Pixel Game Maker Awards Rules And Regulations
Art I. Application Requirements 1
Art VI. Voting And Promotion 5
Cl. 1. At the beginning of each season, all participants must submit an Application Form and meet the following requirements:
(a) Be between 13 and 21 years of age. This contest is primarily designed for teens to young adults, not for professional game developers.
(b) A linked profile showing some kind of experience in the participant’s role (coder, artist, musician, etc.). Professional experience is not necessary. However, evidence of previous
content/projects is needed.
Cl. 2. This contest is free to join. No payment or financial account information will be asked at any point throughout the competition.
Cl. 3. PGMA does not reserve spots for future seasons. Applications are “first-come, first-served”.
Cl. 4. In reviewing applications, PGMA may give priority to certain ones over others, most typically in the case of a high volume of applications. This may be for reasons such as, but not limited to:
(a) The participant has never joined the contest before.
(b) The participant has clearer evidence of practice or experience with their specified skill.
Cl. 5. Applications may not be accepted if the participant has only created content (such as games, art, music, etc.) within the time that applications are open (or right before). Previous practice or experience is required to join.
Cl. 6. Additional or alternate accounts may be used to link to content for the Application Form if the participant can visibly prove the account belongs to them, if needed. Sufficient proof of this will be at the contest's discretion.
Cl. 7. The first 100 participants to meet all application requirements will be approved. Participants may surpass 100 if the additional participants are teammates of the last approved participant. No more than 102 participants will be accepted.
Cl. 8. Your preferred name/user or team name entered in the application form will be the one officially displayed by PGMA, and cannot be changed after the application is submitted.
Cl. 1. Participants must ensure that entries created comply with YouTube’s Community Guidelines, due to the fact that entries may be shown for review or presentation during PGMA results or announcement videos. These include, but aren’t limited to:
(a) Spam or deceptive practices.
(b) Sensitive content.
(c) Violent or dangerous content.
Any entries that do not comply will be disqualified.
Cl. 2. Privacy Note: By entering this Contest, participants consent to the collection and use of their personal information (such as name, username and/or email address) by PGMA, for the purposes of promotion or contact. This information will not be shared with third parties or used for other purposes without the participant’s consent, except as required by law. Certain information may be stored as contestant records for future reference.
Cl. 3. The Pixel Game Maker Awards is not sponsored by nor affiliated with YouTube; therefore, YouTube does not hold any liability related to the contest.
Cl. 1. All entries will be submitted through the corresponding entry submission form, which will be posted on the PGMA website for reference. This will ask for the contestant/team name and link to the game.
Cl. 2. Art and graphics for any entries must be pixel art. This does not include voxels, raster, or high-resolution bitmap art. Minor game elements may be accepted in another art style. Violation of this will be up to the contest’s discretion.
Cl. 3. Any art or coding must be done by the participant or the corresponding teammate(s) with this role for the entry. Art may be inspired by other art, but it must have been created by the respective participant. We do not accept full recreations of existing intellectual properties.
Cl. 4. Sound effects or music may be sourced (in the case there is not a teammate in charge of creating music or sound effects), but we recommend the source be cited.
Cl 5. PGMA does not accept the use of generative A.I. art or music. Evidence of this will result in disqualification and is at the contest’s discretion.
Cl. 6. All contest entries must be shared or hosted on one of the following platforms: Scratch (TurboWarp accepted), itch.io, GameJolt (web playable with HTML), or Newgrounds, regardless of the platform or software used to create the game. Failure to share through any of these platforms will result in disqualification.
Cl. 7. Entries must only be shared through only one of the above-mentioned platforms per round. The only exception to this will be in a judge-only round (round 3). Participants may also choose to switch to a different platform in a new round (for example, switching from Scratch in round 1 to itch.io in round 2).
Cl. 8. Entries must be accessible directly through the platform they are shared on. A download link (if applicable) is okay to include, but a web version must be fully playable. Exceptions to this rule must be discussed with a judge/host.
Cl. 9. Existing code (from the contestant’s previous work) may be used to an extent. However, any form of reskinning or remastering of a previous work is prohibited. Evidence of this will be at the contest’s discretion.
Cl. 1. Teams may be no more than 3 total members. Accepted contestants are expected to participate with their team throughout the duration of the contest until elimination. Teammates are not encouraged to forfeit.
Cl. 2. If a contestant within a team forfeits, the remaining team members may continue to participate, given that they have the necessary skills to create a finished entry. A new participant cannot be appointed to replace them.
Cl. 3. Teams will be allowed to come up with a team name during the application process. If no name is decided or agreed upon, a team number will be assigned for identification once applications are closed and all teams/contestants are confirmed.
Cl. 4. Please note that teaming up means that the team will be expected to make one entry collectively per round. Contestants cannot both team up and submit separate entries.
Cl. 5. Entries may be shared/released by one team member only. This means the final entry can only be shared on one single profile, either of one teammate or one collective profile for the entire team. Violation of this will lead to disqualification. The only exception to this will be in a judge-only round (round 3).
Cl. 1. All due dates for submitting entries are to be established at the beginning of each new round.
Cl. 2. The maximum amount of time you will have to create a project for each round will be determined by the host/judges only. These start from 2 weeks up to 3 weeks as the rounds progress.
