What does a world where technology and nature coexist in harmony look like to you? Is it futuristic cities draped in lush greenery, an underwater civilization powered by clean energy, or perhaps alternate-history sky gardens woven into towering eco-structures?
Whatever your vision, let your imagination run wild and bring it to life in this thrilling contest featuring our new theme: Solarpunk!
Solarpunk is all about innovation meeting sustainability, and communities thriving in balance with the environment and technology. Think solar panels, community gardens, wind-powered tech, and vibrant, nature-infused architecture.
We canât wait to see your take on this inspiring genre. Dream big, build bold, and show us your version of a harmonious civilization full of technological and natural wonders!
Players have some creative leeway in how they interpret the theme, but Rec Room judges should be able to find a clear relationship to the Solarpunk theme in the room. Rooms can be submitted in one of four categories: #hangout, #games, #story, #RRS.
Take a look at this page for an explanation of what Solar Punk is.
Keep reading for contest dates, rules, and of course, rewards and prizes!
Important Dates and Timeline
All deadlines are 11:59 PM PDT
Build Phase
2025-05-12T20:00:00Zâ2025-06-30T06:59:00Z
- Gather your team and work on your room, keeping in mind the theme Solarpunk and your chosen category!
Playtest Phase
2025-06-30T07:00:00Zâ2025-07-15T06:59:00Z
- Open your room for testing and get players in there! This is a chance to find any major bugs and get player feedback. Make the changes you need during the playtest phase. Changes will NOT be allowed after the Playtest phase.
- Rooms must be published by July 14th at 11:59 pm PDT
Changes to your room are no longer allowed after the conclusion of the Play Test Phase
Play Phase
2025-07-15T07:00:00Zâ2025-07-31T06:59:00Z
- The calculation for determining the top qualifying rooms will be based on engagement: a combination of visits, average playtime, and other metrics during the Play phase. Changes are not allowed during this phase and beyond.
Judging Phase
2025-07-31T07:00:00Z - Late August:
- The top 10 rooms in each category will move on to the judging round and the top three winners in each category and special award winners will be determined by the Rec Room staff.
Late August (exact date tbd): Roomies
- After the Judging phase, the top five teams in each category and special award winners will be invited to a celebration event where they will be announced in a red-carpet style event! Detailed information about The Roomies will be announced after judging.
Submitting A Room
All Rooms:
- Build your room in Rooms 2
- Tag your room with
#solarpunk - Publish your room by 11:59 PM PDT on July 14
- Add ONE category tag for the category you want to enter:
#hangout#games#story
Rec Room Studio Rooms:
- The
#rrstudiotag is applied automatically; you donât need to add it. - Include the
#solarpunktag - All RRS rooms are judged against each other regardless of category type. You may add a category tag for clarity, but it will not change which category the room is judged in.
Rules
Click here to expand
Be sure to read through all the rules, as some things have changed from previous contests. Notably, all rooms must be made in Rooms 2.0. We have merged the game and PvP categories. Rooms must follow Nintendo Switch⢠content criteria. And remember, no late publishing!
We reserve the right to alter these rules at any time. If changes are made, we will share an update in the Creator Hub Discord.
1. Creating, publishing, tagging, and content theme
- Rec Room staff judges must be able to easily and quickly find a relationship to the Solarpunk theme in your room.
- Only rooms published between May 12 2025 (PDT) and 11.59pm on July 14 will be considered as valid contest entries.
- Only rooms created (or copied) on May 12th 2025 (PDT) or later may be entered into the contest.
- Rooms must be made in Rooms 2.0.
- Maker AI is a valid creation tool and is permitted for use in the contest.
- All rooms must be set to âPublicâ in the room privacy settings during the Play phase and continue to be Public throughout the Play and Judging phases.
- Tagging: All submissions must be tagged with #solarpunk and one category tag. Valid category tags are: #games, #hangout, #Story, #RRStudio. No duplicate entries are allowed, i.e., copying the room and renaming and/or retagging it is not allowed.
- Contest rooms will not be promoted in Featured Rooms during the contest period. The top three rooms in each category and special award winners will be featured after the contest. Creators may submit contest rooms to be promoted in the Featured Rooms after the winners are announced.
2. The Categories
We have four categories in this build contest:
âa. Hangout:
Give us some place to settle down for a while. Weâre looking for somewhere we can sit and talk with old friends, and meet some new ones too. Hangouts should be easy to get around so players can move and meet each other. As well as some small activities to do with others!
âb. Story:
We have renamed #Quest to #Story. Stories need to have progression and challenge. Players should start somewhere and end up in a different place or time, and face challenges in between. Stories can involve fighting enemies, but wave shooters donât count.
- #Story rooms should showcase their content in 30 minutes when the judges come to play test. You will want to tailor your difficulty, length, and replayability so that judges and players can experience the best of your room in those 30 minutes.
âc. Games:
Previous categories #Game and #PVP have been combined into #Games. A clearly defined activity that gets people talking to each other and having fun. We want to encourage #Games rooms to focus on a single experience thatâs easy to access for Rec Room players. However, we allow âmini-gamesâ as an exception; in this case, the game must still have a central gameplay mechanic, and weâll judge the room as a whole by how well the mini-games play as part of that central play mechanic. Co-operative Game rooms should not put too much emphasis on progression. If they do, the room probably belongs in the Story category.
