BGG Community design contest for Wargames.

Special Theme: SABOTAGE

 Games entered in this contest should be purpose-designed wargames. Games may be solitaire, two player, multi-player or even co-operative. However it is critical that the game is a wargame. The primary focus should therefore be on conflict and warfare. For the avoidance of doubt, the following themes are allowed: historical war from any time period (e.g. the Irish civil war), hypothetical war from any time period (e.g. hypothetical invasion of Cornwall by Korea in 1248), fantasy war (e.g. ents versus fungusfolk), sci-fi war (e.g. Cthulhu versus Godzilla on Planet X). Any scale of conflict is allowed from 1 on 1 (e.g. gladiators) through to grand strategic (e.g. whole of WW2). If you are in doubt about whether your idea qualifies, please consult BGG’s very detailed definition of what a wargame is.

Source: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3627732/contest-open-2026-print-and-play-wargame-design-co

The Premio Archimede is biennial contestof studiogiochi where they look for new games and they sign agent deals with the finalists.

If you would like studiogiochi to be your agent for your creation, you can participate to the contest.

The Premio Archimede is international competition for non professional game authors.
If your game passes the first selection (about one out of two games), it will be exposed during the final ceremony and may be noticed by the public and publishers that will be there as jury members or visitors.
If your game is among the finalists (about one out of ten games), it will be played by jury members (most of them represent major international game publishers). And so, the chances of a publication are very high.
If your game gets one of the first places, you will receive substantial prizes in form of expenses reimbursement for a total of 3500 Euros.

Source: https://studiogiochi.com/en/premio-archimede-2/archimede-2027/

Yearly Chinese design contest organized by  Yoka Games.

NOTE: The source site does not clearly specify if organizer reserves some special rights to participant’s game design or publishing. Read the rules of the contest carefully from the original contest site.

Categories

Strategy games

• Well-structured rule system
• Rigorous gameplay mechanism
• Players：2+
• Playing time: 45-90 mins

Party games

• With simple game play structures and rules
• Players: 1~4+
• Playing time: ≤45 mins

Nine-card Games

Games with 9 cards or cards that are multiples of 9 supplemented by a few other accessories (poker cards, paper and pen, etc.)

The Best Artwork Display

All submissions may participate in this selection by default(entirely or mainly generated using AI will be disqualified accordingly)

Timeline

March~May, 2026

Open for Submissions

June, 2026

Preliminaries starts

June~July, 2026

Preliminaries results Update your submission for the next stage

July~August, 2026

Semi-finals stage starts
The meet-up

Sep., 2026

Semi-finals judgement

Oct., 2026

Semi-finals results and enter the finals

Nov.~Dec., 2026

Finals results
Prize giving
Ceremony

Source: https://wodc.yokagames.com/en

The Ciutat de Granollers Contest will award 6 games that stand out for their good balance between “fun to play”, originality and solidity as a product suitable for the national and international market, with the aim of giving a seal of quality to the awarded games.

Source: https://ascensio.cat/concurs-ciutat-de-granollers/

This contest aims to encourage the creation of innovative single-player games in a variety of themes and mechanics.

New contests platform is in use for this contest. Create an account on the Design Contests Hub website and fill in the Contest Form.

Source: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3716853/2026-solitaire-print-and-play-contest

Design a game using 54 cards.

Important Dates and deadlines

Earliest Date for Games to be Publicly Available: July 1st, 2026
Contest Start: August 1st, 2026
Entry Deadline: October 16th, 2026 11:59 PM BGG Time (CST)
Component Ready: November 1st, 2026 11:59 PM BGG Time (CST)
Contest Ready: November 15th, 2026 11:59 PM BGG Time (CST)
Official Play Testing: November 16st thru November 30th, 2026 11:59 PM BGG Time (CST)
Voting Page Available: December 1st, 2026
Voting Ends: December 31st, 2026 11:59 PM BGG Time (CST)

