Heritage is a supported direction
The state increasingly values education and protection of traditional buildings; design services are a supported industry, and digitising heritage resources is a mainstream trend.
Selected Work
Minetrarchi
Learning traditional Chinese architecture by taking it apart—and building it again.
The building is not an image. It is a sequence of relations that can be learned by making.
Heritage Knowledge Stays on the Surface
A building is history made visible. Popular encounters stop at its surface.
Traditional architecture is a witness you can see and touch. But as cities accelerated, the craft aged with the buildings: skills are being lost, materials are harder to find, and the young are slowly forgetting the heritage.
Knowledge stays on the surface
Popular encounters stop at dynasties, ornament and appearance; the structural logic stays out of reach.
Sites cannot always be entered
Preservation, repair and visitor management limit physical access to interiors and construction details.
Media explains, but rarely lets you act
Books, documentaries and museums give information, but no room to assemble, fail, compare and rebuild.
Why the timing is right — PEST
A large game market in transition
The economy is shifting toward quality growth, and the game market is huge—but it needs products that focus on player needs and create real value.
Curiosity without understanding
Young people love traditional architecture inside game scenes, yet their knowledge stays shallow, and public output is often formulaic or even misleading.
Games as a cultural channel
Games cross language and cultural boundaries; serious games turn knowledge into skill, and open worlds plus VR/AR/MR expand what a builder can do.
Interest Was Not the Problem
70questionnaires
10depth interviews
Desk research, questionnaires and interviews pointed to the same gap: curiosity was not the problem. People wanted a relaxed route into architectural knowledge—but had no way to learn by doing.
accepted the claim that traditional timber buildings are built without a single nail—memorable folklore replacing structural understanding.
learned through documentaries or popular-science programmes.
through museums or exhibitions; books and offline visits were used less consistently.
had met access restrictions around historic buildings, maintenance or protected interiors.
could correctly identify a specific traditional building and explain something about it.
were misled by modern imitations of ancient architecture into misunderstanding the real thing.
carried strong impressions from Japanese and Korean building imagery rather than local heritage.
Questionnaire snapshot: play happens mostly on mobile (phone 67% · PC 41% · tablet 34% · console 11% · others 7%), which shaped the multi-platform brief from the start.
Persona
钱采薇 (Qian Caiwei)
Leisure traveller · Game enthusiast
- Gender
- Female
- Age
- 21
- Occupation
- University student
- Location
- Tianjin
- Quiet
- Shy
- Plenty of free time
- Home-oriented
What she said
“A game could let me understand the building by making it myself, rather than only reading an explanation—even as if I had travelled to the site.”
- Attracted by the Tang-style scenes of a TV series, she collected books on Tang architecture—then fell asleep after two pages.
- She has visited the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and Yu Garden, but remembers mostly that they were good for photos.
- She enjoys games and achievement; shy in real life, happy to make friends online.
“Traditional architecture may need more scientific knowledge than I expect; I would look for an accessible introduction first.”
“I have no time to visit the site, and when I do, I only walk through it—I would rather experience the beauty of ancient buildings without leaving home.”
Interview statements are translated and condensed from the original project portfolio for this web presentation.
The Core Move: Knowledge Becomes Rules of Play
Turn architectural knowledge into rules of play.
The opportunity was not to explain buildings better. It was to turn architectural knowledge into a construction grammar—components, order, proportion and craft—that players assemble themselves. Instead of treating a traditional building as a façade to recognize, the design lets players take it apart and build it again: guided assembly teaches, free creation extends.
Why Minecraft
Popular science is usually one-way: watch, read, listen. The audience stays passive and the learning stays shallow. Serious games flip that—knowledge is generated by doing, and skill grows through play.
Construction grammar
Blocks, modular components and spatial rules turn structure into something players can manipulate directly.
Low entry, high ceiling
Suitable for every age above ten—80% of children play Minecraft in multiplayer mode—and still deep enough for elaborate buildings and long-term mastery.
A culture of circulation
141 million active players, 500,000 concurrent, education edition in 115 countries, 201 billion views—maps, mods and tutorials already move through this community.
Where other serious games stopped
Construction & city sims
Cities: Skylines, SimCity, Tropico—deep systems, but heavy rules and little heritage content.
Sandbox creation
Minecraft, Terraria, LEGO Worlds, Roblox—huge freedom and communities, but no architectural knowledge built in.
Interactive science
Craft-first titles such as 匠木 (mortise-and-tenon assembly), 重檐 (roof framing) and 江南百景图 (The Legend of Jiangnan)—thematically right, yet small platforms and limited play depth.
The gap
Current serious games suffer from weak interaction, heavy mechanics and small platforms. Minecraft is the base with both reach and adaptability.
The proposal adapts rather than replaces Minecraft. The base game supplies movement, building and multiplayer conventions; Minetrarchi adds architectural components, guided tasks, knowledge feedback, assets, progression and a service layer.
Three Spaces Form One Learning Loop
Artisan Continent
工匠大陆
A task square where builders learn: role-based construction tasks, guidance, explanations and reusable components, progressing from simple regional buildings to complex palace architecture.
Dawn Plain
晨曦之原
A sharing community: earn or exchange assets, build freely, browse community work, trade resources and publish your own architectural worlds.
Navigator's Realm
领航者之境
The ultimate chapter for “building masters”. Completing it creates new learning boards for Artisan Continent—the community extends the curriculum.
