The Escapist presents the first ever Stonking Great Game Contest!

Zero Punctuation is The Escapist's groundbreaking and award nominated video review series starring Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw. Every Wednesday Zero Punctuation picks apart the games so you don't have to in an unfiltered style that can only be described as "rapid-fire." Gamers love it, developers fear it and and now it's your turn to create a game and be judged by Yahtzee!

Starting Wednesday, August 5th, 2009, The Escapist will be taking submissions for browser based Zero Punctuation games.

Submissions will be valid from August 5th to October 19th. All submissions will then be judged over a 2 week period and the winner(s) will be announced the week of November 16th.

The Prize

• YOUR game will be judged by Yahtzee
• YOUR game will be featured in an upcoming Zero Punctuation
• YOUR game will also be available on the community spotlight under the Community Tab on The Escapist for all to play and enjoy
• A Zero Punctuation Swag Pack

To Submit

To submit your game, visit the following submission page: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/content/contests/uploader.php. You will be asked to enter your game's Title and Compiled Code. Once your game is submitted, you will be notified if there were any errors and asked to submit it again. If there aren't any errors, your game was successfully submitted. Failure to enter any of these properly will result in automatic dismissal.

Please have your Source Code available upon request for us. Failure to have a Source Code for us to review will negate you from the event.

Brand Assets and Media

To enable you to create the most authentic game possible, we have assembled a library of assets for you to use in in the development of your game. Please note, these assets are provided for your convenience but all brand representations must remain unmodified, with the exception of proportional scale.

Click Here to download an archive containing logos, theme song, sample characters and more.

All submissions must be:

• original game concepts by the original creators
• usable in any PC browser
• created in Flash (we suggest suggest 650x365)
• have source code available for review

Here are some items that WILL get your submission disqualified:

• Excessive vulgarity, lewdness or profanity
• Advertisements
• Acts prohibited under law in any national, state or local jurisdiction in which The Escapist website may be viewed.

Deadline Date

You must submit your game no later than 12:00 PM (noon) EDT on October 19th. Please have source code available for review upon request. Winners will be announced the week of November 16th.

Some extra guidelines

• All games submitted to The Escapist's Stonking Great Game Contest must be the exclusive property of the contest entrant and have never before appeared or been playable in any form anywhere.
• "Except for Contestant Materials, (defined below) all games submitted to The Escapist become property of The Escapist, including any intellectual property rights in Escapist materials or derivations thereof. The Escapist reserves all rights, including intellectual property rights to publication, re-publication and distribution. However, contestant shall own all intellectual property rights in any art, design, or source code, that is not based on or derived from The Escapist's existing intellectual property ("Contestant Materials") and Contestant hereby grants The Escapist a royalty-free, non-exclusive license to any Contestant Materials as they are incorporated into any entry for the purpose of publication, re-publication and distribution of the entry."
• Minimum Quality of Entries: If, in the sole determination of the judges, no contest entry is of the quality and standard required for publication on The Escapist, then none of the entrants shall be featured on Zero Punctuation and will not be available anywhere on The Escapist for members to enjoy.

For the main thread discussing this contest, please click here.

The contest has ended!

Thanks for your interest, but this contest is now over. Keep checking The Escapist for more contests and giveaways in the future.

Legal Stuff
By participating in this contest, contestants grant Themis Group, Inc. the right to print, publish, broadcast and use worldwide in any media now known or hereafter developed, including, without limitation, the World Wide Web, at any time or times, the contestant's name, as news or for public information and education without additional consideration or compensation. Any entry becomes the property of Themis Group, Inc. and will not be returned. Entrants surrender copyright and all interests therein of their submissions to Themis Group, Inc. with the understanding that the materials may be used for promotional purposes.

By participating in the contest, you acknowledge that you have reviewed and agree to Themis Group, Inc.'s privacy policy.

Employees of Themis Group, Inc., and its subsidiaries or affiliates, and any family members and/or household members of these employees, are excluded from the contest.

Entrants release Themis Group, Inc. and its respective parent divisions, affiliates, officers, subsidiaries, agents, employees and all others associated with the development and execution of this giveaway from and against any liability with respect to or in any way arising from this contest and the awarding and use of the prizes.

Tampering with the contest in any manner is prohibited. Themis Group, Inc. reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to determine whether the contest has been tampered with. Themis Group, Inc. reserves the right to disqualify any entrant it suspects or has determined, in its sole discretion, has tampered with the promotion or submitted multiple entries. If Themis Group, Inc. determines that the contest has been tampered with, it reserves the right to terminate the contest without awarding any prizes. Themis Group, Inc. shall not be responsible for any entry not received due to network outages; failed, incomplete, garbled, or delayed computer transmissions; online failures; hardware, software or other technical malfunctions or disturbances; or any other communications or transmission failure.

Participation in any part of the Themis Group, Inc.'s "Stonking Great Game Contest" implies an understanding and acceptance of these rules and regulations.

Void where prohibited.