Dream Build Play (also known as Dream-Build-Play, Dream.Build.Play, and DreamBuildPlay) is an annual $75,000

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

video game contest used to promote

Microsoft XNA Microsoft XNA (a recursive acronym for XNA's not acronymed) is a freeware set of tools with a Managed code, managed Runtime system, runtime environment that Microsoft Gaming developed to facilitate video game game development, development. XNA is ...

Game Studio and eventually

Xbox LIVE Indie Games Xbox Live Indie Games (XBLIG; previously called Xbox Live Community Games, XBLCG) were video games created by individual developers or small teams of developers released on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace for the Xbox 360. The games were develop ...

. It was announced in 2006, started in 2007, and ran until 2012. In 2008 and 2009 it spanned over 100 countries and in 2010 it spanned 110 countries. It was restarted in 2017 as the Dream.Build.Play 2017 Challenge. Notable winners include '' Dust: An Elysian Tail'' and '' The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai''.

Concept

Dream-Build-Play, as it was first called, is a game development contest designed to promote and encourage experienced game developers and enthusiasts to create innovative and fun-to-play

indie games An indie video game or indie game (short for independent video game) is a video game created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large Video game publisher, game publisher, in contrast to ...

for

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

and

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

using

Game Studio. In 2017, the contest was relaunched to challenge indie game developers to create UWP games across four categories.

Notable entries

Many winners have gone on to be published on

Xbox LIVE Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...

: * '' A.R.E.S.: Extinction Agenda'' (Entered as '' A.R.E.S.'') * ''

Blazing Birds ''Blazing Birds'' is a badminton-like action-sports video game developed by Vector 2 Games (now Silver Dollar Games) and published by Microsoft Games Studios. It was released on May 20, 2009, worldwide for the Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade). Gamepl ...

'' * ''

Capsized Capsizing or keeling over occurs when a boat or ship is rolled on its side or further by wave action, instability or wind force beyond the angle of positive static stability or it is upside down in the water. The act of recovering a vessel fr ...

'' * '' Cloudberry Kingdom'' * '' Dust: An Elysian Tail'' * '' Kung Fu Strike'' (Entered as '' HurricaneX'', '' HurricaneX2'', and '' HurricaneX2 Evolution'' in three separate Dream Build Play contests.) * ''

The Adventures of Shuggy ''The Adventures of Shuggy'' is a puzzle-platform game developed by British studio Smudged Cat Games and published by Valcon Games. It was released June 15, 2011 for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade, for Microsoft Windows on June 13, 2012, and f ...

'' (Entered as '' Shuggy''.) * ''

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'' * '' The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai'' * '' Yo Ho Kablammo!'' * ''

Zeit² ''Zeit²'' (also known as ''Zeit Squared'') is a horizontally scrolling shooter made by German developer Brightside Games. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox Live Arcade on January 12, 2011. The word "Zeit" is German for time. Gamepla ...

Dream Build Play Challenges

Here is a breakdown of all Dream Build Play Challenges, including lesser known Warm-Up Challenges:

2007 Warm-Up Challenge

Microsoft offered a Relatives of Spacewar Warm-Up Challenge precursor to the first Dream Build Play, awarding US$500 to the top five entries. The entries had to create a game based on the Spacewar Starter Kit.

Winners

Top 5: * ''Earth vs. Mars'' (Minsk, Belarus) * ''Udder Assault'' (Bellevue, WA USA) * ''G'', (Bologna, Italy) * ''Viduce'' (Lyon, France) * ''Cracklin Crackles'' (Chicago, IL USA)

2007 Challenge

Also known as Dream-Build-Play 1.0, this is the first Dream Build Play Challenge. In it, Microsoft offered an

publishing contract to the top four entries out of 4,500 participants, with the top two "1st Place" winning $10,000 each and the next two "2nd Place" winning $5,000 each.

Winners

1st Place (tie): * ''

'' (Burlington, Canada) * '' The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai (Remix)'' (Marcy, NY, United States) 2nd Place: * '' Gravitron Ultra'' (Stockholm, Sweden) * '' Yo Ho Kablammo!'' (Huddersfield, United Kingdom) 3rd Place: * ''Big Sky'' (Durban, South Africa) * ''Burning Angels'' (Beijing, China) * ''Chaos'' (San Diego, CA, United States) * ''Gunstyle'' (Montgomery, AL, United States) * ''Hasta la muerte'' (Angoulême, France) * ''Hippocrate's Dilemma'' (Guilderland, NY, United States) * '' HurricaneX'' (Shanghai, China) * ''Little Gamers'' (Brussels, Belgium) * ''Magic Crystals'' (Wyoming, MI, United States) * ''Proximity HD'' (Warrenville, IL, United States) * ''Ragu'' (Tyresö, Sweden) * ''Rocketball'' (San Diego, CA, United States) * ''Samurai Soul Hunters (latest)'' (Bothell, WA, United States) * '' Shuggy'' (Ely, United Kingdom) * ''Sprockets of Strife'' (College Station, TX, United States) * ''Viduce'' (Lyon, France) ''

'', '' The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai'', '' Yo Ho Kablammo!'', '' HurricaneX'', and '' Shuggy'' all eventually were published on

. '' HurricaneX'' was eventually released as '' Kung Fu Strike'' and '' Shuggy'' as ''

''.

