Student Recreates Entire Switzerland in Minecraft at 1:1 Scale

A 22-year-old ETH Zurich student has recreated the entire country of Switzerland in a 1:1 scale within the video game Minecraft, using freely available geodata from Swisstopo, the Swiss federal mapping agency. The student, known as "Manifold," developed a program that translates Swisstopo data—including terrain height, ground composition, and the location of buildings and trees—into Minecraft blocks, with each block representing exactly one meter. The project, available for download on his website, offers the entire country in early access for 15 francs, while the Jungfrau-Aletsch UNESCO region is free. Originally created for 3D-printed landscape models, the Minecraft version now serves as an accessible way to explore Switzerland, with potential educational uses in geography classes for teaching heights and distances. Manifold credits the project's feasibility to Switzerland's open geodata policy, which he notes is not a global standard.