Minecraft Earth is coming – it will change the way you see your town

As the augmented-reality spinoff from the block-building game arrives this month, players will be taking their creations to the streets

Six of us are huddled together in Cavendish Square Gardens in central London, fighting a horde of warrior skeletons. To passersby, however, we must look like a bunch of adults pointing our smartphones at nothing while shouting about incoming monsters. This isn't a bizarre new workplace therapy. What we're doing is playing a beta version of Minecraft Earth, an augmented reality (AR) spinoff from the multimillion-selling block-building game - and very soon, parks all over the world will be filled with people just like us.

This month, Minecraft is launching an early-access version of the game in a select few territories around the world, ahead of a global roll-out. Microsoft has yet to reveal exactly when and where, but soon thousands of fans used to playing on their console, PC or tablet, are going to be taking their creations to the streets.