Nerd Games - Fall 2026

Welcome to the Nerd Games!

Runs October 1, 2026 - December 31, 2026

This is a craftalong where nerdy crafters all over the world can share our projects and give each other encouragement - that’s really all there is to it! If you feel you might be a nerd, or enjoy some nerdy things of any kind, or if you’re just nerdy about crafting, you’re more than welcome here!

This season we’re getting cozy!

STUFF TO DO

HOW TO JOIN

Simply make any craft, take photos of it, and post them in this thread with the following header, which is explained below:

Prompt:
Team:
Project Name:
Project Link:
Brief Description:
Project Photo(s):

Prompt: (Write the name of the prompt you are entering your craft for here. Don’t forget to include the month!)
Team: (Choose one of three, listed below)
Project Name: (Name your craft anything you like; fanciful titles or simple labels/descriptions are all fine)
Project Link: (Paste the link to your community post for the bonus points)
Brief Description: (Tell us anything you’d like to about the craft, such as how you made it, and why it fits the prompt.)
Project Photo(s): (Post photos of your awesome craft here, so we can ooh and aah over it!)

FAQs

Have more specific questions about the Nerd Games? You can find FAQs here!

THE TEAMS

There are three teams to choose from, and no requirements for joining any of them; simply choose one that speaks to you, put the team name in your first project header, and presto - you’re a member! You will remain on the same team for the entire season. You may change teams in future seasons.

  • So Corn-fused
  • Don’t Stop Beleafing
  • Gourd of the Rings

THE PROMPTS

Most Prompts are posted on a monthly basis. Monthly Prompts and Battles are posted on the first of the month.

Monthly prompts are based on themes. There are five Monthly Prompts posted each month. Monthly prompts can be submitted any time during the season.

Battles are the only time sensitive Prompts in the Games. There is one Battle per month, due by 11:59 pm Central on the last day of the associated month.

There are other Season Prompts based on time it takes you to craft a project. See THE POINTS section below for point values and to learn about Season Prompts.

You can craft specifically to fit Prompts, or you can craft first and then find Prompts to fit your projects into. We’re pretty lax about interpretations of the Prompts and love creativity; just explain in your description how it fits!

BONUS POINTS

There is one type of Bonus Points available. COMMUNITY BONUS POINTS are awarded when you submit a project and share a link to a post you’ve made about the project in a Lettuce Craft board. You will earn 20 bonus points for each project you submit with a community link. Please be sure to participate in the entire community and not just in the craftalong!

THE POINTS

This competition is just for fun and the points are for nothing more than motivation and bragging rights, but go ahead and rack up points by posting projects for your Team! Points are assigned as follows:

  • Monthly Battles and Prompts: 20 points each (must take at least 30 minutes of crafting time and fit the Prompt directive.)
  • Free Range: 20 points each (must take at least 30 minutes of crafting time. Up to six allowed per season. Free Range is for any project that doesn’t fit an available Prompt.)
  • Big Time projects: 50 points each (A project that takes at least 5 hours of crafting time. Up to three allowed per season.)
  • Zaps: 10 points each (Any craft that takes fewer than 30 minutes to make. Up to five allowed per season.)
  • Research Projects: 100 points each (A project that takes at least 20 hours of crafting time. Up to two allowed per season.)
  • Community Bonus Points: 20 points each (Awarded to each project submission that includes a link to the LC project post.)

Special Note:
All prompts are supposed to be crafted within the current season. However, we have decided to make an exception to this rule. Let’s say you craft something for a swap near the end of the Summer season. You’ve sent the swap package, but it hasn’t been received yet. Fall season begins, your partner has received their swap item, and you are ready to post. You may go ahead and post your project from the previous season for the current season.

THE RULES

  • Players must be 18+ years old, and each player must have and post from their own LC account.
  • Players must craft to the best of their abilities and have a minimum of 30 minutes of crafting time per submission, unless otherwise noted.
  • A project can only be submitted for one Prompt or crafting opportunity.
  • A project does NOT have to be "nerdy,” it only has to fulfill the prompt as you see fit.
  • Submitted projects must be started and completed during the current season, unless otherwise noted.
  • There is SO MUCH to do in the Nerd Games. Do not feel like you have to craft everything. Do what inspires you.
  • We welcome all players from the Nerdyverse, no matter their Geekdom. We even welcome non-nerds!
  • We are never mean.
  • We never exclude someone.
  • We will keep it clean-ish (PG-13).
  • Never hesitate in contacting the gamemakers with your questions, concerns, or ideas.

DISCUSSION

Be sure to watch the Nerd Games Discussion Thread to stay up-to-date with announcements and other chit-chat.