2008 Warm-Up Challenge

Also known as the Silicon Minds Warm-Up Challenge, it was a precursor to the main 2008 Dream Build Play Challenge, announced in late 2007 this one centered on artificial intelligence and promised an opportunity to interview for at an internship with

Microsoft Research Microsoft Research (MSR) is the research subsidiary of Microsoft. It was created in 1991 by Richard Rashid, Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold with the intent to advance state-of-the-art computing and solve difficult world problems through technologi ...

, Rare, or

Lionhead Studios Lionhead Studios Limited was a British video game developer founded in July 1997 by Peter Molyneux, Mark Webley, Tim Rance, and Steve Jackson (British game designer), Steve Jackson. The company is best known for the ''Black & White (series), Bl ...

Winners

Top 5: * ''Conquerator'' (Nicholas Barratt & Gillian Allen, Dollar Short Games) * ''Hive'' (Nancy McCourt) * ''iSheep'' (Markus Jost & Remo Zehnder) * ''Orblast'' (John Montemorano, What About Gameplay?) * ''Specimen'' (Brent Strandy)

2008 Challenge

The 2008 Dream Build Play Challenge marks the first time the contest offered $75,000 worth of prizes. First place won $40,000, second place won $20,000, third place won $10,000, and fourth place won $5,000.

Winners

Top 4 Prize Winners: * '' CarneyVale: Showtime'', Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab * ''Battle Tennis'', Gasp! * '' Weapon of Choice'', Mommy's Best Games * '' HurricaneX2'', Qooc Soft Top 20 (in alphabetic order): * ''An Awesome Game'' (United States) * ''Artoon'' (United Kingdom) * ''AUTO'' (Denmark) * ''Battle Tennis'' (Venezuela) * ''Bennu'' (Portugal) * ''

Biology Battle ''Biology Battle'' is a multidirectional shooter for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. It is a dual-stick shooter with elements similar to '' Robotron: 2084'', ''Smash TV'', and '' Geometry Wars''. Development According to an interview with Nov ...

'' (Thailand) * ''Blow'' (Canada) * '' Carney Vale:Showtime'' (Singapore) * ''Galex-e-mail'' (United States) * '' HurricaneX2'' (China) * ''Petank Party'' (France) * ''Project X- Trino'' (United States) * ''Pyramid Camel Boy'' (United Kingdom) * ''Save Jack'' (South Africa) * ''Smashell'' (Italy) * ''Spacehack'' (South Africa) * ''Streets of Fury'' (France) * ''Tropos'' (South Korea) * '' Weapon of Choice'' (United States) * '' Zeit 2'' (Germany) '' HurricaneX2'' and '' Zeit 2'' were eventually released on

. '' Weapon of Choice'' made it into the ''

Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

''. '' HurricaneX2'' was eventually released as '' Kung Fu Strike''.

2009 Challenge

Winners

Top 4: * '' Dust: An Elysian Tail'', Humble Hearts * ''Max Blastronaut'', Coin App * ''Rotor'scope'', Nolver Apps * '' HurricaneX2 Evolution'', YouYun Tech Top 20 (alphabetic order): * ''Avatar Golf'', Barkers Crest Studio (United States) * ''BAMBOONO'', TAKENOKO (Japan) * ''Band of Bears'', Cellar Door Games (Canada) * '' Cloudberry Kingdom'', Zealous Studios (United States) * ''Creed Arena'', Reedake (Australia) * '' Duality ZF'',

Xona Games Xona Games is an independent Canadian video game developer founded in 2008 and headquartered in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. Games The company makes shoot 'em up games, targeting primarily Xbox LIVE Indie Games and Xbox LIVE Arcade which are ...

(Canada) * '' Dust: An Elysian Tail'', Humble Hearts (United States) * ''Echoes'', binary zoo (Australia) * ''Guru-Guru'', Gasp! (Venezuela) * '' HurricaneX2 Evolution'', YouYun Tech (China) * ''Kaleidoscope'', Morsel (Canada) * ''Magnetic Mind'', laXarIS (Germany) * ''Masters of Belial'', Brain Seal (United Kingdom) * ''Max Blastronaut'', Coin App (United States) * ''Mirror'', Silver Dollar Games (Canada) * ''Powa Volley'', Kydos Studio (France) * ''Rotorscope'', Nolver Apps (Spain) * '' Sol Survivor'', Cadenza Interactive (United States) * '' Square Off'', Team Chaos (Australia) * ''What The?!'', Social Loner Studios (United States) '' Cloudberry Kingdom'', '' Dust: An Elysian Tail'' and '' HurricaneX2 Evolution'' were eventually released on

. '' Score Rush Extended'', a spiritual prequel to '' Duality ZF'', was eventually released on

PS4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

. '' HurricaneX2 Evolution'' was eventually released as '' Kung Fu Strike''.

