Expect the unexpected

Key art for the event.

From December 4 to December 11, several releases were made to promote The Garden Awakens, which had released the day before the campaign. These 7 days were known as Expect the unexpected, featuring projects such as add-ons, a skin pack, and an event server.

Prior to the campaign's official beginning, a cryptic article revealing the Garden Awakens release date set up a narrative of Minecraft.net writer Sophie Austin reportedly disappeared into the pale garden. It would be formally announced on Minecraft Monthly.

December 4

Packs inspired by the pale garden

Phantom Frames

Phantom Frames is a free add-on developed by The Hive, available on both Bedrock Edition and Java Edition (as data pack and resource pack). The add-on features several "magic paintings," which send the player to a random biome in the world.

Majestic Camping

Majestic Camping is an add-on developed by Jordan Maron, better known as CaptainSparklez, that is centered around various camping supplies, such as hammocks, tents, and flashlights. It was released for 660 Minecoins.

Ghost Pets

Ghost Pets is an add-on developed by AriaCreations that allow existing "pet" mobs to become powerful ghosts, with associated features such as glowing dye. It was released for 660 Minecoins.

December 5

Take on eerie challenges

To promote the drop and incentivize players to find the new features, two challenges were put in place. The first, the "Biome Community Challenge", required traveling to the pale garden biome and placing 50 million resin blocks. The second, the "Mob Community Challenge", requires defeating 75 million creakings, meaning to break creaking hearts. For Java players, a skin pack was also released to reward progress.

Name	Image		Type	Rarity	Challenge
	Icon	Render
Creaking Mask			Headwear	Rare	Mob Community Challenge
The Creak			Emote		Biome Community Challenge

December 6

The Garden Awakens Collection

A series of character creator items, referred to as the Garden Awakens Collection, was released, made to represent three distinct characters.

Name	Image		Type	Rarity	Price	Character
	Icon	Render
Tattered Flannel			Top	Rare	400 Minecoins	Pale Wood Punching Lumberjack
Tattered Jeans			Bottom		160 Minecoins
Creaking Pauldron			Outerwear		280 Minecoins
Resin-Trimmed Gloves			Gloves		160 Minecoins
Pale Brimmed Hat			Headwear	Epic	400 Minecoins	Eyeblossom Botanist
Eyeblossom Apron			Outerwear	Rare	280 Minecoins
Pale Gardening Gloves			Gloves		160 Minecoins
Pale Moss Hair			Hairs		120 Minecoins	Rake Moss
Pale Moss Beard			Facial Hairs
Pale Moss Shoes			Shoes	Epic	240 Minecoins

December 7

Promo for the event.

Eerie Mojang Office Party

Although previously announced on Minecraft Monthly, on December 7th an article was announced formally explaining the Eerie Mojang Office Party. The plot, settings, rewards, and release date of the event were revealed.

December 10

Three startling add-ons

After several days without any official updates to the initiative, news would conclude with the announcement of three additional add-ons.

Scary Furniture

Developed by Honeyfrost, Scary Furniture contains several pieces of unique furniture entities. Several options include mimic chests, haunted bookshelves, chess sets, and a piano. The pack was released for free, with an accompanying pop-up to promote it. Within the context of the narrative framing device, the possessed furniture ended up killing several detectives.

Mob Lights Add-On

Developed by Horizon Blocks, Mob Light is an add-on adds several lights in the shape of mobs. These each have their own properties and abilities, intended for use defending survival bases. The add-on was released for 660 Minecoins, and contributed to the meta narrative by helping illuminate a path, with the investors getting distracted by the add-on's cosmetic options.

Monster Food Add-On

Developed by Noxcrew, Monster Food offers several food options themed around monsters, such as wardens, ravagers, and the ender dragon. The add-on was released for 660 Minecoins.

Starter Packs

Alongside the add-ons, two additional content bundles were released to coincide with the theme of the event.

Weapons Pack

The Weapons Pack is a bundle devoted to weapons and tools, including the Mob Weapons add-on by Logdotzip, two additional add-ons, the Pufferfist character item, and minecoins.

Scary Pack

The Scary Pack is a bundle devoted to horror tropes, including the Mutant Zombie Dungeons map, Mutants add-on, The Backrooms map, Insane Disasters add-on by Spark Universe, several character items, and minecoins.

Promotional image for the promotion.

Saving Kitty

On Twitter, notable Minecraft content creators CaseOh and Quackity were announced to be participating in a promotional stream. Announced to begin on December 13th, the stream centers around their quest to rescue CaseOh's cat Kitty, who had somehow been captured in a cage within a pale garden.

December 11

New rewarded achievement

Following several days of apparent incidents within the narrative, Sophie was found outside the pale garden, wearing the Heart Transplanter character creator item. The item is unlocked by properly activating a collected creaking heart.

Trivia

• This campaign is also known as Beyond the Pale Garden.

Gallery

Official artwork

• 

  The three characters.

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  A creaking and a pile of resin blocks in the pale garden.

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  First progress update on the Build Community Challenge.

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  An alternate update.

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  Finished progress update on the Build Community Challenge.

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  An alternative completion.

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  Promotional image for the challenges.

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  First progress update on the Mob Community Challenge.

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  An alternative update.

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  Finished progress update on the Mob Community Challenge.

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  An alternative update.

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  A promotion for the Heart Transplant achievement.

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  Ditto.

Screenshots

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  Ari, Sunny, Noor, and Makena wearing the Creaking Mask while doing the "Creak" emote.

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  Sunny and Zuri using the Ghost Pets add-on.

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  Sunny being eaten by a mimic.

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  Ari and Noor eating monster food.

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  A crunch of creakings.

Promotions

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  Vu Bui promoting the event.

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  A pop-up notification promoting the event, as well as the framing device.

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  The full announcement in the inbox.

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  A section of the Marketplace