A statewide civics and esports competition for California students, grades 3–12. Student teams investigate a real community challenge, design a solution in Minecraft Education, and pitch it to the leaders who can act on it.
Teams advance from the Virtual Qualifier to County Finals, then compete for the statewide title. Each round raises the stakes, and the size of the audience with them.
Teams explore the Minecraft Education world, investigate a real local challenge, and complete the four required parts described below. Submit a Virtual Tour (MP4, 3 minutes or less) by November 15, 2026 (Pacific Time). Judges select the top teams from each county to advance.
Top teams present live at their county office of education to judges and local civic leaders. County Champions are crowned by division. Later-round formats may vary by participating county.
County Champions face off at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda. Projects are presented to state educators, community leaders, and real decision-makers. This is what it's all for.
Each school may submit one official team of four students. Schools may involve many students or teams locally and choose their official team however they like. There is no competition entry fee for the 2026–27 pilot, and no prior Minecraft experience is needed.
Choose four students in the same division: grades 3–5, 6–8, or 9–12. Mixed grades are allowed within a division.
Starting September 22, your team begins at the California State Capitol, chooses a county pathway, and investigates a real local challenge.
Complete the four required parts: Build, Board, NPC, and Virtual Tour. Your challenge's Battle Prompt, its instructions and rubric, lists exactly what your division needs.
Record a Virtual Tour of your build, Board, and NPC (MP4, 3 minutes or less) with every team member's voice. Submit by November 15 (Pacific Time). What to prepare →
Orange County (lead), San Bernardino County, Riverside County, and Yolo County are participating in the 2026–27 program year. More counties are expected to join as the program grows.
Each team creates a proposal: an idea for strengthening a real community, built inside Minecraft Education. Every proposal has the same four parts. Teams build the first three inside the game, then record a short video that walks judges through them. Your challenge's Battle Prompt & Rubric spells out exactly what your team's division needs.
Your team's solution, built in Minecraft.
The build doesn't need to be big or impressive. What counts is that each feature has a clear purpose and the features work together to respond to the challenge.
A sign in the game that explains the idea.
A Board is placed next to the build so anyone who walks up can read what the project is and why it matters.
A character who talks visitors through the idea.
NPC stands for non-player character: a character in the game that visitors can click on to hear from. Your team creates at least one and decides what it says.
A short video that shows judges the whole proposal.
Teams don't send in their Minecraft world. Instead, they screen-record a walkthrough of the build, Board, and NPC and explain their thinking. Each Battle Prompt links to free screen-recording directions.
What your team learned in the community should shape every part. Grades 9–12 also use a credible outside source to justify key choices. Minecraft building skill isn't the goal. Minecraft is how students make their civic thinking visible.
Each team chooses one challenge. Every challenge has its own Battle Prompt & Rubric for each division.
An island community and the open pathway for students whose county isn't in the experience yet.
Each challenge and division has its own Battle Prompt & Rubric. Every rubric uses the same four criteria, each scored 1–4, for a total of 16 points. Level 3 (Progressing) means the team met every requirement in its prompt. Level 4 (Excelling) means it went beyond.
Does the proposal respond to a meaningful need, strength, or opportunity in the community and show who it serves and its intended impact?
Is the design grounded in specific learning from the community and, in grades 9–12, a credible external source?
Does the build include the required number of purposeful features, working together as a clear, creative solution?
Do the Board, NPC, and Virtual Tour explain the proposal, with a relevant source and every team member's voice?
Each rubric names its criteria for the community (for example, “Fullerton Challenge”). Technical building skill and video production quality are not scored on their own.
The world opens September 22. Get your team together, explore your county, and submit your entry by November 15 (Pacific Time).
Level Up Civics is a California nonprofit reimagining civic education through game-based community design. Schools Reinventing Counties is our flagship learning experience, where grades 3–12 students investigate real challenges in their own communities and design solutions in Minecraft Education. Battle of the Counties is the optional statewide competition built around it, where teams present their ideas to the leaders who can act on them.