Christmas Contest 2015

Post by **Mogri** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 5:16 am

The Christmas Contest is an old tradition in the OHR community -- the kind that's gone by the wayside for a few years now. Well, I'm reviving it this year.

The rules

Make a game about Christmas.

Now, let me clarify: I want the gameplay to have something to do with Christmas somehow. A game about picking presents for your friends or a game where you're an innkeeper refusing Joseph would qualify. A game about Santa delivering gifts is fine. A game where you have to kill elves to save Christmas from the Grinch is novel and Christmas-themed, but inasmuch as Christmas is not an elf-killing holiday, it doesn't qualify. As a general litmus test, describe the premise of your game in ten words or less: if the result is either a traditional Christmas activity or part of the established Christmas mythos, then it fits.

Games should be released before Christmas, but I won't actually check until the 26th.

The prizes

The author(s) of each qualifying entry wins a game from my unclaimed Humble library, to a maximum of one game per person. Whichever game ends up being my favorite gets first pick, and so on. In case a game has multiple authors, it's up to the authors to decide who picks first between them.

These games include Van Helsing II, Screencheat, Fallen Enchantress, Defender's Quest, Guardians of Middle-earth, Dungeonland, Europa Universalis 3, and more. I'll make a complete list available later.

Gizmog · Post by **Gizmog** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 6:55 am

I got ten games I gotta make this game, why not make one of 'em about Christmas? I'm in!

Post by **TMC** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 8:38 am

Gasp!

Europa Universalis III, now there's a nice prize: a game I've always wanted but was too cheap to buy. Unfortunately I can't say that I've ever had an idea for a Christmas game or any interest in making one. And I feel like I should be working on other stuff...

Edit: still not clear on the theme rules. So Maze of the Red Mage definitely does not qualify. But what about Christmas-themed allegories? What if I want to criticise the excessive commercialisation of Christmas?

Feenicks · Post by **Feenicks** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 2:44 pm

"Verdi and Wyrd order Chinese" - Is this more than just an 'ironic' tradition of theirs?

"Verdi wants to get drunk but Wyrd won't let her" - self-explanatory

"It's the 23rd already?" - Verdi completely forgot to get gifts, and everywhere is closed!

these are totally all christmas-themed, right?

Fenrir-Lunaris · Post by **Fenrir-Lunaris** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 9:31 pm

<Fenrirlunaris> War on Christmas.rpg.
<Fenrirlunaris> Create a party of Atheists, Liberals, Gays, and Socialists to "attack the holiday"
<Fenrirlunaris> Fight enemies such as Rush Limbagh, Michelle Bachman, and Pat Robertson
<GLOW> /contest

Nathan Karr · Post by **Nathan Karr** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 10:30 pm

Fenrir-Lunaris wrote:<Fenrirlunaris> War on Christmas.rpg.
<Fenrirlunaris> Create a party of Atheists, Liberals, Gays, and Socialists to "attack the holiday"
<Fenrirlunaris> Fight enemies such as Rush Limbagh, Michelle Bachman, and Pat Robertson
<GLOW> /contest

I could make this game with so much sincerity it wouldn't be funny.

So I won't.

Post by **Mogri** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 11:52 pm

TMC wrote:Edit: still not clear on the theme rules. So Maze of the Red Mage definitely does not qualify. But what about Christmas-themed allegories? What if I want to criticise the excessive commercialisation of Christmas?

That would work. As long as the allegory is clear, it would satisfy the criterion. (Arguably, criticizing the excessive commercialization of Christmas is as much a part of the holiday as the excessive commercialization itself.)

Fenrir-Lunaris wrote:<Fenrirlunaris> War on Christmas.rpg.
<Fenrirlunaris> Create a party of Atheists, Liberals, Gays, and Socialists to "attack the holiday"
<Fenrirlunaris> Fight enemies such as Rush Limbagh, Michelle Bachman, and Pat Robertson
<GLOW> /contest

This could work conceptually, but Rush Limbaugh, et al. are not effective stand-ins for Christmas as a conceptual opponent.

