Hosting a Competition

Competitions can be hosted by members on a paid plan and by DDD admins. Publishers need a paid plan too; publisher mode on its own is not enough. Start from Community, then Competitions, then Host a competition.

1. Create a draft

The form saves a draft that only you can see. Nothing is public until you publish.

While you fill it in, a Card preview shows how the competition will look on the Competitions page, and Ready to publish? ticks off what publishing needs.

The basics

Competition name and Short summary, shown on the competition card.
Banner image, a wide picture. Drop an image on the box or click it to upload. It counts toward your storage.
Host as, if you have a publisher profile: yourself, or your publisher. Hosting as your publisher lists the competition on your publisher profile and dashboard.

Story and rules

Full description, Contest rules and Submission requirements. All three support Markdown, so you can use headings, bold, lists, links and tables. The editor's toolbar adds the formatting for you, and the competition page shows them formatted. Each one has an Insert template button that adds a starter version with [bracketed] parts for you to replace. If the field already has text, it asks first, then adds the template below what you wrote.
Entries per person. Each game can only be entered once, whatever this is set to.

Schedule. Enter every time in your own time zone:

Submissions open and Submissions close
Community playtesting starts (when submissions close, or later) and Community playtesting ends
Finalists due and Final results due

The Quick start buttons (Weekend jam, Two weeks, One month and Season) fill in all six dates for you, starting from the opening time you set, or the next hour if it is empty. Adjust any of them afterwards. A timeline above the dates shows how long each phase lasts and warns you if the dates are out of order.

The phase changes at the first four times automatically. The two judging dates are targets: judging ends when the judges finish.

Finalists, places and prizes

Number of finalists the judges choose for final judging. If fewer games are eligible, all of them go through.
Awarded places, which cannot be more than the number of finalists.
Prizes for each place, all optional. A competition does not need prizes.
Show the judges' final scores publicly with the results. Placements are always public once published. Either way, judges' written feedback goes only to each entrant and to you, without judge names.

2. Add judges

On the Judges tab, start typing in Add a judge. Members with a public designer profile appear as you type, by name or handle; anyone else can be found by typing their full account email. Pick a person, then click Add judge. You can judge your own competition too: Add myself adds you in one click. The first judge becomes the chair, who breaks ties and can adjust the judges' shortlist; use Make chair to change it.

Judges are listed publicly on the competition page. People with an entry cannot judge, and judges cannot enter.

3. Check the rubric

The Rubric tab starts from a standard template:

Gameplay and decisions
Rules clarity
Originality
Balance and replayability
Fit with the brief

Judges score every criterion from 1 to 5. Each criterion has a weight that sets how much it counts; the tab shows each one as a percentage of the total. You can rename, describe, reweight, add or remove criteria (up to 10). This rubric belongs to your competition only.

The rubric locks once judging starts, so scores stay comparable.

4. Publish

The Overview tab lists anything still missing. When it is clear, click Publish competition. Your judges get an email, and the competition appears on the Competitions page.

A draft can be deleted with Delete draft. Once published, a competition can only be cancelled.

Running it

Phases move on by themselves. To move on early, use Open submissions now, Close submissions now or End community playtesting now on the Overview tab. To give people more time, change the date on the Settings tab. Phases never go backwards.

What you can still change. Most settings stay editable. The limits are there so nobody's work is silently invalidated:

A schedule date that has already passed is locked, and new dates must be in the future. The two judging due dates can be extended even after they pass.
Rules and submission requirements lock once judging starts.
Entries per person can only change while submissions are open.
The finalist count locks once finalists are published, and the number of places once results are published.
After results are published, only the summary, description and score visibility can change.

Entries tab. Every entry, with its status, version and community rating. Disqualify takes a reason, which the entrant can see. You can Reinstate a disqualified entry until finalists are published.

Review tab. Two queues:

Reported feedback. Members can report community comments. Choose Hide feedback, or Keep it, dismiss reports. You can also hide or restore any comment from the entry page.
Changed after entries closed. Entries whose game was edited after entries closed, with a timeline of what changed and when. Judges see a note on these entries too. Click Mark reviewed once you are satisfied, or disqualify the entry from the Entries tab. A later change flags it again.

Activity tab. A record of every significant change: phase moves, judges, disqualifications, swaps, publications and badges.

Judging

When community playtesting ends, judging opens and your judges get an email. The Judging section of the Overview tab shows each judge's progress and the current ranking.

If a judge cannot finish, you can:

extend the due date on the Settings tab,
Excuse them on the Judges tab (their submitted scores still count),
add another judge,
or, once the due date has passed and every entry has at least one evaluation, click Close round now to decide from the evaluations already in. You can Reopen round until you publish.

The judges' scores suggest a shortlist, and the chair judge can swap entries in or out, giving a reason each time. When the judges are done, click Publish finalists, and after final judging, Publish final results. Publishing announces exactly what the judges decided. You cannot choose or change who advances or places.

Cancelling

Cancel this competition asks for a reason, which is shown publicly. Entries and feedback stay on record. A cancelled or completed competition cannot be reopened.