ANNOUNCING THE 5th PIECEPACK GAME DESIGN
COMPETITION

SPONSORS:

www.piecepack.org "Your source for everything piecepack"

Mesomorph Games

JUDGE:

Phillip Lerche

DESIGN THEME:

* * *

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away…

"Get in the there, you thieving scumbag."
"But Justice Knizia I haven't done anything wrong!" Benedict
protested.
"That's the last time you copy a game mechanic, isn't that
right, Justice Seyfarth?" spat Knizia. Justice Seyfarth grinned in
response.
"Please, your honors, at least leave me my piecepack," begged
Benedict. As Knizia kicked Benedict through the door, Seyfarth
threw the wooden pieces into the cell .
"Here you go, it won't do you much good in the dark. Maybe the
cockroaches can use the tiles as surfboards when it rains.
Welcome to the isolation hole!" said Seyfarth. The justices
slammed the door and locked it. As they walked away Benedict's
blubbering grew fainter and fainter…

Through his desperate tears, all Benedict could think was
"Where's One Man Thrag when you really need him?"

* * *

The design theme for the 5th piecepack game design
competition is `SOLITARY CONFINEMENT'. All game
submissions are to be solitaire games for the piecepack. Yup,
it's just going to be me and those bits of wood come judgement
day!

THE PRIZES:

There are several parts to the prize.

Mesomorph Games will contribute a 2nd Edition piecepack
Game System with CD-ROM containing instructions for a variety
of games playable with the piecepack, including those released
for this competition

Mesomorph Games will contribute a 2nd Edition Piecepack
Game System with CD-ROM containing instructions for a variety
of games playable with the piecepack, including those released
for this competition. Keep an eye on the Yahoo! Group for
additions to this portion of the prize.

Chris Brooks has very generously offered to provide a $50 gift
voucher for Funagaingames.com

The winner also receives custody of the Trophy Cloth, a
card-table-sized tablecloth with a color piecepack suit emblem
embroidered on each side of the table. This passes from the
winner of one contest to the winner of the next, with each one
signing and dating the cloth before passing it on following the
closing of the next competition.

Phillip Lerche will be supplying something to be announced.

CONTEST RULES:

1) Submitted games must be for one player only.

2) The game must utilize a piecepack and preferably should
make use of some of the unique aspects of the piecepack.

3) Judging will be subjective and based largely on how
enjoyable and interesting the game is. Factors such as the
balance of skill (strategy, tactics) and luck (randomness); clarity
and completeness of rules; time to play; and replay value are
also important considerations. Overall, it will be the completely
subjective opinion of the judge that ultimately decides the
winner.

4) Games may make use of additional bits (such as money or
tokens for example), or of other non-obscure game systems in
addition to the piecepack. However, additional components
should not overshadow the use of the piecepack in the game. It
is desirable that solo games can be played with 1 piecepack,
however, if gameplay requires it, entries may be submitted that
require the use of more than one piecepack.

5) Games (rule sets) should be sent to submissions @
piecepack . org (without the spaces) with the word "Contest"
within the subject before Monday 8 Dec 2003, 12:00 noon PST
(3:00pm EST. 8:00pm GMT). Karol will send confirmation of
receipt back to the author, then cover the author's identity and
send the game on. Between 1 Dec and 8 Dec confirmation will
be within 24 hours. For earlier submissions confirmation may
occasionally take longer. Judging will be blind; the judge will not
find out the authors' identities until after the winner has been
selected. Please note that to help free up Karol's time, the
submissions WILL NOT be proofread so, what you send (minus
your name) is what I'll see. (i.e. please get someone you know
who has a good command of English, especially spelling and
grammar, to proofread your entry before submission).

6) Ideally, submission should be in a text that is readable by
most computers. (Arial is a fantastic choice) All submissions
must include the following header information as the first few
lines of the rules.

<Title>

A game for the piecepack by <Your Name>

Version <#>, <Date>

Copyright (c) 2003, <Your Name>

<# of players>, <# of minutes>

<Equipment Needed>

7) Please note that Karol will not be judging content, only
removing identifiable text and checking that authors have
complied with contest rule #11 regarding permission for free
distribution. Once the contest closes and the winner is
announced, authors will have a chance to review any
suggestions they have received (by friends, etc.) and should feel
free to ask for comments/suggestions from the judge and make
any changes they should submit the newest version of the game
to be included on the Games Page of www.piecepack.org and
for inclusion in the Mesomorph Games Rules CD-ROM and
components thereof. Authors are strongly encouraged to get the
final version returned to Karol ASAP after the winner is
announced. If the author wishes not to make any changes then
she/he should send a note to the same email stating such and
give permission to post "as is". Authors will be notified if there
are any spelling/grammar/punctuation issues with the games at
this point.

8) The winner of the competition will be announced on 22
January 2004. Depending on the quantity of games received, this
date may move. If the judge wishes, one or more runners up
may be announced. Some game entries may receive special
mentions for various reasons (such as novel use of piecepack
components).

9) Designers are encouraged to submit their games early.
There will be no penalty or stigma for sending in changes or
updates to your game rules up to the deadline, and entrants are
encouraged to submit updates based on their own continued
play testing. Please be sure to send in a complete version of the
game if changes are made, highlighting changes will make it
easier for the judge to see the difference.

10) Game entries may be in PDF form, in HTML format, in MS
Word files, or in plain text with accompanying JPGs, or GIFs if
required for figures. If you submit in PDF form, all identifying
items MUST be removed from the rules by you, or the entry will
not be judged - please be sure to note in the accompanying
email the author's name.

11) The submission must be freely redistributable. Authors are
free to retain copyright. Specific licensing information should be
indicated at the end of the document. Entries without such notice
will NOT be included with the games on www.piecepack.org.

12) The author of the winning game also wins the opportunity to
define and judge the next piecepack game design competition
and arrange for the prize if he or she wishes. Agreement to this
is not a requirement for entry however, and if the winner does not
wish to judge the next competition he or she can suggest
another judge, or we can improvise.

Submitted games will be added to the piecepack.org site
following the close of the competition on a 'preview page' then
moved to the Games Page when authors give permission or
send in an updated version - see above.

Questions and comments are always welcome. If you're worried
that your question will give your game away, please send it to
Karol who will send it to me otherwise feel free to post them to
the Yahoo! piecepack discussion group (I encourage entrants to
join the group if they have not yet. Go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/piecepack ).

Good luck and much encouragement to all participants.

Phillip Lerche