Official regulations
Rules & Guidelines
Read these before you start. By registering at portal.levelstair.com you agree to them.
01Eligibility & Team Composition
- + Open to all developers, programmers, and digital artists across Sri Lanka.
- + Two distinct brackets: School Category (secondary education up to A/L) and University Category (undergraduates and recent graduates within 1 year).
- + Teams may consist of 1 to 5 members. Solo developers are fully permitted and welcome.
- + Participants under 18 must have consent from parents, guardians, or teachers.
- + All team members must register on portal.levelstair.com to receive verified completion certificates.
02Game Development & Engine Rules
- + Games must be developed during the official competition window following the theme reveal.
- + Any engine or technology stack is permitted: Unity, Unreal Engine, Godot, GameMaker, custom C++/Rust/HTML5 engines.
- + Third-party libraries, engine store assets, and pre-existing code are permitted provided they are legally licensed and properly credited in documentation.
- + Generative AI tools (e.g. for texture prototyping, audio generation, or code assistance) are allowed but must be disclosed in your itch.io page description.
- + All core game mechanics and primary design work must be created during the event.
03Submission & Format Standards
- + Primary submission host: Games must be published on itch.io with project visibility set to public or unlisted with password provided.
- + Platforms: Games must run on Windows PC or WebGL (in-browser playable). WebGL builds are strongly advised for maximal community voting reach.
- + Submissions must be registered on portal.levelstair.com by the deadline; late submissions will not be accepted by the system.
- + At least 3 gameplay screenshots and a brief gameplay video link must accompany the submission.
- + Source code must be kept available upon request by the judging committee for authenticity review.
04Content & Fair Play Guidelines
- + No hateful, discriminatory, or sexually explicit content.
- + Respect cultural, ethnic, and religious sensitivities in accordance with Sri Lankan community standards.
- + No unauthorized copyrighted IP, trademarked characters, or commercial soundtracks without documented permission.
- + Plagiarism, reusing full pre-existing games, or vote manipulation on portal.levelstair.com results in immediate disqualification.
- + All participants must uphold the LEVELSTAIR Developer Code of Conduct across all channels.
05Evaluation & Judging Protocol
- + Community voting on portal.levelstair.com evaluates games across 5 balanced criteria with adjusted volume weighting.
- + Jury of senior studio founders and industry veterans evaluates top candidates for Grand Championship & discipline trophies.
- + Discipline awards include: Best Game Design, Best Audio & Visuals, and People's Choice.
- + Decisions of the official jury panel are final and binding.
06Intellectual Property & Rights
- + Developers retain 100% full intellectual property (IP) and commercial ownership of their submitted creations.
- + By submitting, participants grant LEVELSTAIR and LKGDC permission to feature gameplay footage, trailers, and screenshots for promotional showcases, conference exhibits, and documentation.
Code of conduct
EXE runs on respect between Sri Lanka's developers. Harassment, discrimination or abuse on Discord, the portal or social media means immediate disqualification and loss of participation across all LEVELSTAIR initiatives.