India Board Game Designers Collective presents

PAGER 2026

An online game design contest run over three months. Whatever you build has to be playable with what a gamer already has lying around at home.

The challenge

Three months. Five sheets of A4.

Design a game during the contest window, on one of these themes: Indian Natural Habitats or Indian Cuisine. You don't need to cover more than one. The final package: the print & play file and the rules together has to fit on five A4 pages. Beyond that you get ten loose components: dice, tokens, pawns, cubes, whatever a player can pull out of another box.

Four stages of work, four deadlines, and a stretch in the middle where you stop designing and go play everyone else's game instead. That's where the name comes from: you print, assemble, play, evaluate, and go round again.

How it runs

Four deadlines

Each stage has a hard date. Miss one and you can still carry on, but the blind playtest only works if drafts land on time.

1. 01

   The Pitch

   Due 15 Sep 2026 2 weeks Open now

   Game name, the theme choice and a one-line hook.

2. 02

   The First Draft

   Due 6 Oct 2026 3 weeks

   A playable draft of the game with written rules. Rough art is fine. It needs to be printable and playable, not pretty.

3. 03

   Blind Playtest

   Due 27 Oct 2026 3 weeks

   Print, assemble and play one to three games by other entrants, and write up what you found. Their notes come back to you.

4. 04

   Final Submission

   Due 10 Nov 2026 2 weeks

   Revise on the feedback and send the final package: five pages, rules included, plus any digital prototype or gameplay video.

A judging panel plays the finished games and picks the winners in December 2026.

Judging

Three things the panel looks for

• 01

  Theme

  How far the theme runs through the game rather than sitting on top of it as art.

• 02

  Innovation

  Whether the game does something the panel hasn't already played a dozen times.

• 03

  Fun to play

  The plain one. Does it hold the table for its full length and earn a second game?

Contest rules

What you're agreeing to

1. Submit a game you designed during the contest window, built to one of the themes.
2. The game must not have been in development before 31 August 2026.
3. The print & play file and rules must fit on five A4 pages. You're free to also share a link to a digital prototype and a gameplay video.
4. You may use up to ten additional components — dice, tokens, pawns and the like.

General rules

1. Use only intellectual property you own or have the rights to use. AI-generated artwork is not accepted.
2. The game should be aimed at ages 8 and up.
3. It must not be on sale, on preorder, or crowdfunding before or during the contest.
4. One game per designer.
5. Your design images will be shared publicly by IBGDC on this site, on social media, and with the judges.
6. You must be at least 18 years old to enter.
7. The judges' decision is final. You agree not to hold the organisers or the judges liable for any matter related to this contest.
8. Official communication happens on our Discord server. Use it to talk to and help other designers too.

Prize

Stage 1 is open

Send us your concept.

Your intended habitat and hook. That's all Stage 1 needs.