Previous Seasons:

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Post your projects with the following header:

Prompt: (Write the name of the prompt you are entering your craft for here. Don’t forget to include the month!)
Team: (Choose one of three, listed below)
Project Name: (Name your craft anything you like; fanciful titles or simple labels/descriptions are all fine)
Project Link: (Paste the link to your community post for the bonus points)
Brief Description: (Tell us anything you’d like to about the craft, such as how you made it, and why it fits the prompt.)
Project Photo(s): (Post photos of your awesome craft here, so we can ooh and aah over it!)

MONTHLY BATTLES (due at the end of the month):

October: Pumpkin vs Spice

MONTHLY PROMPTS (due at the end of the season):

October theme… sorry, we’ve certainly done a lot of this before but I can’t help myself! I’m so excited for the fall! It’s the kickoff to cozy season and we’re going all in!

The word of the month brought to you by LovelyMiss is Hygge (Danish and Norwegian word for creating cozy, intentional mood of comfortable contentment)

October Prompts

  1. Simmer Pots – Craft something that smells delightful, requires heat, is a slow, calming project, or is made of a bunch of different materials/ingredients.
  2. Pajama Party – Craft something to keep you warm, something that is comfortable to wear, that you make with others, is made of fabric or requires sewing, or is a fun pattern.
  3. Snuggles – Craft something for a special someone in your life (person or pet… or yourself!How often do you make things for yourself?!), that is soft or fuzzy, is blobbular, or is a pastel color.
  4. Breeze – Craft something that is easy and stress-free for you to make, is light, translucent or transparent, or is silver or blue
  5. Puzzles – Craft something that you have been stumped to start, that intimidates you, that you figure out on your own (look, no directions!), requires the use of cutting implements, or is made of paper/wood.
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12 Weeks of Winter Countdown

Are you making gifts for the holidays? Maybe needing a final push to finish a big project? Looking for inspiration to try something new? Welcome to the 12 Weeks of Winter, an “advent-style” countdown to take us through the season.

Every week for the next 12 weeks, a new Prompt will be posted. You may complete the Prompts anytime you want during the season. These are 12 separate, additional Prompts and require their own projects to submit (30+ minutes crafting time). For the Prompt line on the submission header, list them as Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, etc. You are welcome to claim Community Bonus Points on these Prompts.

We’re getting cozy with our favorite things! Interpret as you wish.


Week 1: Make an item inspired by a favorite seasonal treat.


Week 2: Make an item inspired by a favorite seasonal song.


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Events

Pie Pie Pie. Make three pies or pie-inspired items and post them anytime this season. This is not a separate prompt (use season, countdown, or monthly prompts to submit your projects). Include the words “Pie Event” somewhere in your post. If you complete this Event, you’ll be eligible to purchase a special pin at the Trading Post.

Gift Bag. Make 10 items that you will gift to other people. Make posts for at least THREE of the projects in the appropriate LC boards. This is not a separate prompt (use season, countdown, or monthly prompts to submit your projects). Include the words “Gift Bag Event” somewhere in your post. If you complete this Event, you’ll be eligible to purchase a special pin at the Trading Post.

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The Trading Post is staying open year round! Instead of earning random prizes, you will earn Tokens for submitting projects and doing activities, and spend those Tokens at the Trading Post. Completing certain events will unlock the ability to trade Tokens for special items like pins.

The Trading Post will open for viewing the last week of the season, and the Trading Post will be open for trading January 1 - January 5, 2027.

Earn Tokens

By Submitting Projects:

  • You will earn 1 Token for every points-earning project you submit this season. That means you can earn up to 46 Tokens by submitting projects (Battles, Monthly Prompts, Free Range, Big Time, Zap, Research Projects, Countdown (Advent) Prompts).

The maximum number of Tokens anyone can earn this season is 46.

Final Token Count

Everyone’s final Token counts will be posted after the season ends.

Spend Tokens

The Trading Post will open for trades at 12:01 pm Central on Friday, January 1, 2027.

You must have at least 11 Tokens to spend them at the Trading Post this season. If you have 10 or fewer Tokens, they will be automatically saved for you to use in a future season.

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Nerd Games Swap

This season, we’re swapping with our fellow Nerds!
Sign up 10/12/26 - 10/26/26
Send out: 11/30/26

LINK

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2027 Nerd Games Birthday Club

Want to get some fun mail for your birthday? Join the 2027 Nerd Games Birthday Club! You’ll receive a piece of Nerd Games happy mail from LovelyMiss during the month of your birthday.

You’re also invited to send birthday mail to your fellow players. More information will be available later this season (to prepare for January birthdays).

The Birthday Club will run from January 2027 - December 2027.

