What are the Rodneys? Great question. They are the name for our just launched Gamehole Con game design award. If you look at any of our annual logos, you will see an armored fellow squaring off against some foe. At Gamehole Con command central, we have always called that guy, Sir Rodney. So, that will be the name of our game design awards.
As this will be our first year offering this award, it will be limited to two categories – RPG Adventure and Board Game. The parameters for each are below.
The contest will be run and managed via and through The Game Crafter’s website.
The way it works is that designers upload their designs to The Game Crafter’s game editor, and then submit their game through the contest submission system. Then, for each category, the submissions will go through several rounds of voting to decide a winner. If you need assistance, please ask a question in the chat, available at the bottom of every page on The Game Crafter’s web site.
The first round which will determine which submissions will get to the Quarter Finals will be determined by you, the gaming community. To vote, all one needs is a Game Crafter account. This is simply an email address. Then you can vote on the design submissions to help us get the field narrowed down to 20 finalists.
At this point, the Semi Finals, a team of judges will thoroughly read all the submissions to further narrow down the field to 3-7 finalists.
Then, for the Finals in both categories, the RPG Adventure and the board game submissions will be printed and mailed to a blue ribbon panel of experts. They will each be given a specific score sheet and they will score each of the Finalist’s submission. They will then return these sheets to us. We will then simply tally up the scores and arrive at a winner.
There will be a countdown timer on the site and all of the contest rules will be listed there as well.
The winners will be announced and prizes awarded at Gamehole Con 2015.
Prizes
The winner in each category will receive the following prizes:
- $100 cash
- a hand crafted award created by Albion Swords with their names inscribed on it
- 100,000 crafter points
- $50 in shop credit
In addition the winner of the RPG Adventure Challenge will receive 5 fully printed copies of their adventure.
The winner of the Board Game Challenge will win a fully printed copy of the board game and their game will be sent to Gamer’s Remorse for a professional review.
Rules
All of the following rules must be followed to the letter:
- All games must be submitted through The Game Crafter’s game editor (by clicking on the “Contests” button) no later than September 8th, 2015 at Noon UTC (6am US Central).
- These are Designer / Author Awards, not publisher awards. This means that the actual author / designer must submit the games and the awards will go to the authors / designers.
- All submissions must be original and previously unpublished works, and they cannot have existed on The Game Crafter prior to the start of the contest.
- In the event of co-authorship, the award will be inscribed with up to two designer names.
- The game or adventure must be publish ready for our shop. That means it must have a logo, backdrop, shop ad, action shots, description, and cool factors filled out in the game editor. And all images must be proofed.
- Any artwork included in the adventure or board game must be your own, commissioned by you, licensed to you, or in the public domain.
- Contestants are welcome to submit multiple entries to this contest. Each entry will be judged separately.
In addition, the following rules apply to each contest:
RPG Adventure
- Your entry must be submitted as both a downloadable PDF (privately accessible) and a formatted Jumbo Booklet so that it can be printed. It must also include a publicly accessible preview PDF so people can get a sense of what the adventure is about and what it looks like.
- The total length of your RPG adventure submission cannot exceed 10,000 words.
- While art is encouraged, it is not required.
- You are welcome to use any printed components or game pieces in our shop to flesh out your adventure. For example, if you like, you can include extra components such as a custom GM Screen or printed mats to act as map tiles. None of these are required.
- Your adventure cannot exceed a total cost of $29.99.
- A legible and useful map(s) are a requirement. Map quality will be included in the judging criteria.
- The entries will be judged based on Overall Presentation, Logic and Playability, Unique Design Aspects, Organization and Syntax and Readability.
Board Game
- Your game must include a strong “Take That” aka “Screw Your Neighbor” mechanic.
- You are welcome to use any printed components or game pieces in our shop to create your game.
- Your game cannot exceed a total cost of $29.99.
- You must upload a publicly accessible copy of your rules as a downloadable PDF. In addition, you must include a printed copy of the rules in your game.
- Your game must include packaging. Any of our boxes will do.
- The entries will be judged based upon Overall Presentation, Playability, Unique Design Aspects, and FUN!
