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FallCon 2010 Design Contest

The FallCon Gaming Society, along with its founding counterpart The Canadian Wargamers Group, has had a rich history of fostering the Gaming Hobby in Canada since 1985. The current members of the Society felt it was time to make a further contribution to the hobby by launching an annual Canadian Game Design Contest that would highlight and eventually foster homegrown Canadian talent in game design.

Schedule

  • Publishing of Competition Rules and Forms (February 10, 2010)
  • Deadline for Rule Set Submission (May 31, 2010)
    • For each contest entry, a digital copy of the rule set will be sent via email along with a Contest Entry Form to designcontest@fallcon.com. Each entry will be subject to a $25 entry fee. Payment details will be sent to you after you submit your form & rule set. Only the first 100 contest entries will be accepted.
  • Shortlisted Games Alert (July 2010)
    • Authors of up to 30 shortlisted games will be alerted by email sometime in May. The selected authors have 2 weeks to send us 2 boxed prototypes of their design along with $25 for administration and return of the prototype.
  • Finalists Announcement (August 2010)
    • Up to 10 finalists will be selected among those prototypes received.
  • Jury Selection (October 2010)
    • Jury to make their final selection of (up to) 3 winners
  • Winner Annoucement (Friday October 16th, 2010)
    • Winners will be declared live at FallCon 2010 (Friday October 16, 2010).The winning designs will be presented to Canadian and International Game Manufacturers and the winning designers will take home a split of the prize money.

Eligibility

  • The contest is open to all Canadian residents.
  • A limit of three games per designer will be accepted.
  • Game designers who have already published 3 games or more, may only submit one contest entry so as to give unrecognized designers a chance to win.
  • Co-designs are permitted but all authors will be subject to all of the publishing limits.
  • Game Designers must use their real and full legal names, no pseudonym's allowed.
  • FallCon Society members, jury members as well as their family are not allowed to participate.
  • Contest entries must be original, unpublished works.
  • Participants are required to alert the selection committee immediately of an anticipated publication date for their designs.
  • Expansions to existing games will not be accepted.
  • Reworkings of a previously submitted entry will be accepted as long as the game has not been submitted more than twice.
  • Reworkings of a previously submitted entry will be accepted as long as the changes to the design have been highlighted on submission of the rule set and prototype.
  • Puzzles (including solitaire-only games) and brain-teasers are not eligible for this contest.
  • Board or card games with play times within 120 minutes will be accepted.
  • Participants will be required to submit two playable prototypes to the selection committee upon request (shortlisted games only).

Initial Ruleset Submission

Participants in the contest are required to submit the following documents via email (contest@fallcon.com) prior to the March 31st deadline:

  • Digital copy of the game rules in French and/or English (only .PDF or .DOC formats are accepted)
  • One color digital image of the game in situation (montages are acceptable; only .JPG or .GIF formats are accepted)
  • A completed version of the submission form (in .PDF or .DOC format) containing the following information in French or English:
    • For each designer (author, co-author and illustrator):
    • Name, surname
    • Complete postal address
    • Phone number
    • Email address
    • Personal Web site (optional)
    • Game’s name
    • Game’s Web site (optional)
    • If the game was previously entered in the contest, specify the year it was entered
    • Type of game: skill, card, development, gambling, mind game, simulation, strategy, etc.
    • Age range of players
    • Number of players
    • Average duration of a game
    • The game’s content: board, cards, dice, pawns, etc.
  • Payment of $25 to fallcon via Paypal to cover administration fees

Note: Failure to submit all above documents, fees and information will disqualify the entry from participation in this year's contest.

Selection Criteria

Throughout the evaluation and selection process, the jury will apply the following criteria to evaluate the contest entries:

Criteria
 Weight
 Description
Presentation
 Low
 We don't expect a final product in terms of graphic design. Aim for functionality.
Theme
 Medium
 Theme will be evaluated on originality, strength, and "appropriateness" 
Mechanics
 Medium
 Mechanics will be based on originality, meshing to theme, design efficiency
Rules
 Medium-High
 Rules must be clear, unambiguous, easy to comprehend.
Overall Appreciation
 High
 General impression of cohesive whole

Shortlist Prototype Submission

Designers for all shortlisted games will be alerted by email as soon as the jury makes their selections. The selected authors will have 2 weeks to send us 2 boxed prototypes of their design at their cost. The delivery address will be communicated directly to the authors in an email at the time of shortlist notification.

All components and accessories required to play the game, including up-to-date rules, must be shipped with each prototype. No subsequent sending of missing pieces.

Several tests will be performed on every prototype by members of the jury. Note that all playtesters are bound to secrecy about the prototypes they will test.

Final Selection and Award Ceremony

All game designer finalists will receive a report containing a summary of the scoring in each evaluation criteria category. The report will also contain a compilation of comments from the members of the jury.

The winners will be announced on Friday October 16th, live at the FallCon Boardgame and Miniatures Convention in Calgary, Alberta. Winning game designs will be presented by the FallCon Gaming Society to Canadian and International Game Editors. The designers and publishers will be allowed to show the Finalist or Winner logo on the winning games. If the game gets published, the designers accept to show the logo of the contest on the game box and to provide a copy of the published game to the FallCon Game Library.

A selection of prizes will be supplied by our sponsors. The selection will be sent to the winner via mail.

Others Conditions

Should the Selection Committee discover rules breaking or entry ineligibility after an award has been given, the awarded designers are required to return all prizes to the FallCon Gaming Society and will recuse themselves from labelling their game with "FallCon Game Design Award Winner", "FallCon Game Design Award Finalist", or any other label associated with the contest.

Participation in the contest entails agreement with the hereby presented rules. Any breach of the rules will lead to the game’s disqualification or the withdrawal of the prize.

The FallCon Gaming Society is entitled to cancel or postpone the competition, in case of absolute necessity, without any right to compensation to any participants.