Pheonix wrote:"Verdi and Wyrd order Chinese" - Is this more than just an 'ironic' tradition of theirs?

"Verdi wants to get drunk but Wyrd won't let her" - self-explanatory

"It's the 23rd already?" - Verdi completely forgot to get gifts, and everywhere is closed!

these are totally all christmas-themed, right?

It's common for a movie released in December to include Christmas imagery in order to get more sales, but that doesn't make it a Christmas movie, just a movie with Christmas trees. In the same vein, even though my family had a private tradition of eating clam chowder every Christmas Eve, a game about eating clam chowder wouldn't qualify as a Christmas game, because clam chowder is not part of the Christmas oeuvre. The first game is therefore not Christmas-related; the second is not Christmas-related as stated, but it could become Christmas-related with some work (e.g. if Verdi gets drunk, she will be unable to get on the roof and put up Christmas lights? this still seems a bit tenuous); and the third seems explicitly Christmas-related.

Gizmog · Post by **Gizmog** » Fri Nov 20, 2015 12:22 am

What about Jingle All The Way? Was that a Christmas movie, or just a movie about a guy trying to buy somethin for his son?

Post by **Mogri** » Fri Nov 20, 2015 12:36 am

Jingle All the Way is not only a Christmas movie, it is the Christmas movie.

Matokage · Post by **Matokage** » Fri Nov 20, 2015 12:53 am

Oh well, going to try something. and better hurry up, a month is not too much time for me.

Gonna try and funnel in some ideas.

kylekrack · Post by **kylekrack** » Fri Nov 20, 2015 1:56 am

Can I make a game about an unfortunate child who accidentally writes a letter to Satan instead of to Santa, then receives some presents that are a little more possessed than hoped for? He has to employ the help of Santa and his elves in order to stop the evil teddy bear destroying the city.

Post by **Mogri** » Fri Nov 20, 2015 4:27 am

Far be it from me to discourage anyone from making a game. If you want to make something like that, go ahead. However, while it sounds like fun, I'm afraid it wouldn't qualify for this contest -- it's the sort of game the rules are specifically designed to exclude.

I designed this contest knowing that it wouldn't appeal to everybody. I mean, the very nature of the contest is exclusionary: it's probable that some members of this forum don't celebrate Christmas (although I would be fascinated by a game about the significance of Christmas to a Jew/Muslim/whatever if you happen to have that perspective). I don't mean to discourage anyone from entering, but I do want to make it clear that this contest is what it is, take it or leave it.

In years past, the Christmas contest has been more open-ended, but then again, it also didn't have prizes. If you feel like you have a great idea for a Christmas-themed game that falls outside the bounds of this contest, I encourage you to make it anyway; after all, if it's a solid game, you'll still win exactly what you would have won in any of the other contests. I'd even encourage anyone rating the Christmas contest entries to include non-contest Christmas games (bearing in mind that mine is the only vote that counts for the contest itself).

Regardless, if you aren't interested in the games offered as prizes, you may as well make the game you want to make, and if someone wants to organize voting for Christmas games that includes those not eligible for the contest, I'd happily endorse that.

On the other hand, if you are interested in the prizes offered and you're unsure whether your game qualifies, then it's worth your while to ask. The contest has just one criterion: the game doesn't need to be good, it just needs to be about Christmas. I will be generous in exercising that criterion (see: Fenrir's War on Christmas; a game that's about Not-Christmas is also about Christmas in a roundabout way), but ultimately I will exclude a game that doesn't meet it.

Spoonweaver · Post by **Spoonweaver** » Fri Nov 20, 2015 5:26 am

I have questions about my entry.

Post by **Mogri** » Fri Nov 20, 2015 6:21 am

Me too.

BMR · Post by **BMR** » Fri Nov 20, 2015 7:10 am

Christmas traditions. Is that specifically western tradition?