Ep. #130: The Mostly Complete History of RubyDung

About this episode

This episode explores the hidden history of RubyDung, the unreleased predecessor to Minecraft, and its influence on the game's development.

Dive into the fascinating origins of Minecraft in this episode of Realm News, where The Dark Lord uncovers the hidden history behind RubyDung—Notch’s unreleased predecessor to the beloved block-building game. Explore how earlier projects like Ruby, RubyLands, and Rubylands X shaped Notch’s vision, and discover the pivotal role Infiniminer played in influencing the voxel-based, first-person design that eventually evolved into Minecraft. Learn how a series of coding experiments, gaming inspirations, and creative trials culminated in the masterpiece we know today. Don’t miss this intriguing journey through the games that laid the foundation for Minecraft’s creation! patreon.com/RealmNews Work Cited Imgur. “Imgur.com.” Imgur, 2026, imgur.com/a/B5WkP. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026. JVM Gaming. “Rubylands! [Teaser, Very Alpha].” JVM Gaming, 15 Feb. 2008, jvm-gaming.org/t/rubylands-teaser-very-alpha/31375/5. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026. Minecraft Wiki. “Infiniminer.” Minecraft Wiki, 2022, minecraft.wiki/w/Infiniminer. Minecraft Wiki. “RubyDung.” Minecraft Wiki, 2022, minecraft.wiki/w/RubyDung. Notch. “RubyDung.” X (Formerly Twitter), 2026, x.com/notch/status/1019752622947950592?s=20. Accessed 5 Apr…

People in this episode

Host: Greg Howard

Topics covered

• Minecraft history
• game development
• RubyDung
• Notch
• voxel-based design
• Infiniminer
• gaming inspirations

Keywords

• Minecraft
• RubyDung
• Notch
• Infiniminer
• game development
• voxel-based
• Rubylands
• gaming history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Minecraft Wiki, Imgur, JVM Gaming, Archive.org

Books & works: RubyDung, Infiniminer, Rubylands

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