"Whos Got Game?"

Marbles: The Brain Store’s 3rd Annual Game Design Contest

Criteria

Design a desktop toy/game that:
-can be left out on a desk
-is a fidget toy with or without specific rules
-is single player or multi-player
-is unique
-can be played quietly - while people playing the game might make a ruckus, the toy/game itself cannot be noisy (no horns, buzzers, etc.)
and of course - is fun!

Award includes $2,000 and you’ll see your vision come to life! Marbles will develop and sell the winning concept at all Marbles stores and on our website.

Submissions accepted from March 1 - April 1. Email contest@marblesbrainworkshop.com for any questions.

Follow the link for more details:
http://www.marblesthebrainstore.com/design-challenge-2013

Just curious - what is the overall consensus on these “design competitions”? Are the good folks on Core generally in favor or opposed to this kind of business practice? Seems like a shady way to try and generate some cheap design work… but then again maybe the only entries it generates are going to also be generic and not very well developed. In other words, for only a $2000 prize, are these guys only getting about $2000 worth of design work per entry?

What sayeth the CoreMob?