For the record: yes, you can “beat” Minecraft.
Odds are you’ve heard of the “Ender Dragon.” Once you’ve located a “stronghold” and activated the “End Portal” within, you can access the new zone of”The End,” thus kicking off a boss fight with said dragon: slay it and you win! The thing is to get to that point you need tons of gear, which is usually acquired by mining: the key function of Minecraft. Well, YouTuber Hedgey ignored all that.
Instead, they impressively avoid mining anything, and only spelunk down in caves with explosives or pick up all of their gear without mining one piece of wood or rock. Their weapon of choice until something better comes along? A loaf of bread!
Although this truncated clip of the run won’t mean much to someone who doesn’t play Minecraft (there’s a lot of menu management and farming), everyone who has partaken in the global phenomenon will find a lot of tricks buried within this gem of a run.
Source: Destructoid Minecraft has been beaten without mining of any sort