The SeedComp! is divided into 2 distinct rounds: the Planting and the Sprouting rounds.
You can choose to take part in either or both rounds, or simple browse the entries of each round and vote for them!
The whole competition runs from May to April (includ. voting):
All indicated deadlines are set to midnight (00:00 - 12am) UTC -10/HST time.
Don’t worry, Itch translates it to your local time automatically.
In this 1st Round, the Planting round, we welcome you to submit 'seeds' into the competition, to inspire authors in the next round [TBL soon] to create their entries!
These seeds can be absolutely anything! From game introductions, visual pieces, blurbs, design drafts, full puzzles, poems, music, characters, I7 extensions, settings, feelies, or even code... we will take anything you have!
You can submit:
If you submitted a seed in the previous edition through the re-enrollment program, there is no need to re-submit it
Other guidelines:
Auto Re-enrollment:
When submitting a seed, there is a chance that it might not be among the selected ones to help sprout a game this year. This is to be expected, as more seeds have been submitted than games in any given year (which is why we encourage the use of multiple seeds in game development).
So, when submitting a seed, you will be asked, if your seed is unused in this year's SeedComp!, whether you would like it to be resubmitted on your behalf every year until it is either used or 5 years have elapsed, whichever happens first.
This allows seeds a better chance of finding the right creator without leaving them in the active competition forever.
The Seedbank:
The SeedBank is a database of past seeds created during SeedComp! Authors may use seeds from this bank when crafting their entries. However, in line with the submission guidelines: "All entries must be based on at least one seed from this year's Planting round." This means authors must select at least one seed from this year's planting round in addition to any seeds used from the SeedBank.
The individual licensing requirements of seeds found in the SeedBank, like Author attribution or restrictions against commercial works, remain in force into perpetuity. When submitting a seed, you will be asked whether you would like to have it added to the database when no longer active. If you opted for auto re-enrollement, being added to the database would occur either after your entry is finally used or the auto re-enrollment period ends after 5 years.
In this 2nd Round, the Sprouting round, we welcome you to submit your IF game, based on one or more seeds from the Planting round.
You can sign-up your intent to use any seed via this sheet [TBL]. We encourage discussion of the submitted seeds both in our Discord and the Community Tab!
Submissions of entries should be done on the Sprouting round page [TBL].
Submission Guidelines:
We encourage you to provide a downloadable copy of your entry in your game page, for accessibility purposes.
Unranked Submissions
While the competition is ranked, with a voting period after the end of the Sprouting round, you can opt-out from receiving awards for your entry when submitting. You can still receive stickers but your entry won't be part of of any ranking.
Organisers can submit entries, but are not eligible to receive awards.
Archiving of entries:
Possible Software to create Interactive Fiction:
All Sprouting entries will be made available to play shortly after that round ends. We encourage every creator from each round to play the entries and vote for them :)
Unless opted-out or disqualified, every entry is eligible for Awards. Awards are titles set by the organisers (such as Best Overall, Best UI, Best Puzzle, etc..). You can find the full list of awards here [LINK TBA].
While Award eligibility is limited, every entry can also be nominated for Stickers, which are unique acknowledgements submitted by voters for specific entries (note: all stickers will be screened by the organisers).
Seeds will also be eligible for Awards. Awards will depend on sign-ups and use (e.g.: Most signed-up Seed, Most Finished Entries for a Seed), as well as votes (e.g. Most Innovative). If you have an idea for a Seed Award, please contact the organisers.
From the end of the Planting round until March 31st, you will be able to vote for your favourite Seed!
From March 4th to March 31st, through this form, you will be able to vote for Awards and submit stickers for the games.
The results will be posted in early April.
In general, we discourage the use of AI, as the SeedComp! was created specifically to foster human creativity.
We recognize the topic is controversial, and as organizers, we cannot ignore the issue. Here is our attempt at reasonable rules and guidelines for the SeedComp!
Submitting Seeds:
Submitting Games:
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