Game Components

• Games are limited to 54 cards whose maximum dimensions are 3.5 x 2.5 inch (64 x 89 mm) in size

  • Any combination of sizes within this restriction is allowed (i.e. 24 square cards, 28 poker size, and 2 business size)
  • There is shape restriction, just as long as each card fits within the 3.5 x 2.5 inch dimensions. So hexagonal, triangular, etc. are allowed

• There is no minimum card count although if it’s a really small number you may look at other contests out there (9-Card Nanogame, Button Shy’s 18 Card Design Challenges)
• PnP files should fit on A4/Letter size PDF sheets with
• There are no restrictions on rules format or length.
• If your game uses standard playing cards, consider entering into 2026 Traditional Deck Game Design Contest instead. It starts September 1st.
• No cutting, bending or mutilation of cards is allowed – imagine that they must fit back into a tuckbox after play.

Source: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3746297/2026-54-card-game-design-contest

Design contest by The Game Crafter. Aim is to create a game that makes good use of The Game Crafter’s clear PVC cards.

n this contest, your game must include Clear Card Crafting Deck and/or Clear Euro Poker Deck.

The card’s transparency must play a key role in the cards usage in your game.

Clear cards have a very specific way the files need to be made that differ from normal cards, they also use a very specific white printing method. It is imparative that you read the help pages for both to make sure you design your cards correctly!

Source: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/contests/clear-card-design-contest

The Hippodice competition is looking for the best game ideas year after year. All game designers of unpublished board, card, dice or other non-digital games can participate.

The competition is internationally oriented and has been held annually since 1989. It has evolved over the last few decades into a well-known event in the international gaming scene. Countless titles have been published after a successful competition, and have gained not only national, but also international attention.

Schedule

• Submission phase: August 15 to September 5, 2026
• Request for physical prototypes or notification of rejection by email: no later than October 24, 2026
• Prototype submission period (by the game designers): October 24 to November 7, 2026
• Main round (prototype testing phase by Hippodice): late October 2026 to February 2027
• Final round (evaluation by an expert jury): March 19–20, 2027
• Consolidated feedback from all testing rounds for all main-round participants: shortly after the final round, no later than April 30, 2027

Additional notes

• A maximum of two submissions per game designer is permitted.
• Please note: Your prototype must have a regular playing time of no more than 90 minutes, excluding the explanation of the rules.

Source: https://hippodice-competition.net/en/info-participation/dates-and-short-info/

Create a game using the traditional deck of playing cards.

The contest will be run with the help of the Design Contest Hub site.

Components

The main components of the game should be the cards from the traditional deck of playing cards (the poker deck).

If you are using multiple decks, these may have different backs or the same backs, and you may use these mechanically, within reason.

You can also adjust the size of the deck, removing unnecessary cards, though your final game must include and be based on a traditional deck of playing cards. Jokers are fine as well. You can also use a deck box as a component if you can find a mechanical reason to do so.

A small amount of coins, chips, cubes, dice or other common items is permitted. (The harder these items are to come by, the fewer players will play and vote for your game. So weigh out personally whether such components are really necessary.)

No printable custom components are allowed in this contest, with the exception of components that don’t have a gameplay function: the rulebook, scorepad, player aids or a reference sheet.

However, you are allowed to create a deck with custom illustrations for thematic reasons. But, no gameplay information other than standard ranks and suits should appear on the cards.

AI usage

Contest has strict AI usage guidelines. See the contest page: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3761810/article/48124582#48124582

Contest Dates

 Contest start: September 1st, 2026

 Earliest Date for Games to be Publicly Available: September 1st, 2026

 Deadline for submissions: December 1st, 2026

 Deadline for mandatory feedback: December 10th, 2026

 Development: Until December 15th, 2026

 Voting: December 15th to December 31st, 2026

Source: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3761810/2026-traditional-deck-game-design-contest

Word of the Bi-Month: NINE

A quick overview:

