The first hints of the Minecraft 1.7 update came with the reveal of the sunflower sneak peek, which is said to help in giving directions when you are in the game.

While that sneak peek was met with mixed responses, with many other fans asking for more snapshots of the build of the next update.

This was followed shortly by a comparison of the Minecraft 1.6 biome map with the Minecraft 1.7 version, which shows off a more densely populated area for land, instead of seeing the all blue of very large oceamns.

More recently, Mojang has finally revealed the 13w36a Snapshot, announced to be ready for testing and is said to show off a number of features for the 1.7 update.

iDigital Times enumerates some of the new features, such as improved fishing systems, new treasure and types of fish, and a potion that makes use of the pufferfish. The report also mentions a Reddit entry detailing the changelog for the 1.7 update.

Option screens have been improved, with added Super Secret Settings and separate keybinds for each hotbar slot. There is also an improved NBT format, taking out crashes when given the wrong type while the list tags don't have to be named.

The updates has several bug fixes, including Baby Zombie drops, lighting issues for mineshafts and strongholds, changing durability levels even with unsuccessful attacks, and botched up spawning of Mesa biome.

For those who have tried the snapshot and found bugs, Mojang provides a link where you can report them for future fixing.

The Hunger Games Mod

As the title suggests, this mod is inspired by the film and book series of the same name, The Hunger Games and is packed with the same action that you found in the original series.

Created by modder alexmack929, The Hunger Games mod gives you a single-player experience in the Minecraft world.

According to 9Minecraft.net, its list of features includes four new weapons that have been seen in the series, namely the combat knife, the throwing knife, the poison knife, and the spear. There is also a new kind of food, Nightlock Berries (though originally, in the series, these are poisonous), and a new block, Nightlock Bush.

The mod also has functional tributes, which you can customise per name, as well as functional Hunger Games with integrated LAN support. Best of all, it features is own Minecraft Hunger Games mini-game.

The latest changes in the update has fixed several items, including item textures, Tribute textures, thrown item textures, and crashes for using the spear and the throwing knife.

You can find the full steps for installing the mod here, as well as the link to where you can download the mod.

Mine Little Pony Mod

Colourful ponies and rainbows-if you are a fan of everything girlie and frilly about the TV show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic then you may be looking at athe Mine Little Pony mode as a possible favourite for the weekend.

What this mod basically does is to make the players look like ponies for both the single and multiplayer mode. You can choose which special pony skin to use-otherwise you will blend in the background by adapting with the background pony skins.

A mod created by Verdana, it is now optimised for the 1.6.2 version, Minecraft Forum has detailed that the Mine Little Pony is backwards-compatible with the original player mode, so if you play with those who don't have the mod installed, it's fine. The only exception is that they don't get to see the ponies.

On the Minecraft 1.6.2 version you can expect more bug fixes, as well as compatibility of the version with the 1.6.3. Part of the latest changelog has a rewritten Pony's Eye View that now works with Optifine.

First, download the mod here, then follow the steps below to install:

  1. Copy the file once you open it via WinRAR.
  2. Click start, then type in appdata to open your .minecraft folder
  3. Open the bin folder and paste all the contents of the minecraft.jar file
  4. Delete the Meta-inf
  5. Start playing.

Kamen Rider Craft DX Mod

One mod that is worth mentioning, but is sadly still in the creation phase is the Kamen Rider Craft DX Mod.

As the title implies, this is a mod that is based on the Japanese TV show back in the early 90s. This version is different from a previously released version for the Modloader, as this one is updated for Forge.

According to MinecraftDL, the upside to this version is that it allows you to go beyond the 70-item limit, as the modder has plans for more than 70 items in the mod.

The most recent version includes several riders from the Kamen Rider series, a large number of weapons and armor, and new types of food. There are also added mobs and Hibiki for the mod.

So far, the video only showcases a demo run of the mod, but always check back on the link for future updates.