How to Play Minecraft: Portal Dash

Last Updated on July 31, 2025 by The Official Game Rules Team

Minecraft Portal Dash is a cooperative adventure game where players team up to navigate the dangerous Nether, fight mobs, gather resources, and ultimately defeat the end boss to escape through the portal. Each game is different, thanks to modular board tiles, varied mobs, and multiple end bosses. You win or lose together, making teamwork essential.

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How to Play Minecraft: Portal Dash

Click here for the Video Tutorial

Before Your First Game

Unbox all components and assemble the game parts.
Insert all 20 red-based mob figures and assign each player one of the four colored bases (pink, blue, yellow, green).
Choose from 8 player skins to create your custom player piece.

Game Setup (Level 1)

Game Board:
- Shuffle and randomly choose 2 of the 8 board tiles; place them face down in a line.
- Add the start strip to the left and the portal strip to the right.
- Turn the tile next to the start strip face up.
Resource Cube:
- Stack the 64 wooden blocks randomly to form a cube.
- Use the support structure to help form the cube, then remove it once built.
- Place the Piglin board nearby, matching the player count.
Mobs:
- Use 3 magma cubes, 3 ghasts, and 3 Endermen.
- Place The Wildfire boss next to the portal strip with 1 heart on space 20 of its health tracker.
- Place one of each mob on spawner spaces 1–3, and create a spawn queue with the rest.
Player Inventory:
- Each player takes their color’s inventory board and 5 matching item tiles.
- Place 6 heart tokens on your life tracker and 1 on your leather chestplate.
- Place your player piece on the start strip.
Items:
- Lay out 8 Netherite items face up.
- Shuffle the other 40 items into a face-down stack.
Extra Components:
- Place chest tokens nearby and one on the revealed board tile.
- Keep player aids and combat dice accessible.
- Decide who goes first; they take the 2 white dice.

Objective

Work together to complete Piglin tasks, survive mob attacks, and cross the board to reach and defeat the end boss.
You win if you:

Complete all Piglin tasks
Reach the portal strip
Defeat the final boss

You lose if:

You fail any Piglin task before enough blocks are mined
All 64 blocks are depleted
Any player loses all their hearts

Turn Structure (Basic Flow)

Each turn proceeds as follows:

Roll the 2 White Dice
- Block Die: Remove one block of the rolled color from the resource cube.
- Mob Die: Activate mobs with the rolled number or spawn a new one.
Take 2 Actions
- Perform two basic actions, use items, or do a combination of both.
- Using an item causes it to become damaged and unusable until repaired.
Pass the Dice to the player on your left.

Block Die Rules

Remove an exposed block (visible top and two sides) from the top layer matching the rolled color.
If no block of that color is exposed, skip it unless it’s a “?” (wild), which always requires removing a block.

Mob Die Rules

If any mobs match the number rolled, activate them all.
Otherwise, spawn a new mob from the front of the spawn line.

Mob Activation

If multiple players are in range, the active player chooses who takes the hit.
Mobs move toward the nearest player, avoiding lava and other mobs.
Some can fly, ignoring terrain restrictions.
When in range, they attack, reducing a player’s heart tokens.

Pickaxes: Mining Blocks

Pickaxes allow you to mine blocks from the resource cube.
Each pickaxe has a number showing the maximum blocks it can mine — you can mine fewer if you wish.

Mining rules:

Blocks must be exposed (top and at least two sides visible).
You can mine from any layer.
Blocks must be used immediately — you cannot save them for later turns.

Using Mined Blocks: Two Options

When you mine a block, you must choose to either:

Option A: Use the Block’s Ability

Each color block has a unique ability:

Red – Heal: Restore health to any player.
Gray – Repair: Repair all items and armor for any player.
Yellow – Draw Items: A player draws two item tiles and keeps one.
Black – Find Netherite Items: Choose a face-up Netherite item. Shuffle it with five random item tiles, then place those six tiles face down on the item stack. The next player to draw might find the powerful Netherite item.
Brown – Cover Obstacles: Place the block on a lava, soul sand, or magma space. That space becomes safe to move onto and does not cause damage.

Special Pickaxes: Netherite and Diamond pickaxes let you reuse blocks from the discard pile (support structure) instead of mining from the cube. The Diamond pickaxe allows you to retrieve up to two extra blocks.

Option B: Complete Piglin Tasks

To win, you must complete three Piglin tasks (A, B, and C) before each layer of the resource cube is depleted.

Each task requires a set number of blocks.
Instead of using a block’s ability, you may place it on the Piglin board.
You may contribute to any task at any time.
Each column must contain blocks of a single color. The first block placed sets the color for the column.
All three tasks must be fully completed to win.

Basic Actions

Instead of using (and damaging) an item, you can perform a basic action. You may do the same basic action twice in one turn.

Available actions:

Mine 1 block (must be used immediately).
Move 1 step (you cannot enter soul sand with just 1 step).
Repair 1 item or armor: Push a damaged item back to your active inventory or restore one armor piece’s hearts.

End of Turn

After completing your two actions:

Pass the dice to the player on your left.
If any player is next to a face-down board tile, you may choose to reveal it.

Revealing a New Tile:

Flip the tile face up and align it with the board.
Place a chest token on the chest space.
Add mobs to spawner spaces in order, starting with the front of the mob line.

Revealing the Portal Strip:

Only allowed after completing all Piglin tasks.
Place the end boss on the portal space.
Begin the next player’s turn as usual. The boss and other mobs will now become active.

End Boss Rules

Once the portal strip is revealed, the end boss appears. You must defeat it to win the game.

The end boss attacks like a mob but has higher health.
Damage accumulates over multiple turns — you don’t need to defeat it in one hit.
The boss always activates every turn, no matter the dice roll.
Other mobs of the same number will also activate.
No new mobs will spawn during this phase.

End Boss: The Wildfire

Traits: Can cross lava; ranged attacker (up to 3 spaces).

Easy Mode (20 health):

Deals 1 to 3 damage to a nearby player based on the roll.

Hard Mode (25 health):

May deal damage to all nearby players.
Can damage items in your inventory.
May force removal of a block from the top layer of the resource cube.

End Boss: The Ancient Hoglin

Traits: Powerful melee attacker.

Easy Mode (20 health):

Moves up to 3 spaces and deals 2 to 4 damage to adjacent players.

Hard Mode (25 health):

Ignores armor; damage is taken directly from the life tracker.
May push players onto new spaces or deal additional damage if pushed onto magma.
May also remove blocks from the top layer of the resource cube.

Increasing Difficulty: Additional Levels

After winning on level 1, increase the challenge by adjusting game setup:

Level	Changes
2	Add 2 hoglins. Use Ancient Hoglin (easy mode).
3	Add 3 hoglins and 2 blazes. Use any boss (easy mode).
4	Add a 3rd gameboard tile. Use Wildfire (hard mode).
5	Add all mobs (hoglins, blazes, wither skeletons). Use Ancient Hoglin (hard mode).

You can also create your own custom difficulty levels. Mix in more mobs, add extra board parts, remove certain mob types, or even battle multiple bosses at once.