Round | Approximate Duration |
1 | 2 weeks |
2 | 2 weeks |
3 | 3 weeks |
Cl. 3. All entries must be submitted within 24 hours of the due date once the submission form is open. It may be any time within this window. Failure to submit an entry will result in disqualification.
Cl. 4. Entries may be edited or revised after being submitted. However, it will not be the responsibility of the judges to make sure they play the finished version of the entry, and it will be judged based on its current state at that time.
Cl. 5. For teams, the final entry game must be shared/released on only a single platform.
Cl. 1. Voting polls will open for one week and will be primarily accessible directly through the PGMA website. This is done for spectators to view other entries before voting.
Cl. 2. Voting polls will only be used in rounds 1 and 2. Round 3 will be judge voting only.
Cl. 3. After poll voting, judges will separately rate and review the entries in order for judge votes to be added to the existing votes. These will serve as “extra points”, which can range from 5 to 50 additional votes. This scale is subject to changes.
Cl. 4. Any spectators are allowed to vote.
Cl. 5. Teams will be counted as a single entity during voting. Meaning voters will not be voting on any individual teammate, and in the case of elimination, all members are eliminated.
Cl. 6. Any actions that may count as voting fraud are strictly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to the following:
(a) Voting for yourself through numerous devices, vpns, IP sessions, or using any kind of bot to vote multiple times.
(b) Bribing voters with an offer or reward, or begging.
Cl. 7. Sufficient proof of voting fraud will be at the contest's discretion, meaning reasonable suspicion may result in disqualification.
Cl. 8. Once voting is open, we suggest including a link to the PGMA website for voting and encouraging people to view the other entries (in the respective description/comments ).
Cl. 9. “Promotional” Scratch projects (serving only to direct users to your entry shared elsewhere) may be done by solo contestants or by one team member if they have a Scratch audience (only for non-Scratch entries). This is not allowed by teams with an entry already shared inside Scratch.
Cl. 1. PGMA is an elimination-based contest, meaning that the 1st place winner will be determined as the highest-ranked/highest-scored contestant/team still standing after all 3 rounds. However, the top 3 placings will be recognized as “winners”.
Cl. 2. The number of passing and eliminated contestants will be split down the middle, meaning every round, half the contestants and/or teams will be eliminated, based on votes. If the number of contestants and/or teams left is odd for any round, the remainder will be added to passing.
Cl. 2. Elimination chart examples.
Round | Starting Contestants/ Teams | Passing - Eliminated |
1 | 84 | 42 - 42 |
2 | 42 | 21 - 21 |
3 | 21 | Top 3 |
Round | Starting Contestants/ Teams | Passing - Eliminated |
1 | 55 | 28 - 27 |
2 | 28 | 14 - 14 |
3 | 14 | Top 3 |
Cl. 3. Any ties in total votes will be broken by whoever has more judge/extra votes.
Cl. 4. The number of passing contestants for any round will not be reduced if there are forfeits or disqualifications. Rather, this will subtract from the number of eliminations.
Cl. 1. Themes will be established at the beginning of each round, excluding round 3, which will have no assigned theme.
Cl. 2. The choosing of themes is to be decided only by judges and/or the host, but can be proposed by anyone.
Cl. 3. A lack of attempting to follow the theme will result in disqualification.
Cl. 1. At least 16 judges will be appointed per season. This will include a variety of judges with coding, art/graphics, and music/sound experience for a balanced set of opinions.
Cl. 2. During voting periods, judging may be split into groups, meaning that a set of judges will be assigned to play and review a portion of the submitted entries, depending on the quantity of entries.
Cl. 3. Judges will rank and review entries through 3 main aspects for each round:
(a) A single vote for the contestant to pick their favorite entry of the round.
(b) A 1-10 ranking for each entry (based on execution and theme). They will be averaged (and scaled up to add as extra votes for rounds 1 and 2).
(c) Commentary on the judge’s pick for the top 3 favorite round entries.
Cl. 4. Judging for judge-only rounds will take place for approximately a week. This will run concurrently with public voting for the first 2 rounds.
Cl. 1. A monetary prize is not currently being offered. However, winners from Season 8 and forward may be entitled to receive any prizes later established by PGMA based on available resources.
Cl. 2. As a current established offer, 1st to 3rd place winners, whether a single contestant or team, will be offered a role as judges for a number of future seasons as follows:
Placing | Minimum Judging Offers |
1 | 2 Seasons |
2 | 1 Season |
3 | 1 Season |
Cl. 3. A season winner (from 1st to 3rd) is allowed to decline being a judge. They are also allowed to have their judge status reserved until they want to use it.
Cl. 1. Devlog video shorts are not required; however are recommended for both judge insight and promotional purposes (especially in public voting rounds).
Cl. 2. Video shorts should be between 1 min and 1.5 min, and should be shared preferably through YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or Newgrounds. Any alternate platforms should be specified in the entry submission form.
Cl. 3. Devlog video shorts are to be shared primarily with the goal of:
(a) Promotional material during the public voting window.
(b) Deeper view as to what was done to create the game, especially for the judge's insight (any specific struggles overcome during development? Any impressive technical feats?).
Cl. 4. Per basic voting promotion rules, the video (or the respective description/comments) should include a link to the PGMA website for voting and encouraging people to view the other entries before voting.
Cl. 5. The video does not need to be made by a contestant (a non-contestant can volunteer to do it).
Cl. 6. The video short link must be included in the entry submission form.