Over the past two and half years since its first event in February 2023, MC Mania has become a well-known name within the Minecraft event community. Having been mostly on hiatus since December, the event has now announced a change in course, with the revamp featuring some brand new games and a new format. We spoke to organiser whereismyjules, a.k.a. Jules, about this new direction for MC Mania.
“It’s going to be a complete rerun of how we wanted Mania to look like,” Jules tells us. “When we broke off in December, I was very unhappy in the sense that I saw that Mania was not anything special really. It was just like every other event: eight games, a final game with the top two teams, the same old copy paste.”
“So, my main goal coming into this new season and going into the overhaul was to make something completely new – something that hasn’t been done before, or something that was touched upon but they didn’t completely run with it – but it still has that element of a minigame event. We’ve pieced basically everything together and I’m pretty sure we have achieved that. I’m really proud with what I’ve come up with as a concept, and I cannot wait to showcase the new overhaul.”
Jules sees such a drastic change after already having a long-established format as a gamble. “Everyone is so used to the regular format,” she says, “so when they’re embarking on this new thing, you don’t know if they’re going to like it or not. I decided to give them a big warning, like ‘hey, this is what it is and this is what we’re kind of planning to do’.”
While bringing something fresh to the Minecraft event table, many people will also see something familiar in the overhauled format. “We’re taking Mario Party into Minecraft,” Jules says. “I’m talking the way a winner is determined, the fun little like twists Mario Party has, the party board itself where you roll the dice and you move. All the key elements of Mario Party will be there.” The event has a shiny new name to match: MC Mania will now also be known as “Mania Party”.
“For those who don’t know how Mario Party is played – the player with the most stars and coins wins the game,” Jules explains. “That’s how Mania Party will work too, but instead of a player, it will be the team with the most stars, and then the most points, that takes the the win. I specifically say team because we took an approach with the games to make it more working as a team, rather than everyone’s playing for an individual. There are still moments where as an individual you can have those pop-off moments, those clip-farming things, because I feel like those are what makes an event special. But teamwork is one of the main catalysts of our games.”
“We’ve experimented with things like quests that you can find in games, and maybe some fun little statistics like the player who jumped the most will get a star,” Jules continues, “so there are a lot of fun little twists. I think overall Mania Party really puts the teamwork and the strategy into a Minecraft event, and I don’t think we’ve seen anything like this in the event scene as of yet.”
The new games are designed to be simple to understand, and fit that idea of working as a team. “When we shifted events back in December to January, my first action was to basically say ‘okay well this game doesn’t show teamwork, you play it as an individual.’ In that case, I would cut the game, and then I would maybe try to come up with something different.”
While the gameplay of the new games isn’t quite ready yet to be revealed, Jules did give this teaser: “I’m going to describe them in one word. For the first one I’m going to say ‘diner’ – I think that might give something. For another one I’m going to say ‘survival’.” A third new game is also in the works, but is still in the development and playtesting phases, so is as yet unclear whether or not it’ll be added to Mania Party.
In addition to these new games, there’ll also be some familiar favourites returning from MC Mania’s previous game roster. “The returning games that we’ve chosen are what we thought were the staple games of Mania,” Jules tells us. “I see ‘staple’ and ‘unique’ as two completely different things, so I wouldn’t say they’re totally unique, but they’re recognisable in a sense of ‘that’s a Minecraft Mania game’, you know?”
“We decided to add a little fun twist to Hide And Go Hunt to bring it back. We’ve given Precision Build kind of a different flow, and brought her back as well. The final returning game is Cloud Clashers, which on paper is a very individual game – it’s PvP and a free-for-all within the team – but we’ve done something that makes it more team-focused.”
Other changes to the event include new team icons and new faces in the player roster. An updated Patreon will include more ways to involve the community, including the ability to submit things that will then appear in-game.
Another upcoming community opportunity is a viewer event, although dates have not yet been decided. The event was promised as a donation goal back in June, when MC Mania collaborated with another minigame tournament, MC Mayhem, to raise money for charity for Pride Month. “I want to try the viewer event out with the new format,” Jules says. “I think it would be a good little treat, but I want to do it once Mania Party has established itself a bit.”
The announcements of Mania’s return have come with floods of support from fans old and new – many just eager to see the return of an event they’ve enjoyed, though the format changes also bring an air of excitement and intrigue even for those unfamiliar with the tournament. “People have been supporting Mania from day one,” Jules says. “Genuinely I’m overwhelmed with the support that people have given me. Even from posting the teaser and giving people in the roster a better explanation and seeing the overwhelming support – it just gives me that drive to keep on working hard and to make sure that this is the event that you want to watch. I want to make everyone who has been supporting us proud, and I hope that I do that and that I have done that. So thank you very much!”
The date / time for Mania Party’s debut and further details on the games have not yet been confirmed, but you can stay up to date with the latest news by following @mc_maniaevent on X, or by joining the Mania Community Discord.
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