Australian Might and Magic: Duel of Champions PC competition winner announced

Remember last month when we asked Australian readers to pitch a setting for a CCG game ? Remember how the best entry was going to win a powerhouse custom PC courtesy of Might and Magic: Duel of Champions? Well, we received tonnes of amazing entries, but we've finally decided which tickled our fancy the most.

The winner was Sydney's Marley Hodgman, who pitched us a very unusual CCG game: in Hodgman's game, the game is games . More specifically, his theoretical CCG was set inside the games industry itself.

In Hodgman's words:

"[My CCG game is set in] the shiny, sweaty, loud universe of game expos, with the player constructing developer booths and other stalls to attract attention from fans and media.

Collect developer cards of different types to build the show you want to present. The audience of an indie magazine might give you a harsh penalty for playing Booth Babes that you wouldn't get if you were instead playing the corporate mainstream...but is it worth the Innovation bonus?

Choose the game cards each developer displays: go for slow-burning, reliable sports games, expensive but powerful blockbusters, or avant-garde experimental platformers, and combine them with the traits of the developer for unmissable displays!

Pay attention to your opponent. Having trouble with their lineup of indie darlings? No problem; put down Enough Retro, Please to wipe out any game with the pixel art type. Zombie FPSs might be the current fad (roll for this at the start?), but if they stack up too many, hit them with Sequelitis and steal their thunder!

Make the best use of your limited number of Exclusive Stories to help yourself or hinder your rival. Cover your biggest game to give it an even bigger boost, or combine a Prototype Card and your VIP Room to blow away the competition!

Coming next year, the GARME JERNALISM expansion set, with new bribery and integrity mechanics; the IT GAVE ME LEMON-LIME expansion set with new non-game stalls; and the PAPERS, PLEASE expansion set with bouncers, spies and a wider array of Gamebreaking Bug cards."

The prize Hodgman has won totals nearly $2,000 worth of gear, including a motherboard and graphic card from ASUS , processor by AMD, storage by WD, case and power by Cooler Master, RAM by GSkill and the best in gaming peripherals by Steel Series.

Thanks to everyone for the entries, and keep an eye out for future competitions.

Shaun Prescott

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.