chance of winning since they will increase the block placement limit, though armadillos presenting an opportunity for a new armor set make them an attractive choice. Penguins unfortunately feel like the odd mob out, as they only boost boat speeds and look cute. Fortunately, if they ever are considered for the game, raccoons are guaranteed to be more mechanically interesting that something like the penguin.
How Raccoons Could Work in Minecraft
Obviously, the biggest draw for raccoons would be their cuteness. Despite its blocky art style,Minecrafthas done a fine job of making some mobs extremely cute.Minecraft’s pandasare one example of this, as their rolling around never loses its charm, while frogs are far more adorable than one might expect. Nailing the cuddly factor of Raccoons would be a must, and while a lovable character model would be a first step, capturing the critter’s personality would be important to do. Fortunately, that personality could be turned into some entertaining mechanics.
One trait of raccoons that everyone is aware of is their love for food. Memes and real life sightings alike show raccoons raiding trash cans for scraps of meals, and thoughMinecraft’s lack of furnituremeans that trash cans are not a thing, Mojang could get around this by letting players feed raccoons directly. Seeing the raccoon model get fatter as players feed it could prove very entertaining, though the effects of feeding the animal could go beyond a comedic model change.
Perhaps the more players feed the raccoon, the more likely it could be to lead them with a piece of loot. Mojang has considered this idea before, as the Rascal - a losing mob from the2022 mob vote- had a similar mechanic. If added, the player would have needed to find the Rascal three times while mining to acquire a useful piece of gear. With a raccoon, players could need to feed it three pieces of food in order for it to take them somewhere that it has stashed some goodies. Depending on whether the food was cooked or rare, the raccoon could provide a better piece of loot when “traded” with.
Beyond offering a special gameplay mechanic, letting players treat raccoons as pets could be a great way for fans of the animal to live out the fantasy of owning one. To help them stand out from other animals, they could be a bit tedious to take care of, rushing toward any shiny item or dropped food and consuming it. With the few people that own a raccoon in real life sharing how the animals can be a handful, making them a challenging pet to have inMinecraftcould be another way to reflect what makes them unique. A less annoying feature could see theMinecraftanimaldigging up items once it has been tamed and is accompanying the player, similar to how the Sniffer will dig things up.
Ultimately, there is no telling when or if a raccoon mob will ever make its way toMinecraft, but it certainly seems like it could make for a fun addition. Not only does it have the cute factor going for it, but it also has the potential to provide some entertaining gameplay mechanics. While it has missed the chance to be a part of 2023’s mob vote, it would make for a nice addition in afutureMinecraftupdate.
Minecraftis available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
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