Free to enter. No purchase necessary. A purchase does not improve your chances.
This tournament is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram, Facebook or Meta.
- Organizer. The contest is run by Cosmic Write Studios LLC, the operator of catchdark.com ("we").
- Who can enter. You must be 18 or older. Void where prohibited. The organizer's owners and their immediate families may not win a prize.
- Dates. The tournament opens October 26, 2026 and closes November 21, 2026 at 6:00 pm Central time. The final runs from November 21 at 6:00 pm to November 22 at 6:00 pm Central time.
- How to enter. Enter at catchdark.com/season with your first name, last initial and email, and type the code we email you. One entry per person. Multiple accounts are not allowed.
- How to play. The tournament opens with seven villains. New villains are added every Wednesday and Saturday until it closes, and every villain stays open until the close. Each villain sends twelve texts. For each text you choose which trick it uses, from three options. There is no time limit, except in the final, which gives you eight seconds per text.
- What counts. Only your first play of each tournament villain counts. A play starts when the first text appears. If you leave before the twelfth, the play ends there with the points you have. Each right answer scores one point, up to twelve per villain. Ties are broken by the lower total answer time.
- The final. The ten highest-ranked players when the tournament closes are invited to the final: one villain nobody has seen, played once, with eight seconds per text. The final is decided by the final's score. Ties are broken by tournament score, then by the final's total answer time.
- Prizes. First place wins US$300. Second place wins US$200. Prizes are paid in US dollars by PayPal, Wise or bank transfer within fourteen days after verification. Prizes can't be transferred or exchanged. Winners are responsible for any taxes.
- Fair play. This is a game of skill. Play alone and on your own. We may ask winners to confirm their identity and age before paying, and may disqualify any entry we reasonably believe broke these rules.
- Winners. By accepting a prize, winners agree that we may show their first name, last initial, city and score, and agree to give a short written or video comment about the game and a 20-minute call with their feedback.
- Your information. We use your email to run the contest and to send you Catch Dark news. You can unsubscribe at any time. We don't sell your information.
- Changes. If fraud, a technical failure or anything beyond our control affects the contest, we may suspend, change or cancel it and award prizes fairly among eligible scores up to that point.
- Questions. journey@catchdark.com