STEAL REAL MONEY

Contest Results





This page contains the official results of The Castle Doctrine's STEAL REAL MONEY Contest.



First of all, over 1000 people participated during peak of contest on Sunday, with 859 people playing during last day on Monday. At the end, 297 of those people still had a house in the game.



$3,163,271 of in-game dollar value had accumulated in these 297 vaults. The resulting exchange rate was $1 USD for every $1054 in-game dollars. 121 lucky people ended the game with at least $1054, which translates into at least a $1 USD prize for each of them. 55 people won $10 USD or more. 6 people won $100 USD or more. As a result, I will pay out $2902 in total prize money.



Here's the prize distribution: With those stats out of the way, on to...



The Top 9 Houses

It turns out that house #7 on the list had no painting at the end of the contest. Neither did #9. Thus, player #10 receives a painting instead.



Now that a week has passed since the end of the contest, all top players have either died or been robbed down to $0. Thus, I can share their full house maps without giving away any crucial secrets. Yes, insane genius was on full display.





#1: Aaron Bleackley (ZenRose)

$333,952



Also known as

Jeffrey William McCoy Prize: $316 USD

AND Jason Rohrer's Dog Club

AND A giclee print of Surge After Hokusai --- by Steven Diamond



Click for full map #2: Tom Loughlin (ukuko)

$254,150



Also known as

Andrew Curtis Thomas Prize: $241 USD

AND A Door Devil

AND A giclee print of Blythe --- by Andy Lin



Click for full map #3: Iceman

$200,813



Also known as

David Travis Lopez Prize: $190 USD

AND A Door Devil

AND A giclee print of Savanna --- by Adam Saltsman



Click for full map #4: CryptoMogul

$135,160



Also known as

Hector Vance Bradley Prize: $128 USD

AND A Door Devil

AND A giclee print of Down Goes Frazier --- by Jason Stevenson



Click for full map #5: SecretBeachIsStillAlive (stars)

$119,720



Also known as

Charles Carl Perez Prize: $113 USD

AND A Door Devil

AND A giclee print of Speech Balloon --- by Frank Lantz



Click for full map #6: Jeremiah Reid (jere)

$119,698



Also known as

John Robert Carpenter Prize: $113 USD

AND A Custom Cartridge Shopping Spree

AND A giclee print of Redface --- by Phil Fish



Click for full map #7: KimJaeSung

$87,853



Also known as

James Mark Worley Prize: $83 USD

AND A Custom Cartridge Shopping Spree



Click for full map #8: Meier Ernst

$87,225



Also known as

Steven Shaun Black Prize: $82 USD

AND A Custom Cartridge Shopping Spree

AND A giclee print of Warhol --- by Victor Stone



Click for full map #10: Christopher Hart (Synthesis)

$82,269



Also known as

Andrew Richard Whitfield Prize: $78 USD

AND A giclee print of One of Two --- by Chris Bell



Click for full map



Thank you, everyone, for participating.



So... did this contest work to promote the game before launch? Was it worth running? Absolutely. The buzz around the contest created the second biggest pre-Steam sales day in Castle Doctrine history: 795 people bought the game in one day. This was topped only by the alpha launch day back in March 2013, when 826 people bought the game.



All told the contest cost me around $4500 to run, which is cheaper than advertising for a week on any noteworthy website. The sales generated from the coverage on a single day more than covered this cost. It didn't annoy innocent bystanders (like advertising does), and it added to the world and community of the game in an interesting and meaningful way.



And, perhaps most importantly, it created an incredibly tense moment in history that I, and many members of the game's community, will never forget.



4:59pm PST on Monday, January 27, 2014.