🤔 Designers can spend as much time thinking about a game design as they want, but cannot begin creating (or even physically sketching) until…
🟢 When a designer is ready to start putting pen on paper, they announce their start time on this challenge thread for the bi-month by posting that they are starting
⏲️ From that exact moment, that designer has 24 hours to complete their design, editing their intro post with the game details
🛑 As soon as 24 hours have expired, that designer may not touch their content until the challenge is complete (at the end of the bi-month)
🎲 No restrictions on components, mechanics, player count, etc. – the game just has to relate the word of the bi-month in some manner, however small

Source: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3765638/september-october-2026-bi-monthly-24-hour-design-c

Designoween 2026 is a board game design contest organized by Dunstin’s Designer Den where you should create a complete, playable spooky-themed game using just 18 cards.

The game must have a recognizable spooky, Halloween, horror, or supernatural theme.

Source: https://dustinsdesignerden.com/competitions/designoween-2026

A Challenge sponsored by Button Shy where you should try to design an 18 card game about Fear!

The winner will receive $100 prize money. All entries may be considered for publication by Button Shy Games.

Arranger advices that designers should be aware and thoughtful about real-world conditions or situations that affect people, avoid grotesque vibes. It is also adviced to try to invent new ways of expressing the fear insted of using common push-your-luck and deck destruction mechanics.

Source: https://buttonshygames.com/blogs/news-1/the-18-card-challenge-fear

Every game in this contest must be fully playable without the use of a table or surface of any kind. All components used during play must be held in the players’ hands (or in the air in the case of a dexterity game) at all times.
The only time during which game components may be exchanged from hands to somewhere else is during the game’s setup, during which any components not used during gameplay may be set aside (i.e. placed inside a pocket or bag).

This is the SIXTH edition of the original in-hand game design contest on BGG.

IMPORTANT DATES

Earliest Date for Games to be Publicly Available: October 01, 2026 – Any game that had publicly available components online on BGG or other websites prior to the contest start date is not eligible for this contest.
Submissions and Idea Phase Deadline: January 01, 2027– No further entries will be accepted after January 01, but existing entries may be further developed. By this date, entries must be playable, with components and rules available for download, though these need not necessarily be the final versions. Any game still in Idea Phase will be removed from the entry list on January 01.
Designer Feedback Deadline: February 12, 2027 – For every entry a designer has submitted (maximum of two entries), they are required to have given meaningful feedback to at least 3 other games by this date (1 entry = feedback to at least 3 games, 2 entries = feedback to at least 6 games).
Development Deadline: February 26, 2027 – Games must be complete and final (Contest Ready) by the development deadline. Any game that is not Contest Ready will be removed from the entry list.
Typo Corrections Deadline: March 7, 2027 – Games have a 10 day period after the development deadline to make corrections in case of typos or minor component errors. After this date and until the close of voting (see below), PnP files must not be changed, so that voters all have exactly the same version of the game to evaluate. Players may still post feedback and suggestions, but these cannot be implemented until after voting closes.
Voting Page Available: March 17, 2027 – A voting form will be made available at this time.
Voting Deadline: March 31, 2027, and results will be announced and prizes distributed shortly afterward.

All dates are considered until 11:59:59 PM BGG Time (MT) and are based on BGG timestamps.

Source: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3784831/2027-in-hand-game-design-contest

A roll-and-write game is a type of board game where players roll dice (or sometimes use other randomizers like cards) and then record the results on a sheet of paper or a score sheet. The dice rolls typically dictate what actions players can take, such as marking off sections of a grid, filling in numbers, or completing specific patterns. The goal is usually to optimize your choices based on the dice outcomes to score points or accomplish objectives.

Imprtant contest dates

Earliest public availability 1 Oct 2026
Submissions 15 Oct–1 Dec 2026
Contest Ready / freeze 18 Jan 2027
Mandatory feedback deadline 25 Jan 2027
Voting 1–15 Feb 2027

Source: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3776341/the-2026-roll-and-write-game-design-contest