Contest Rules

Eligibility

• You must have an active Dustin’s Designer Den account to enter.
• Individuals and design teams may participate.
• Each person or team may submit one entry unless the contest organizer states otherwise.
• Team entries must identify every contributing designer.
• Contest organizers, judges, and anyone directly involved in administering or judging the contest may not enter.
• Entrants must follow all applicable laws and be legally permitted to participate.
• Entrants under the age of majority in their jurisdiction must have permission from a parent or legal guardian.

Original Work and Intellectual Property

• Your submission must be an original game created by you or your identified team.
• You must own or have permission to use every submitted element, including game rules, writing, artwork, graphic design, fonts, and other assets.
• You may use properly licensed, public-domain, or commercially available assets when their licenses permit contest submission. Include appropriate credits and license information with your entry.
• Do not submit copyrighted characters, settings, logos, artwork, or other intellectual property without permission from the rights holder.
• Entries may not copy or substantially reproduce another game.
• Inspiration from existing games is allowed, but your entry must demonstrate original design work and cannot present another designer’s work as your own.
• Previously started designs are allowed, but the submitted 18-card version must be created or substantially developed for this contest.
• You retain ownership of your game and the intellectual property you submit.
• By entering, you grant the contest organizer permission to display, promote, stream, record, and discuss your submitted game in connection with the contest and its results.

Entry Requirements

A finished entry must include:

• A complete game containing exactly 18 physical cards
• A recognizable spooky, Halloween, horror, supernatural, or similarly eerie theme
• A playable Dustin’s Designer Den setup containing the complete game
• The game’s title and description
• The intended player count
• The estimated playtime
• Complete rules explaining setup, gameplay, and how the game ends
• Credits for all contributors and any third-party assets
• Any content warnings that players should know before playing

Component Restrictions

• The game must use exactly 18 cards.
• A double-sided card counts as one card.
• Duplicate cards each count toward the 18-card limit.
• The 18 cards must contain all components required to play.
• Separate dice, tokens, boards, pawns, trackers, currency, apps, or other gameplay components are not allowed.
• A separate rulebook or rules document is allowed and does not count as a card.
• The rulebook may explain the game but cannot function as an additional board, reference card, tracker, randomizer, or gameplay component.
• Players may use common items solely for bookkeeping, such as paper and a pencil, only when they do not add information, randomness, or strategic options to the game.

What Counts as a Finished Entry

An entry is considered finished when:

• All 18 cards are present and readable.
• The game can be set up, played, and completed using the submitted materials.
• The rules explain all required actions, card effects, special terms, and end conditions.
• Players can reasonably learn the game without direct instruction from its designer.
• The submitted setup is publicly accessible to eligible community players during the community phase.
• The entry does not require unfinished cards, placeholder rules, unavailable files, or planned features to function.

Prototype artwork and simple card layouts are acceptable. Visual polish may affect presentation, but professional illustration is not required unless specifically included in the judging rubric.

Submission Deadline and Updates

• Entries must be submitted before the published deadline.
• Entrants are responsible for confirming that their setup, cards, rules, and links work before submitting.
• Entries may be edited until the submission deadline.
• After the deadline, entries are locked unless the organizer permits a limited correction.
• Corrections after the deadline may address broken links, missing files, or obvious formatting problems. They may not materially change the game’s design, rules, balance, or content.
• Late or incomplete entries may be disqualified.

Community Participation

• Community members must play or meaningfully review a game before rating it.
• Ratings, comments, and feedback must address the submitted game in good faith.
• Vote manipulation, coordinated rating campaigns, duplicate accounts, retaliation, harassment, and exchanging ratings are prohibited.
• Entrants may promote their games, but they may not offer rewards or favors in exchange for positive ratings.
• The organizer may remove fraudulent, abusive, irrelevant, or otherwise invalid ratings and feedback.

Judging

• Eligible entries will be evaluated using the published judging rubric.
• Judges may consider the submitted game, rules, presentation, community feedback, and recorded play sessions when permitted by the contest format.
• Community ratings may inform judging but do not replace the official judging process unless the contest description explicitly states otherwise.
• Judges must disclose any personal, professional, or financial conflict involving an entrant.
• A judge with a material conflict may be recused from evaluating that entry.
• The organizer may appoint or replace judges when necessary to preserve a fair judging process.
• Judge scores and organizer decisions are final except when a verified rules or scoring error affected the result.

Conduct

Entries and participant activity must not include:

• Harassment, threats, hateful conduct, or targeted abuse
• Illegal content
• Malicious files, deceptive links, or attempts to compromise the platform
• Sexually explicit content
• Graphic content presented without an appropriate warning
• Material that violates another person’s privacy or intellectual property rights
• Attempts to interfere with another entrant, judge, or contest result

Spooky, horror, and mature themes are allowed when presented responsibly and identified with appropriate content warnings.

Disqualification

The organizer may reject or disqualify an entry that:

• Violates these rules or the Dustin’s Designer Den terms of service
• Misses the submission deadline
• Does not contain exactly 18 cards
• Requires prohibited components
• Is incomplete or cannot be played
• Uses stolen, unlicensed, or improperly credited material
• Misrepresents its creators or development history
• Manipulates community ratings or judging
• Is changed materially after the submission deadline
• Disrupts the contest or compromises its fairness

When practical, the organizer may allow an entrant to correct a minor administrative or formatting issue that does not provide a competitive advantage.

Disputes and Rule Questions

• Questions about these rules should be submitted to the contest organizer through the official contest contact or reporting system.
• A dispute must identify the entry or decision involved and explain the alleged error or rule violation.
• Disputes should include relevant evidence, such as screenshots, links, timestamps, or specific rule references.
• Disputes must be filed within seven days of the disputed event or the announcement of results.
• The organizer may consult judges, platform records, entrants, and other relevant evidence before making a decision.
• The organizer will interpret unclear rules in a way that protects fair competition and applies the interpretation consistently to affected entries.
• If a scoring or administrative error affected the results, the organizer may correct scores, repeat part of the judging process, change placements, or take another reasonable corrective action.
• Decisions made after the dispute review are final.

Contest Changes or Cancellation

The organizer may adjust deadlines, replace unavailable judges, clarify rules, remove invalid activity, or cancel the contest when technical failures, misconduct, insufficient participation, or circumstances outside the organizer’s control prevent the contest from proceeding fairly.

Any material change will be posted publicly on the contest page and applied as consistently as reasonably possible.

Acceptance of the Rules

By submitting an entry, every entrant confirms that:

• They have read and accepted these rules.
• Their submission is eligible and complete.
• They have the right to submit all included material.
• The information and credits provided with the entry are accurate.
• They accept the published judging process and dispute procedure.