2010 Challenge

This year, in addition to the $75,000 in prizes for the top 4 entries, there was an additional $60,000

Old Spice Old Spice is an American brand offering male grooming products including aftershaves, deodorants and antiperspirants, shampoos, body washes, shaving cream, and soaps. It is manufactured by Procter & Gamble. Old Spice was launched as Early Amer ...

prize. This allowed a single team to potentially win $100,000 in prizes.

Standard Dream-Build-Play Challenge

The standard prize money split, labelled a bit differently: $40,000 grand prize, $20,000 first prize, $10,000 second prize, and $5,000 third prize.

Microsoft Old Spice Challenge

In 2010,

launched four scents inspired by

Matterhorn The , ; ; ; or ; ; . is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the Main chain of the Alps, main watershed and border between Italy and Switzerland. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

Denali Denali (), federally designated as Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the tallest mountain in the world from base to peak on land, measuring . On p. 20 of Helm ...

, and

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. The contest asked indie game studios to use these same places as inspiration for a funny and entertaining

game, the winner to be used to produce the products.

Winners

Top 6 * ''Lumi'', Nicolas D. (France) * ''

ARES Ares (; , ''Árēs'' ) is the List of Greek deities, Greek god of war god, war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for ...

'',

Extend Studio Extension, extend or extended may refer to: Mathematics Logic or set theory * Axiom of extensionality * Extensible cardinal * Extension (model theory) * Extension (proof theory) * Extension (predicate logic), the set of tuples of values that ...

(Thailand) * ''

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'', YO1KOMORI (Japan) * '' Beat Hazard'', Cold Beam Games (United Kingdom) * '' Duality ZF'',

(Canada – excluding Quebec) * ''JoyJoy'', Radiangames (United States) Top 20 (alphabetical order) * ''

'',

(Thailand) * ''Abaddon'', Team Cornflake (United States) * ''Abducted!'', Photonic Games (United States) * ''Alien Jelly'', Collective Mass (Australia) * ''Armor Valley'', Protege Production (Singapore) * '' Beat Hazard'', Cold Beam Games (United Kingdom) * ''

'', Alientrap (Canada, excluding Quebec) * ''Creed Arena'', Reedake (Australia) * '' Duality ZF'',

(Canada – excluding Quebec) * ''Dysnomia'', Team Mango (United Kingdom) * ''JoyJoy'', Radiangames (United States) * ''King Spray'', electronicshed (Australia) * ''Lumi'', Nicolas D. (France) * ''Mind Over Metal'', Murudai (Australia) * ''Ninja Garden'', Kablammo Games (Ireland) * ''

'', YO1KOMORI (Japan) * ''Shape Shooter'', Super Jai (United States) * ''Shoot 1UP'', Mommy's Best Games (United States) * ''Soul'', Kydos Studio (France) * ''The Shadows in the Underworld'', Polaris (Canada, excluding Quebec) ''

'' and ''

'' eventually were published on

. ''

'' was eventually published to

. '' Score Rush Extended'', a spiritual prequel to '' Duality ZF'', was eventually released on

2011 Challenge

Winners

Top 4: * ''

Blocks That Matter ''Blocks That Matter'' is a 2D puzzle-platform game developed by French independent studio Swing Swing Submarine. It was released on August 19, 2011 for Windows, Mac, Linux and Xbox 360. The game was inspired by one of the developer's earlier wor ...

'' * ''

Solar 2 Solar 2 is an open world sandbox video game developed by Australian developer Jay Watts' video game studio, Murudai. It was released on 17 June 2011 on Steam for Microsoft Windows and on 19 June 2011 on Xbox Live Indie Games for the Xbox 360. T ...

'' * ''TIC: Part 1'' * ''Sequence'' Honorable Mentions: * Production Quality: ''Alien Jelly'' * Innovation: ''

'' * Fun Factor: ''Ninja Crash'' ''

'' was published to

2012 Challenge

Xbox 360 Winners

Top 4: * '' One Finger Death Punch'', Silver Dollar Games * ''Dead Pixels'', CantStrafeRight * ''Ninja Crash'', Team Devil * ''Gateways'', Smudged Cat Games

Windows Phone Winners

Top 4:Dream Build Play
, ''dreambuildplay.com'' * ''Smirkers'', Kenneth Bugeja * ''Pixel Blocked!'', Daniel Truong * ''Alter Ego'', Denis Grachev * ''Cradle to the Grave'', COLTRAN Studios

2017 Challenge

PC/Windows 10 Category

Finalists: * ''The Forbidden Arts'' * ''Goscurry'' * ''Imperatum'' - WINNER - US$50,000

Cloud/Azure Category

Finalists: * ''Stellar Conquest'' - Winner - US$100,000 * ''Clash of Camelot'' * ''The Hadron Effect''

Console/Xbox One Category

Finalists: * ''Fighties'' - WINNER - US$25,000 * ''King's Guard TD'' * ''Train Bandit''

Windows Mixed Reality/HoloLens Category

Finalists: * Racket: Nx * ''Windlands'' * ''Prison Boss VR'' - WINNER - US$50,000

References

{{reflist Video game development competitions Video game development Microsoft