MSX games since 2003
MSX games since 2003

MSXdev25

| Dates and Deadlines | Rules and guidelines | Jury Team | Rating | Donations | Sponsorship | Prizes | Enrollment | Games |

MSXdev is the name the international annual game compo for MSX computers that’s been running since 2003. It’s a platform for MSX computer game developers to showcase their skills. The rules are simple: create an MSX compatible game. Anyone can participate and it is free to enter. Software submitted to MSXdev will be treated as freeware; free to download and free to play software. The games for this competition are usually in ROM format and can be used in any MSX emulator.

MSXdev25 celebrates its 21th edition of the MSX game contest and keeps the free-style mode on for yet another one. So put on your creativity head and start jamming with that Z80 kungfu we all love so much!

DATES AND DEADLINES

MSXdev25 runs from September 15, 2025 until March 15, 2026 – 6 month in total to cram an original MSX game and get famous while doing it. During run time the jury panel will be announced. Their duty starts about one week after the deadline and takes about 6 weeks to complete. We expect to announce the results early April 2026.

RULES AND GUIDELINES

In this edition of MSXdev, the compo is once again free-style – we love the concept, can you tell? That means every MSX related hardware can be supported, as long as enrolled games are an MSX original game. This can be a standard MSX1 generation game, or a super-deluxe-extravaganza high-spec MSX turbo R one. If it runs on MSX, it can be registered to the compo.

No one likes strict rules, we don’t either. But we have to have some kind of frame work to accept game entries. If there’s a rule, it would be in the lines of “you MUST have fun participating”. But, to be clear, here are some things to consider:

  • Games run on MSX – duh.
  • Games that are submitted to the contest are original; they have never been published before on MSX, and are not copyrighted by anyone else than the creator.
  • Clones and remakes of existing games, however, are accepted, provided they adhere to the aforementioned requirements.
  • Give credits where credits are due
  • After submitting an entry, it cannot be published outside MSXdev during the contest.
  • The submitted entry is accepted as the full featured versions. Updates during the contest are only accepted before the deadline.
  • The game is considered freeware (during the compo)
  • The game is submitted as a .ROM, or a .DSK file. There’s not limit on the size of it.
  • Include clear game play instructions by means of a manual, and expected hardware, at least in English.
  • The game entry can be played by anyone, either on real MSX hardware or on emulated.
  • Make sure to have your game tested, and tested again, before submitting.

On enrollment, the games will be tested and evaluated using the mentioned MSX configuration specs and should work on any compliant machine. If it does, it is accepted for MSXdev. In any case, the MSXdev organization has the right to reject, or redraw an already accepted, game entry at any time before the official enrollment-deadline.

JURY TEAM

We’re excited to have brought together a remarkable team of MSX enthusiasts to review the work of others. After diving into the digital world and connecting with like-minded people from around the globe, we’ve brought together an incredibly talented team: Timo Soilamaa (Nyyrikki), Tohji Murakata (Retromixis), and Mario Cavalcanti (Clube MSX).

Check out the MSXdev25 jury announcement news post for more information

As per rule, members of the jury panel cannot take part in the contest with game entries.

RATING

The rating of MSXdev entries is done by the assigned juror panel of MSX experts, who will deal point to every entry. The higher the score, the better. There is no public rating available for MSXdev..

The panel will rate each game on its quality and provides a written motivation of the rating. The score list will be made public and the winner is announced when all games have been judged by the panel. Furthermore, the jurors scoring and motivations will be publicly available as a .PDF file download from the official MSXdev website.

Ties will not be accepted. To prevent those, we instated the resolution of 1-100.  Nevertheless, in case of a tie (when multiple entries have an equal amount of scored points), the jury panel is required to vote for the better game. The game with the most votes wins and gets 1/10 extra points awarded. If that leads to another tie, the jurors are again asked to vote. This process continues until there are no more ties.

An eventual tie breaking process is transparently mentioned in the final jury report.

Remember, your entry gets rated on quality. And that includes external means like packaging and the manual as well! In order to have your creation judged completely, we advise to include means to access every area of the entry. Like cheat-codes, passwords, screenshots, emu save-states, in-game BGM player, sound files, easy/hard level selection and other things you can think of to make it easy for judges to score your entry. We will be discrete with this information, it is for the jury-panel’s eyes only.

DONATING

We will have a cash prize for the winner with the sum of your donations. If you love the MSXdev contest and want to be part of it by contributing to a prize, this is your opportunity!

