Making games has always been very rewarding, seeing someone having a good time is just priceless. ThunderGryph’s objective is to bring games that will make people interact and share a great moment of fun together. Starting with Overseers, ThunderGryph wants to bring polished and well-tested games to deliver an engaging but streamlined game experience built to last with the highest quality components available while delivering some breathtaking artwork in the process.
Our plan for 2017 is to release 4 different original games that we are working on, but we feel that there are many incredible ideas out there, and as a new publisher we want to give opportunities to new and passionate game designers to work in this amazing industry.
Starting with this one, we will organize yearly game design contests to award the most creative and original design using the setup and criteria we selected for each year contest.
1. Theme
This first year is dedicated to the “Survival” theme. It could be on a stranded desert, post-apocalyptic or any theme that fits in the Survival thematic. For reference, we are using the Secret Island designed by Sean Thurlow which will be our official illustrator for the winning game. You can get inspiration by his original design or create a world by yourself.
2. Design Criteria
- Streamlined (A game that is divided in fast turns but with interesting and engaging gameplay)
- Well-tested (Good built rules without loopholes or mechanics exploits)
- High Replay Value
- Originality
For this contest, we got two different design categories:
A) Main category: Euro Game
B) Filler category: Any game type is allowed
3. Entry Requirements
- Game introduction and rules must be in English.
- Game needs to be unpublished.
- Designers with less than three published games can participate (self-publishing is not included).
4. Submission guidelines
- Create a Work in Progress thread on boardgamegeek with the title format:
[WIP] Game_Name (ThunderGryph Contest 2017) - Comment on Boardgamegeek’s Design Contest Page with your full name and entry link to your boardgamegeek WIP thread.
- The WIP thread structure needs to be as follows:
– Game Title & Designer | Game Category | Players | Suggested play time
– Overview of the Game (3~4 lines)
– List of Components
– Picture/s proof of concept
– Link for game rules and files
5. Deadlines
- Contest announcement: November 3rd 2016
- Submission period: November 3rd 2016 to 31st May 2017
- Evaluation: June 1st to 30th July 2017 where finalists will be announced (finalist will be asked to send the final prototype for review)
- Final Testing: 1st August to 15th September 2017
- Announcement of winners: 18th September 2017
6. Prizes
Main category first prize of 500$ USD + the possibility to publish the game with ThunderGryph Games with a 1000$ USD royalty down payment.
Filler category first prize of 250$ USD + the possibility to publish the game with ThunderGryph Games with a 500$ USD royalty down payment.
Second and third spots for each category will receive every game ThunderGryph Games publishes during 2017.
All the finalists will receive the commemorative and limited GoldenGryph metal token as a token of appreciation.
7. Jury
The Jury will consist of ThunderGryph’s Editorial Team and other company’s partners.
8. Other Rules
- Only one entry on each category per designer.
- The rights to the games will remain with the authors at all times.
- Entries that do not fulfill the requirements outlined in section 3 of these rules will be disqualified
- By the Submission Deadline, all entry files must be marked as “Contest Ready”. These files should not be modified during the duration of the evaluation period.
For questions or additional information, you can contact our team at: support@thundergryph.com