If you want to join the Birthday Club, choose your birth month below. You do not need to send mail in order to receive mail.

  • January
  • February
  • March
  • April
  • May
  • June
  • July
  • August
  • September
  • October
  • November
  • December
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Saved.

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Prompt: Breeze
Team: Don’t Stop Beleafing
Project Name: Fall Tracking Page
Project Link: Fall Tracking Page
Brief Description: I start with a template from past games so these tracking pages are as stress free as possible.

Project Photo(s):

Downloadable version on the project page.

11 Likes

Prompt: October, Simmer pots
Team: So Corn-fused
Project Name: Reduced Fat & Sugar Brownies
Project Link: Reduced Fat and Sugar Brownies recipe
Brief Description: What smells better than a pan of brownies as they’re cooking :blush:?
Project Photo(s):

[edited: changed the month to October(!) I think I chose the right team :rofl:]

7 Likes

Prompt: Simmer Pots
Team: Don’t Stop Beleafing
Project Name: Woodland Reindeer pattern
Project Link:
Brief Description: I’ve spent the last month working on this pattern off and on. I finally got it to look more or less how I envisioned it. It was a very slow and calming project to work on. Maybe one day I’ll have the time to actually work up this design.
Project Photo(s):

Prompt: Pajama Party
Team: Don’t Stop Beleafing
Project Name: Owl baby blanket pattern
Project Link:
Brief Description: I worked on this pattern over the last few days. I had a lot of fun trying to come up with tummy designs.
Project Photo(s):

Prompt: Free Range
Team: Don’t Stop Beleafing
Project Name: Mosaic “moss stitch” design
Project Link:
Brief Description: I designed these two blankets to imitate a moss stitch blanket with color pooling, but it’s done in mosaic and no color pooling required to figure out.
Project Photo(s):


This one is worked from the bottom up, so you’d chain to your width and then work until you reach your desired height


This one is worked so that you chain to your desired finished length, then work until you reach your desired width. It changes the direction of the stripes

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I can’t wait to see some of these in blanket form! Your designs are always so awesome.

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Amazing designs!

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Prompt: October, Snuggles
Team: So Corn-fused
Project Name: Upcycled sheer cardigan
Project Link: Upcycled sheer cardigan
Brief Description:

I got this sheer cardigan at a thrift store years ago. Today I added faux fur to make a collar and cuffs, and to make it a little more snuggly.

Project Photo(s):

7 Likes

Prompt: Breeze
Team: Don’t Stop Beleafing
Project Name: Sashiko grid stencil
Project Link: -
Brief Description: This was easy to make and is on transparent plastic. This will make it easier to grid mark for sashiko stitching. I made one for me, one to list in STS.
Project Photo(s):

7 Likes

@Tapestry I love the cozy blankets on your tracking page :heart:

@stirlingarts those brownies look mouth-watering :face_savoring_food: I also love the faux fur on the cardigan. Looks luxurious!

@saintcady I had not heard of sashiko stitching before; your post sent me on a search, and I learned something new today :heart:

@storerboughtcreation I love all yoru designs, but the owls have to be my favourite :heart: I think they would also be cool as a cross stich pattern!

3 Likes

Prompt: October Battle: Spice!
Team: Don’t Stop Beliefing
Project Name: Salmon Cakes (or patties)… sort of
Project Link: Salmon sort-of-cakes
Brief Description: I used spices in the mixture for these salmon cakes. Unfortunately I didn’t use enough binding ingredients, so the patties were more like a scrambled mess than actual patties :joy:
Project Photo(s):


Prompt: Zap 1
Team: Don’t Stop Beliefing
Project Name: Inktober Days 1 & 2
Project Link: Inktober Drawings
Brief Description: Getting some drawing practice in and making a point of creating and sharing something daily by participating in the Inktober challenge. I also made a craftalong for anyone else who wants to participate.
Project Photo(s):

6 Likes

Prompt: Simmer Pots
Team: Don’t Stop Beliefing
Project Name: Brazilian Rice
Project Link: Brazilian Rice Recipe
Brief Description: I actually hit every single ting on the description for this prompt :blush:
Garlic & onions smell delightful when they’re frying, you need heat to cook the rice, which is made with a bunch of different ingredients (garlic, onions, salt, water, rice), and it’s a calming thing to make—as long as no one “messes with my rice” while it’s cooking :joy:
Project Photo(s):

5 Likes

Prompt: October pumpkin
Team: Gourd of the Rings
Project Name: scrappy candy corn bunting
Project Link: Scrappy candy corn bunting
Brief Description: candy corns are traditional fall/Halloween items, just like pumpkins!
Project Photo(s):

6 Likes