Each of the first two ranks splits into beginner, intermediate and advanced levels, with five stars per level. Titles such as 搭建狂魔 (Building Maniac — 50,000 components placed) reward long engagement.
Enter a taskLearn a componentAssembleReceive feedbackComplete and earnBuild freelyShare or exchange
The system in six parts
Maps & physics
Multi-space worlds and the Minecraft physics engine as the ground for every building grammar.
Story & episodes
From a simple-structure tutorial to single buildings and finally gardens and complexes; expert-authored and user-made maps.
Visible progress
Experience, levels, titles and honours that make mastery legible—and unlockable community content.
Components & market
Modules, painted ornaments, sculpture, decorations, trees and drawings—stored, traded and reused across spaces.
Co-building
Friends, multi-player collaboration, leaderboards and shared builds keep the loop social rather than solitary.
Beyond the screen
Model export, fabrication and links to real scenic areas and VR experience stores.
Four kinds of value
Pass heritage forward
Promote the intangible heritage of 榫卯 (mortise-and-tenon) joinery, cultural identity and confidence, and architecture education.
Learn by making
A block-and-puzzle approach gives immersive encounters and a deeper feel for architectural beauty and construction.
Resonance and pride
Spark interest in traditional buildings, awaken emotional resonance, and build cultural belonging.
Edutainment that works
An interactive popular-science medium that trains spatial thinking and creativity, then connects to real tourism and culture.
The service layer closes the loop: free scenic-area visits, model making, VR experience opportunities, knowledge interaction and deeper learning connect the game to real places, media, communities and experience stores.
Game Architecture & Value Network
A Tutorial Is a Construction Sequence
The original flow turns a one-bay hall into a sequence of situated decisions rather than a diagram to memorize.
Set the plinth
Read the footprint, position and proportion of the base.
Mark the column grid
Place reference points before placing components.
Raise columns correctly
Ghost guides show location and orientation; the system catches hollow or misassembled columns.
Connect the frame
Beams and bracket sets are introduced as load-bearing relations, not decoration.
Complete the roof
Players finish the structural and enclosure sequence across roughly fifteen guided steps.
Use the knowledge
The completed building, assets and experience move into the free-building loop.
7.2 · Onboarding · Opening script “Welcome to Minetrarchi, Xixi — you are now a builder.”
- Go to Artisan Continent (工匠大陆), where the wisdom of master builders is kept—learn the knowledge boards you love, then use them to recreate or create.
- We also hope you become a Master Builder and reach Navigator's Realm (领航者之境), the final chapter.
- For builders we have also created Dawn Plain (晨曦之原), a community for sharing assets.
- Your Minetrarchi journey begins now. Have a pleasant trip!
Q: Why does a column get damp? A: Moisture in the soil rises as vapour. Set the column on a plinth stone (柱础), away from the ground, and it stays dry—knowledge hides in every correction.
The interface holds game and knowledge together: immediate building guidance, architectural explanations, a miniature map, material inventory, task steps and light social presence— without splitting the player away from the act of making.
The Interface Keeps Game and Knowledge Together
The interface references Minecraft and makes two moves. It changes the art style to lower the UI's presence and raise immersion in the scene. It adjusts the layout to fit the new mechanics, work across platforms, and strengthen functionality.
Six screens, one language
Choose a space
New or existing spaces to continue building; profile, friends, assets, and entry to the two worlds and settings.
Build with context
Inventory, mini-map, social hints, task steps and prompts stay visible around the scene while you build.
Chat + steps
Two panels for chatting with co-builders and reviewing the current task and its steps.
Learn by challenge
Story tasks of increasing difficulty, monthly limited challenges, and the ultimate chapter that creates new boards.
Knowledge in the shelf
Modules, painted ornaments, sculpture, decorations and drawings; hovering shows a short knowledge note, plus asset and MOD markets.
Discuss and share
A community platform: 太学 (the Academy) boards for architectural knowledge, and a 交流天地 (exchange corner) for friends and discussion.
Interface screens
One Structure, Three Input Languages
The same actions map across PC, touch and VR—not as three separate products, but as three ways to inhabit the same building system.
Keyboard movement, mouse look, scroll selection and familiar Minecraft shortcuts.
Direct movement controls, drag-to-look, contextual actions and accessible inventory switching.
Two-hand movement, object selection, menu access and embodied component placement.
Three Input Languages
Beyond the Game: A Cultural Loop
The design is built to leave the screen—scenic areas, events, models and communities keep the knowledge circulating.
Preview the site
High-level builders make 1:1 maps of scenic areas; visitors tour them in advance, and AR checkpoints unlock interactive learning in official saves.
Challenge culture
Join the global building challenges of Minecraft Education and cross-cooperate with scenic areas and architecture museums.
Fund the journey
A Minetrarchi tourism foundation funds winners and contributors with tickets and travel support to experience heritage in person.
Print the building
Partner with 3D-printing services to give winners free prints and create miniature display models for scenic areas.
What this is, and what it isn't
Minetrarchi is a complete game-system, interface and service-design proposition—not a shipped game. Its lasting idea is precise: architectural knowledge becomes memorable when structure becomes action. Whether building with the hands genuinely converts curiosity into understanding better than the media it replaces is the question the concept now needs a prototype to answer.