Item Map Competition Summer 2025

Our first official map competition is based around items and their use in gameplay. Whether you use an Elytra, Trident, Blocks, just one item or multiple, want to make a puzzle, speedrun parkour, or whatever else, it’s all up to you. You must use at least one item though, and the majority of your gameplay must be centered around whatever item(s) you have.

Competition Guidelines

Team Size

You may only participate in one submission. A submission can be a team of up to five people total. All must be clearly credited inside the map. Do note that only one person (the submitter) will be credited as the map author.

Timeline, Creation, and Submission

You will have until the 19th at 12PM EST to plan and prepare, whereafter you will be given a 1,200 x 1,200 map slot to access in the bottom right of the Create Maps menu. Instead of a Publish button after you verify it, it will have a Submit button. You will have until August 10th at midnight EST to make your submission, so make sure you’re not trying to verify it last minute. Once you submit your map, you CANNOT take it back, so make sure everything is finalized. Submissions will be viewable via an NPC to the left of spawn underneath the trophy with the spinning 3D model.

Usage of Assets

You may use small things that you have made before or free-use building assets (with credit given in the map). Good examples of this would be trees, rocks, background houses, and so on. It is up to you to decide if such things are beneficial to your submission or not. All gameplay, though, must be original and made in the span of the competition.

Demo Course

A few members of our staff team have made a high-effort example course using multiple items and gameplay styles. Run the command /play 000-000-001 on the server to join it!

Finalist Prizes

• First Place: $100 USD and 6 Months of Hypercube
• Second Place: $50 USD and 4 Months of Hypercube
• Third Place: $25 USD and 2 Months of Hypercube

Special Prizes

Awarded separately from finalist prizes. A player may win a finalist and a special prize, though they are limited to one of each.

• Most Creative: $25 USD and 1 Month of Hypercube
• Most Immersive / Best Story: $25 USD and 1 Month of Hypercube
• Community Favorite: $25 USD and 1 Month of Hypercube

If requested, prizes can be split between team members, but it is up to our discretion to do so. If you cannot receive the cash portion of a prize (ex: you are under the age of 18 and lack parental permission), then we will give you the equivalent amount in Cubits on the server.

Do note that we will know who has built on a submission and if schematics were pasted in. Neither in and of themselves are incriminating behavior. However, if you are suspected of having more builders than allowed, or of pasting in a premade map (even if unfinished) or something that isn’t your own creation, we will have to investigate and ask questions. If you are found to be in violation of any rules, you may be penalized or, depending on the severity, disqualified.

Marking Criteria

Judging will be done by SethPRG, Tamto, and iTMG. A submission will be graded on, in order of importance, Gameplay, Concept Utilization, and Presentation, and can score up to 100 points. Judges will not be making a submission of their own or help on another submission.

Gameplay (50 Points)

• Quality Is the map fun to play? Are there any unnecessary or redundant elements to your gameplay?
• Quality Is gameplay fair? Does it rely too much on obscure strats or luck? Are there troll mechanics like death holes, which are frustrating? Are there any unintended difficulty spikes (ex: a random jump that’s very hard in an easy part of the map)?
• Quality Is gameplay diverse? Does the map repeatedly use the same concepts without expanding upon them to simply make the gameplay longer?
• Design Is the level design well thought out? Does the gameplay flow well? Is the routing (if applicable) intuitive? Are players confused about what to do or where to go? Is the map cheeseable? Does it contain unintentional skips or methods of completion? Is the map well-balanced?
• Design If the map has checkpoints, has thought been put into their placement and routing (especially in the case of longer maps)?

Concept Utilization (30 Points)

• Quality How realized is the core concept? Does the gameplay feel like a complete and coherent experience, or is the central idea underdeveloped?
• Quality Is the concept introduced and used effectively? Does the player have enough opportunities to engage with it? Does the execution live up to its potential?
• Innovation Is your gameplay concept unique? To what extent does it introduce new ideas, or is it a fresh take on existing concepts?
• Innovation Is there depth and substance to your concept (e.g. a low-quality obstacle map where you spam place blocks would score low)?
• Innovation Is your map memorable? Will people remember your map a week after playing it? What about a year? When people think of your map, will they clearly remember its theme and gameplay?

Presentation (20 Points)

• Quality Has the author paid attention to detail? Does the build increase overall map enjoyment? Does the build help players understand the routing?
• Quality Does the build lazily prevent unintended routes (e.g., barrier spam will score low)? Can the player trust what they see and experience?
• Integration How well does the build complement the gameplay? Is there a general theme that the build supplements? Does the build increase the feeling of immersion when playing?

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Once again, the competition will begin on July 19th at 12PM EST and end on August 10th at midnight EST. We look forward to seeing what you create!