ABOUT THE COMPETITION

• If in the US, Students must be enrolled in grades 5-12.
  • If they are in grades 5-8, they will submit to the “Junior” competition categories.  
  • If they are in grades 9-12, they will submit to the “Senior” competition categories. 
• If international, students must be between the ages of 10-18.
  • If they are ages 10-13, they will submit to the “Junior” competition categories.  
  • If they are ages 14-18, they will submit to the “Senior” competition categories. 
• ALL Students under the age of 18 must have parental/guardian/teacher consent to enter, and they will need their support in completing the online submission form. 
• For GAME ENTRIES: Students can work as individuals or in teams of 2-4 students.
• For WRITING AND CHARACTER ART ENTRIES: Students must work solo.
• Students must have a valid email address. This is how we will inform them if they are finalists or winners. 
• If students are working as a team, they need to determine the designated ‘Team Leader’ who is responsible for submitting the entry form for their team.

• Games must be playable on a web browser and accessible via a URL.
  • If submitting a game in Minecraft or Roblox – a video walkthrough (in .mp4 file format) must be uploaded.
• Games must be created using a free or open platform (ex: Scratch, Unity, Construct, RPG Maker, Twine, etc.).
• Games must be about one of this year’s 3 themes.
• Games must be original work created by 1-4 students.

1. Students can submit games, character designs, and impact writing by filling out a submission form through the competition portal starting January 15, 2024. The portal link will be shared with educators via Participate Announcements, email, and will be accessible through the Student Challenge website.
2. Students will be asked to provide the following on the form:
3. Parent/guardian/teacher consent + contact info
4. Names and email addresses of student creators (personal email addresses highly recommended)
5. If working in a team, one student must be identified as the “Team Leader.” If a student is under the age of 13, the Team Leader must be an adult.
6. URL link or video walkthrough of their game, or PDFs documentation to share their tabletop game, character design, or impact writing. 

• Students will be asked to choose which award categories they would like to submit their game to. They are allowed to choose all that apply. For example: a game submission made in Unity related to the Be Ocean Wise theme, can be eligible for both categories, though it can only win in one category.

1. Before submitting: If the game was designed as a team of 2-4, determine who is the team leader, the person who will submit the game. 
2. Go to the competition portal.
3. Log in or create an account.
4. Click “My Submissions” on the left-hand toolbar to start a new submission form (or to view and edit one that you’ve already started).
5. Follow the directions in the form to submit, including responding to any prompts. 
6. When prompted to answer which award category your game is eligible for, students may select all that apply. 
7. Students may save and return to the portal. To continue working on a submission, click “My submissions.” 
8. (Optional) Follow the prompts in the portal to upload additional materials to the submission form for the judges to view (ex: storyboard, essay, art/assets used, plans for future levels, etc.)URL link or video walkthrough of their game, or PDFs documentation to share their tabletop game, character design, or impact writing. 

• Students will be asked to choose which award categories they would like to submit their game to. They are allowed to choose all that apply. For example: a game submission made in Unity related to the Be Ocean Wise theme, can be eligible for both categories, though it can only win in one category.

Each game and submission will go through 3 rounds of judging. In the first round, finalists will be determined. In the second round, a winner for each category will be determined. In the third round, all of the winners from digital games submission categories will be eligible for the “Game of the Year” Award. Please Note: only digital game submissions are eligible for the Game of the Year prize.

The scores for each game are determined by a jury of gaming industry experts and theme content experts using scoring rubrics. The final decisions regarding finalists and winners for each category are based on the judge’s scores and determined by the G4C Learn staff. 

Students will be notified of their standing in the competition via email by the end of May 2025. Winners will be announced live during a virtual awards ceremony in June, which all students will be invited to. Winners will receive games, technology, theme-related and experiential prizes. The Game of the Year will receive a $10,000 scholarship.