Wannabe Board Game Designer

Games for the contest must be entered by October 16th at midnight. Any game that doesn’t have a post announcement within the contest thread and has a created WIP thread by this date will not be eligible for the contest and will be removed from the entry list. No new games may be entered after this date.

Requirements

• The games entered in this contest need to be new & unpublished.
• The game cannot be publicly offered for download on BGG, a WIP Thread, or other websites prior to July 1st, 2026.
• No game entered in the contest may have an entry in the BGG database prior to the start of the contest.
• The game may not be entered in another contest on BGG (with the exception of 24 Hour Contest).
• Each designer or team of designers is limited to one entry in the contest.

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