Make you donation via PayPal

Please, when making your donation, be sure to specify the name/nick you want to appear as the donor, or tell us if you want to remain anonymous.

Every contribution, even the smallest amount, will be highly appreciated! 100% of the donations will go to the game developers – Thank you very much for considering to support the contest!

LIST OF DONORS

We have received the following donations for MSXdev25:

  • € 100,00 by anonymous
  • € 25,00 by Bastiaan Verhage
  • € 6.06 by Carlos Eduardo Gonçalves Couto
  • € 50,00 by Ernst Schuller
  • € 2,00 by Michele Porcu
  • € 2,00 by Luca Bottani
  • € 100,00 by Vampier
  • € 50,00 by Clemens Backes
  • € 5,00 by Sergio Manzana Rios
  • € 50,59 by Anne de Raad
  • € 30,00 by Mickaël Triquett
  • € 25,00 by Robert-Jan Regout
  • € 10,00 by Marcel Schipper
  • € 47,60 by 米澤元
  • € 5,00 by Sébastien Bafcop
  • € 100,00 by Robb Alvey
  • € 10,00 by The MSX lovers
  • € 10,00 by Omar Ahed Mier
  • € 50,00 by Santiago Ontanon
  • € 30,00 by Jan Kimpflinger
  • € 30,00 by Fausto Pracek
  • € 10,00 by Tony Byet

All amounts are net (ex Paypal fees) Thank you all!

SPONSORSHIP

You can also become a sponsor by adding any item to the winners loot box.

Anything goes, from a sticker to a piece of hardware, a gift certificate or a subscription to any service. The following sponsored items have already been confirmed:

If you’re interested in initiating a sponsorship, please contact us by e-mail.

PRIZES

All donated funds will be awarded to the winners of the MSXdev25 edition. The exact total will be determined once the competition results are announced.

Sponsored items will end up in the loot box where every contestant has a change to dive in and grab an item of choice, starting with the first place winner followed by the next winners.

ENROLLMENT

Participating in this MSXdev contest is easy, just e-mail your final version of the game together with the required information to the MSXdev team to get enrolled. Every entry that complies with the requirements will be approved to enter the contest and gets a chance to shine.

To register your entry, send an email to info@msxdev.org with the following attachments and information:

  • Name of the game and its version
  • Name of the author, group, or individual(s) involved
  • Game genre
  • Screenshots and/or other artwork of the game
  • A game manual (at least in English) – any format will do
  • Full name of the author and contact e-mail address. (provide as much contact information as you like)
  • Attach the game in a ROM, or DSK file format (whether zipped or not) and provide carrier type information if possible.
  • Any other information or related media that you’d like to share

On entering the contest, a registration conformation e-mail will be returned. The entry will then be examined by the organizing party for compliance and followed by an another e-mail to either approve or decline the submitted entry. When the entry is compliant, it will be announced and published on the msxdev.org web site. From that moment on, the game is considered “published” and ready for judgement.

If we have any more questions on your submitted entry, we will contact you by e-mail.

Keep in mind that:

  • Only the last received version of the game is the one valid for the contest. Updates are accepted during the contest. Updates are posted on the MSXdev.org website.
  • State in the instructions or in attached text file the freeware status of any game participating in MSXdev contest. Any freeware license can be used, as long as the full game can be freely obtained by the users.
  • During the compo, the game is considered MSXdev exclusive. It is, however, allowed to redistribute or sell the game when the deadline has passed.
  • All participants will accept the final results

Remember that all official information about the contest will always be available at the MSXdev.org website. If you have any questions, contact us at info@msxdev.org

* The MSXdev requires a minimum of 9 submitted game entries to commence. When the deadline has passed with less than that, the compo is cancelled.

SUBMITTED GAMES

This year’s entries are:

All listed games are MSXdev exclusives, and not to be published elsewhere during the compo. Games are freeware, that means free to download and play. The author remains the owner of the submitted game.

THANK YOU

The MSXdev would not be possible if it wasn’t for

  • Konamito – for setting up this web-site and doing system administration
  • MSXall – for hosting this web-site
  • The File-Hunter – for hosting online play
  • MRC – for the support
  • Donators and sponsors – for the never ending commitment
  • MSX game developers – for making this compo for what it is; awesome
  • The MSX scene – for all your love and support

Awesome!

ENDING CREDITS

This year’s edition is organized by Róman van der Meulen, Sander Niessen, Raul Portales, and Arnaud de Klerk. Should you have any questions, please contact us via email at info@msxdev.org.