âd. Rec Room Studio:
Since Rec Room Studio is still not available to all players yet, any rooms created with Rec Room Studio will fall exclusively into this category. Any type of room that would qualify for one of the other categories applies to the Rec Room Studio category, but you can use Rec Room Studio to build it. In addition, RRS rooms must:
- Disclose in your roomâs description or somewhere in the room if you use assets from the Unity store or platforms. Assets made by you or your team members are highly encouraged.
- Your room must be primarily built using the Maker Pen if it is not a RRStudio room. If we determine that a significant portion of your room is made using RRStudio R2 inventions, your entry will be disqualified.
3. Code of Conduct:
Rooms must abide by the Creator Code of Conduct and creators by the Code of Conduct. If we observe any behavior or content that violates the Code of Conduct or Creator Code of Conduct, your entry may be disqualified and/or your prizes may be forfeited.
Rooms must also follow all of the Nintendo Switch⢠content criteria, listed here. We are drawing special attention to the requirements for using intellectual property (IP). More information on IP can be found here.
4. Inventions
Inventions in rooms are allowed where the Invention was originally from a room made by one of the entered roomâs co-owners, or the invention is published in the Invention Store.
Your room may be disqualified if an Invention was created in a room that was owned by someone else, or if it is an Invention of someone who is not a co-owner of the entered room and the Invention was not made public by the original inventor (official Template rooms created by us are ok to use).
Players listed solely as Inventors are not eligible for prizes.
5. Teams & Prizes
Rooms may be created by individuals or teams. Teams are defined as the room owner and co-owners. A maximum of six people can be in a team.
- The top three rooms in each category will receive token prizes. Prizes will be issued to winning teams. Token prizes will be distributed as prize pools, with tokens divided equally among the room's owners and co-owners (earning distribution percentages do not affect how tokens are split; we will distribute the amount evenly to all co-owners of the winning room)
- Players who are owners or co-owners of multiple winning rooms will receive the prizes from the highest tier that theyâre awarded, plus the trophies and tokens from all applicable winning entries.
- Junior Eligibility - This contest is not open to players using a Junior Account.
6. Fair Play
Players are expected to play and compete fairly. We will disqualify entries where we identify poor behavior or attempts to game the system. This includes:
- Using abusive or malicious practices to increase room visits e.g. aggressive invite spamming, inauthentic players, event spamming, including repeated rescheduling of an event, broadcasting or multi-instance events
- Creating giveaways, raffles, lotteries, or contests involving any real currency, virtual currency, Rec Tokens, âfree giftsâ, or permission offerings are prohibited, in line with Rec Roomâs Terms of Service and Creator Code of Conduct. Player-created promotional item events, such as a custom-made in-game trophy, collectible, or item skin, are allowed as room prizes
- Events or meetups that fundamentally alter the intended purpose or experience of the room may be disqualified at our discretion. Examples: a casual meetup held in a fast-paced game space; a live art showcase inside a fighting arena; or a drawing jam session hosted in a room typically used for adventure gameplay.
Prizes
Click here to expand
There are prizes for the top 10 teams in each of the four categories, as well as some special awards!
Main Category Awards
Each (Games, Hangout, Story, RRStudio) will award prizes to the Top 10. Prizes are awarded to the room owner and co-owner (up to 6 per team). The Token Prize is per team.
| Placement | Trophy | Avatar Items | Token Pool (per team) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st |  Gold Maker Pen |
Solarpunk Torso + Accessory + Maker Pen Skin | 10,000,000 tokens |
| 2nd |  Silver Maker Pen |
Solarpunk Torso + Accessory + Maker Pen Skin | 5,000,000 tokens |
| 3rd |  Bronze Maker Pen |
Solarpunk Torso + Accessory + Maker Pen Skin | 2,500,000 tokens |
| 4thâ5th | â | Solarpunk Torso + Accessory | â |
| 6thâ10th | â | Solarpunk Torso | â |
Avatar Item Awards
Special Recognition Awards
The special recognition awards are for standout rooms across all categories. These awards do not include token prizes.
- Best Visuals â For exceptional art, lighting, and ambiance.
- Community Champion â For positivity and sportsmanship in Discord, forums and in-game.
- How Did They Do That?! â For creative or unexpected technical tricks. This is all about innovation.
- Rising Team â For teams that havenât placed in past contests but show great promise. This award is to recognize promise and talent in creators who are new or increasing in skill.
Whatâs next?
We will provide updates on the contest in the Creator Hub Discord, the Rec Room official Discord, and here on the Creator Forums.
So, join us on the Rec Room Creator Hub Discord Server and if youâre excited to participate, check out the #contests-and-events channel to meet other creators, see what everyone is working on, and get tips on getting started!
If you still have questions, need technical support, or encounter bugs, please visit The Creator Forums.
Before reaching out, please check the Creator Forums for answers to your questions. For inquiries specific to your room, feel free to email events@recroom.com. Please note that we wonât respond to questions already addressed on the contest page.
This is gonna be GOOD!!