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How to Build a Pig Racing Mini-Game in Minecraft

Pig racing is a game played by sitting on top of saddles pigs and see who gets to the end of the track the fastest. This may seem pointless as pigs cannot be controlled, so why not just let the pigs go on their own and watch from the sides? Pigs can be controlled slightly by hitting them, which will make them run in a random direction. When this is used on the right moments, a player could win the race a lot quicker than their opponent.

A pig race track is quite easy to make, though you have to keep the AI of the pig in mind.
– Pigs will not go down any block that’s more than a block high, unless you push it with water.
– Pigs will walk into fire, which could be used as an obstacle, but is usually just annoying and kills the pig.
– Pigs will try to float in water, including waterfalls. While it is possible to go down a waterfall, make sure it’s not too long when you completely surround it with other blocks, or both the pig and the player could drown.
– A pig has 5 hearts of health, so it can be hit 9 times with your fists.

Keeping these few things in mind, almost anything can be build. However, I advise you to use plenty of water to speed things up, though don’t make the track entirely out of water currents. Just as no water can lead to incredibily long and slow races, using only water will mean no player input is really needed, which pretty much destroyes the whole point of the race.

If you don’t know what obstacles you should build, try a few of ours.

Splash Potions of Health

These potions will heal the pig 3 or 6 hearts (pigs maximum health is 5), depending on which version you used. This means the pig can be hit 6 or 9 more times by the player. This is useful when you create longer races that require the player to hit the pig more often.

You could either give the players a few potions or make them drop out of a dispenser when the pig reaches a certain zone.

Note that a pig will only gain 3 or 6 hearts of health when they’re in the middle of the blast radius. The further they are, the less they’ll be healed. So it’s advised to always use splash potion of health II, which will almost always heal the pig back to full health, unless the pig was already on low health and was on the edges of the blast radius. This way, players will know they can hit their pig up to 9 times again, without killing it. Make sure you tell them of course, by placing a sign for example.

Speed Booster

Let the player be in control of the water by using piston systems. A piston can block the flow of the water easily, so by hiding pistons in a wall and placing a button somewhere, a player can push a button to activate a water flow behind him. The water will then push the pig and the player forward at a faster speed than the pigs usually walk. This could also be used to toggle a waterfall that allows the pig and the player to go down a large cliff without dieing.

Pig Deceleration

In the same way you use speed boosters, pigs could also be slowed down temporarily by making the water flow the other way. This works great when players can activate a water flow behind them by pushing a button. Make sure the water flow is blocked again or else the pigs will never be able to go through.

Waterfalls

The waterfall is great to get to lower places and can be incorporated very easily in natural landscapes. Though make sure the drop is safe, or else the pig and the player will die from falling damage. Waterfalls are usually the only way to get a pig to go down more than 1 block at a time in a safe manner. Pistons could also be used, though greater heights will only cause fall damage, which makes it impossible to know how much health the pig has left, and thus how many more times you can hit it.

Arrow Dispensers

Place 1 or 2 dispensers next or close to each other and attach them to a clock. The player will have to try to hit the pig on the right moment to avoid getting hit by the arrow. By placing the dispenser on ground level, the pig could also be hit by an arrow. Though nore that an arrow will deal 2 hearts of damage to the pig, so try not to kill the pig with too many dispensers.

You could use a T flip flop to connect and disconnect the clock from the dispensers wheh the pig walks in and out of the dispenser area. This way the arrows aren’t fired constantly and you don’t have to refill the dispensers as often.

Splash Potions of Harming

A splash potion of harming will deal 3 hearts of damage to the pig, this can be used as weapons by the contestants or as a punishment in traps or other contraptions.

Note that the damage will be lower when the pig isn’t caught in the middle of the blast radius, though advise the contestants to always assume it dealt 3 hearts of damage, so they don’t accidently kill their pig by hitting it too often. A simply sign will usually be enough to inform the contestants.

Potholes

Pigs can get stuck in 1 block deep holes in the race tracks. They won’t be stuck forever, as they can slow down, but it’s a nice obstacle which can only be passed with luck and perhaps a little persuation by hitting the pig.

Other Tips, Tricks and Recommendations

The race track can be made as seperate lines, so each pig racer has their own track, or as one wide track on which all the pig racers can bump into each other and try to be faster.

The second version is often more exciting, though it does allow players to try to kill each other’s pigs, so consider the players that will play your game when building your tracks.

Pig races are usually more fun when 4 or more pig racers start together, so try to build your track big enough for many players. Also try to build viewing points, like towers and bridges, for an audience to watch the race from clear points.