Welcome to the strategist's game development contest. The goal of this contest is multi-faceted. One of the main goals is to promote the development of new games for the rest of us to play, and hopefully, someone, somewhere, will have fun doing it.

I strongly encourage everyone who is capable of even minimal thought to participate in this competition. It doesn't really matter how good or bad the submissions to this contest are. So whether you are a bronze-cast professional designer, or just an armchair developer, join in!

The more the merrier.

Now for the good stuff. The forum for this contest takes you deep into outer space. The galactic trade empire has collapsed and left the commerce routes in the galaxy wide open for any would-be capitalist. It would take nerves of steel, a will of iron, a pocket of gold, and a ship armed to the teeth to avoid pirates and the other dangers of the trade routes. But surely you, the brave captain of a small, run-down runabout could find a way to survive and ultimately become the leader of a New Trade Republic, where you hold the great monopoly of wealth and po-wer. Use your resources wisely, travel diligently, and proceed with the utmost caution, for you are destined for greatness. Your game should give the look, feel, and/or flavour of this scenario.

True, there are already several games with this theme on the market, but what the hey, it could make for some good fun none-the-less. This leads me to the contest rules:

1) Copies of pre-existing games will be immediately disqualified.
2) You are responsible for all aspects of game development, except playtesting. This includes, but is not limited to, selecting the format of the game, designing the components, and formatting the rules.
3) All submissions are due within three months, namely by October 15, 1999.
4) All submissions become property of the public domain. Your name will be maintained with your creation (if desired).
5) It is preferred that submissions not be playtested, but playtested games will be accepted.
6) All pieces, boards, cards, and any other components necessary to play the game must be handily available in an average household, or easily printable on an average computer printer with limited color printing capability.
7) The executors of this contest are not responsible for any damages or sacrificed animals that may result from the use, submission, or play-testing of games in the contest.
8) All submissions will be playtested by a conglomerate of players that reside in rec.games.board, and/or any real life players I can con into playing the games.
9) All rights reserved.
10) Have fun.