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 virtual qualifiers to live county championships, then compete for the statewide title. Each round raises the stakes, and the size of the audience with them.
Teams explore their county's Minecraft Education world, investigate a real local challenge, and build their solution. Submit a video walkthrough (up to 5 minutes) before November 15. Judges select the top teams from each county to advance.
Top teams compete live at their county office of education. Timed build events, presentations to judges and local civic leaders. County Champions are crowned by grade level.
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.
Every participating school fields one team of four students. No prior Minecraft experience is needed. The worlds come built, and your educators get training and support before the world goes live.
Recruit four students from your school. One team per school enters the qualifier.
Starting September 22, your team enters your county's Minecraft Education world and investigates a real local challenge.
Design a solution to the challenge and build it in Minecraft Education. Every block should serve a purpose.
Record a walkthrough of your build (up to 5 minutes). Submit your entry before the November 15 deadline.
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.
Judges look at the full arc from investigation to solution. A strong entry shows the community thinking behind every design decision, which matters more than how impressive the build looks.
Strong entries show real investigation: listening to community voices, understanding the challenge, and grounding decisions in evidence.
The solution should answer a real community need. Creativity helps, but the ideas that hold up are the ones rooted in what the team learned.
The Minecraft Education build is how judges see your thinking. Every block should show purpose, not just polish.
Your walkthrough (up to 5 minutes) should explain what you investigated, what you designed, and why it would improve the community.
The world opens September 22. Get your team together, explore your county, and submit your entry before November 15.
Level Up Civics Foundation is a California nonprofit reimagining civic education through game-based community design. Battle of the Counties is our flagship program — a statewide competition where grades 3–12 students investigate real challenges in their own communities, build solutions in Minecraft Education, and present them to the leaders who can act on their ideas.