Season 17 (2023-2024) - Cycles

Forests grow with underbrush competing for light, fast-growing softwood trees soon dominate the precious sky, eventually, hardwood trees reach upward and monopolize the sunlight until they die and the process starts all over again.

Water goes from the water table into lakes and rivers, evaporates into the air, is rained down on the land, and runs back into bodies of water.

The moon endlessly transitions from a new moon to a full moon and back again. Meanwhile, its motion and the rotation of the Earth combined to form an even more complex pattern of high and low tides.

Over decades, the economy appears to be on a fairly consistent trajectory of growth. But when we look more closely, things appear much more dynamic. Business activity periodically passes through periods of expansion - where activity grows rapidly - followed by recession - where activity decreases.

Various spiritual traditions believe in some form of reincarnation. Where existence is not limited to a single lifetime, but is instead a progression of birth, growth, and death throughout which a being slowly evolves.

Many aspects of the natural world and human activity operate in looping patterns. Patterns where there is constant change, but those changes follow a predictable sequence - cycles.

This year’s theme asks you to explore one or more Cycles. Teams should be creative in their interpretation and attempt to represent the theme in all aspects of a submission - gameplay, story, art, and sound.

Main Event

The Season 17 Main Event is May 18th at Western Oregon University!

Registration for this year’s competition is now full. If you are just discovering OGPC, we encourage you to start making plans for next year.

Documents For Season 17

Check out these for all the details on this year’s theme and achievements and how the competition works:

  • Quick facts about this season of OGPC. A quick reference sheet to the competition. Participants and coaches should make sure to read the full competition manual.
  • The Competition Manual for the season. This has the full theme description as well as rules and guidelines for the competition.
  • The Coaching Guide with helpful tips for coaches new and old.
  • Achievements guide. These are specific things judges will be looking for when scoring your project.

New This Season

Here is a quick summary of things that are new this season. Established teams and coaches, take note!

  1. There is a Game Portfolio document you will use to collect various achievement-related artifacts in one place.
  2. One of the achievements involves doing some research on the Cycle(s) you are exploring in your game. Make sure to check out the Research & Development achievement early - you likely will want to work on it as you brainstorm.
  3. Before registering, you need to demonstrate that you have enough members for a team (though it is fine to add more later) and that you have begun planning (but not necessarily building) a project. See the Competition Manual - Registration section for details.
  4. There is a maximum of 5 teams per school/organization/coach.

Getting Started

New to OGPC and trying to figure out how to get started? Here is a checklist:

  1. Check out the Competition Manual to learn about the theme and how the actual competition works.
  2. Form a team. (The Competition Manual has requirements.) If you are a student, you will need to find an adult who is willing to be the team Coach.
  3. Create an entry in the Team Management System (TMS) (Click the Help link at the top of the TMS page to see a video of the process). This involves:
    1. The Coach makes an account and creates a Team.
    2. They then invite students to join.
    3. Students each make an account and accept their invite.
  4. Do some research on the theme. (You will share this research in your Game Portfolio document as part of completing one of the achievements.)
  5. Decide on what you want to build - fill out the Game Design Document portion of the Game Portfolio (See Competition Manual for details.)
  6. Register for the Main Event. (See Competition Manual for details.)