Magic in (Minecraft) Moraga: The Third-Generation Gael Who Built a Virtual Saint Mary’s

By Hayden Royster, Associate Editor

I feel like the library would be so fun to build in Minecraft

To most Saint Mary's students who read those words—posted to an anonymous student messageboard in April 2025—they probably didn't stir much. The current generation of Gaels was raised on Minecraft, the blocky world-building game with over 200 million players and a recent hit movie. They know what can be accomplished. They also know how challenging a build like Saint Mary's would be. 

To one first-year student, though, the post represented a call to action. "400 [upvotes]...and I'll build the whole campus," he posted a few hours later. When he sailed past that, he fired up his gaming PC and got to work.

Five months later, "Minecraft Guy," as he's now known, is a bona fide sensation. He has built elaborate recreations of Saint Mary's most iconic locations—including the Chapel, the 1928 Pub and Courtyard, and Oliver Hall—amassing a sizeable online following. Minecraft Guy may be one of the biggest SMC celebrities right now…except, of course, very few know his true identity. 

Until now. Ryan Geissberger '28, the man behind the Minecraft, has enjoyed his relative anonymity. A Marketing major, Men's Volleyball player, and third-generation Gael, he has mostly reveled in the act of creation. But the response has been a pleasant surprise, too.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

A post shared by Saint Mary's Minecraft (@smc_mc2025)

"I was in my De La Salle dorm one day, showing a few friends what I'd been doing," Geisseberger recalls. Soon, his dorm was flooded with people—roommates, friends, and even those he barely knew. "Oh my gosh!" he remembers someone telling him. "I've been on the message board every day, waiting for the update. That's so cool that it's you."

For Geissberger, the project was born out of a lifelong love for SMC. He's hoping his affection is contagious, he says. "If I can get people to love Saint Mary's just a little bit more, that would be pretty amazing."

Home away from home

If "Geissberger" rings a bell, perhaps you've gone stargazing at Saint Mary's. The Geissberger Observatory, perched on a hilltop southwest of campus, was funded by Ryan's grandfather, Louis Geissberger '53, and created as a memorial to his wife, Norma, who passed in 2005. A basketball star in his day, Louis Geissberger went on to run a thriving dental practice in Marin County. He credited Saint Mary's with all of his successes. 

His goal was to donate $1 million to the College, and he came close, gifting $836,000 before his passing in 2018. To realize the dream, his four sons—Marc '88, Michael '89, Jeffrey '90, and John '92—each donated $57,000 to Saint Mary's. 

For Ryan—son of John—growing up a Geissberger has, effectively, meant growing up a Gael. When we speak over Zoom in early July, he's back home in Greenbrae, where his grandfather practiced dentistry for 50 years. His sister, uncles, aunts, and cousins—many of them SMC graduates—live there, too. 

Ryan Geissberger's other home base, naturally, has been University Credit Union Pavilion—home to Gaels basketball. "My family has had season passes my whole life," he says. "It feels like we've sat in the same seats for 19 years." Another family legacy, the Louis Geissberger basketball scholarship, has supported many Gaels, including Matthew Dellavedova '13.

One might expect Ryan Geissberger to be SMC-bound by default. When applying for college, though, his parents encouraged him to explore his options. But after looking at a few other schools, he knew. 

"I could never see myself being somewhere other than Saint Mary's," he says.

Building blocks

Geissberger moved into De La Salle Hall last August. So far, the Saint Mary's experience has lived up to years of expectations. "Everyone I've met has been so nice and welcoming," he says. "I love the culture here. Hopefully, I'm contributing to it."

In a way, Geissberger has also been preparing to become Minecraft Guy his whole life. When we talk in July, he is planted in his ergonomic gaming chair at home, multiple monitors arrayed before him. A Lego Millennium Falcon is displayed on a shelf over his shoulder—one of his favorite sets he's ever completed, he tells me.

In fourth grade, he discovered Minecraft at a friend's house and dove in headlong. He speaks of "classic Minecraft YouTubers" like iBallistic Squid and DanDTM as inspirations. For him, the game has always been about escape. "As much as I love building, I worry I'd start to hate it if I became an engineer or something." Eventually, he hopes to go into advertising.

"It's just been so fun to see somewhere I love—that I've grown up with, really—come to life in my favorite game."

The opportunity to construct Saint Mary's came at an ideal time, during a lull before finals. Working off of Google Earth imagery and his own photography, Geissberger started with the Chapel and the lawn before it. He was determined to render every detail, down to the stained glass windows. The iconic statue of John Baptist de La Salle proved too challenging, however—so he went for whimsy. In place of the kneeling figure of the founder of the Christian Brothers, in Minecraft SMC, there now stands a llama.

The question Geissberger gets asked the most, online and in person: Will others get to step into his virtual Saint Mary's? He hopes so, eventually. "I'll need to host it on a server that's constantly running, so I'm researching that. But I definitely would love to get to a place where people can go and experience it for themselves." For now, fans can follow his Instagram page, @smc_mc2025, for updates.

Leveling up

In July, a bit of cybernated tragedy struck: His files got corrupted, rendering his virtual College unusable. Not unlike the architect tasked with rebuilding Saint Mary's Oakland campus after the 1889 fire (and the 1906 earthquake, and the 1918 fire), Geissenberger would have to start constructing everything from scratch. 

For a while, Geissberger waffled on whether he wanted to do it all again, he says. "But then, I thought, You know what? There's a lot of stuff I wish I had done the first time. I'm going to take this opportunity and do it."

The result, so far, has been even more textured and intricate. Minecraft Saint Mary's now has trees and streetlamps, exposed wood beams and traffic bollards. Building it is more time-intensive, but all the more satisfying, Geissberger tells me.

When he first began this project, it was amidst a season of tumult and uncertainty, in the world and his own life. "For me, this turned out to be a light in the darkness," he says. "In Minecraft, everything's great, and everything works. For people who were in the same boat as I am, I think this was, hopefully, an escape."

Of course, as any superhero will tell you, once the mask comes off, everything changes. But Geissberger is far from finished. "It's just been so fun to see somewhere I love—that I've grown up with, really—come to life in my favorite game," he says.

Hayden Royster is Associate Editor in the Office of Marketing and Communication at Saint Mary's. Write him.