Christmas Carol vs... The World!
(Carol's Super Duper Christmas Championship Extravaganza)

The competition has concluded.
Please visit the Official Leaderboard for the full list
of winners and participants.

Get Ready... GO! Done.

Left Turn Only Productions and the Intellivision® High Score Club invite you to a very special edition of the High Score Championship. Throughout the entire month of December, all boys and girls will have the opportunity not only to earn bragging rights, but to win actual prizes!

A Very Merry Christmas Carol

Play the game Christmas Carol vs. The Ghost Of Christmas Presents and help Carol Greenleaf save Christmas from the Evil Snowman. Rise to the top of the ranks of Santa's Elite Elf Squad and submit your top score to the judges. The person with the highest score received by the deadline of December 31st, 2012, wins a very special gift from Santa Claus himself!

A Very Special Christmas Present

The winner of the Christmas Carol vs. The World! Championship will receive a custom, one-of-a-kind edition of the game. This is not your typical, run-of-the-mill variant—this is a unique, personalized edition, chosen and designed by the winner himself!

Want a personalized title animation sequence? How about a new level maze? Or perhaps a brunette Carol or a pink Snowman? You choose how you want to refashion the game for your very own special edition.

The personalized game will be housed in Left Turn Only's signature clear cartridge shell, packaged with its manual and hand-controller overlays in a "gate-fold" style box; and finished up with beautiful Christmas gift-wrapping paper, bow and all. A very special Christmas present, indeed!

Everyone's A Winner

Santa Claus always acknowledges hard work and effort, and although there can be only one Grand Prize winner, Santa will award a commemorative patch to the top ten ranking players, in recognition of their high status among Santa's Elite Elf Squad.

Plus, all scores submitted will be published on the Carol vs. Ghost web site as well as on the Intellivision® High Score Club forum, so even if you're not in the highest rank, you still get to brag about your score.

A Present Under Every Tree

As if all that were not enough, Santa is feeling exceptionally generous this year and he has decided to give away the game to everyone! That's right, in keeping true to the Christmas spirit, and as a gesture of good will, we are offering the game in ROM format as a free download.

This is not a demo version, nor some watered-down edition of the game—this is every bit the same game included in the production cartridge for sale. How's that for a Very Merry Christmas?

Joy to the World. Peace on Earth. And ROM's for all Mankind.

'Twas the night before Christmas...

and all through the board
all the elves were quite busy
trying to beat the top score...!

The Christmas Carol vs. The World! Championship has been so far a great success. Players from all over the world have posted some exceptional scores, and some have achieve fantastic milestones and high ranks among the Elite Elf Squad!

And so, to make things a bit more interesting, we're adding a new challenge to the competition, a MASTER Challenge!

To all those hard working, overachieving elves who manage to save Christmas three times over and reach the grand rank of Master Elf, we will award a special gift, hand-picked by Santa Claus himself!

That's right! You're very own, personalized, commemorative Master Elf coffee mug! You'll have a physical memento of your achievement, and a reminder—at every breakfast—of your calling to Santa's Elite Elf Squad!

(If you don't drink coffee, that's OK. These mugs will commemorate your achievement just as well serving hot cocoa, chicken soup, or Irish whiskey.)

[Updated on 11/30/2012]

Contest Rules

• Contest opens for entries on Midnight Central Time, December 1st, 2012. Entries will be accepted until Midnight Central Time, January 1st, 2013. The date and time stamped on the e-mail or forum post will be used as the official entry time.
• All entries must be accompanied by proof of score, which may consist of either a photograph taken with a camera, or a screen-shot taken electronically in a personal computer. Either one must show the entire game screen, with the score clearly legible.
• Accepted entries will be published on the official leaderboard, along with a name or nickname submitted by the contestant. If no name is specified, the e-mail sender or forum post username will be used.
• Entries will be posted to the official contest leaderboard page twice weekly, on Sunday and Thursday, by 8:00 PM Central Time.
• The contest is open to anybody, with no purchase or registration necessary, except for the following exceptions: Employees of Left Turn Only, LLC., the Carol vs. The World! Championship judges, organizers, their immediate family, and direct affiliates; are all not eligible to participate in the competition.
• The organizers of the Carol vs. The World! Championship reserve the right to immediately disqualify any person attempting to disrupt the competition, or abuse the entry submission system in any way.
• All entries are subject to examination by the contest judges for validity, and may be rejected at the judges discretion.
• The game must be played as originally distributed, in its normal form. No cheats or hacks are allowed, including but not limited to, custom modifications to increase points or game lives. Any entry suspected of being achieved through such means will be rejected, and the contestant immediately disqualified.
• Winners will be announced at the end of the competition, no later than Sunday, January 6, 2013, by 8:00 PM Central Time.
• The Grand Prize will be awarded to the contestant with the top ranking entry received by the deadline. The winner will get a one-hour design conversation with the game programmer, arranged at the convenience of both, in which they may discuss the desired game customization. All suggestions, within reason, will be considered, but only one customization request will be granted. The game programmer reserves the right to reject any request.
• Final delivery of the Grand Prize is subject to development and manufacturing constraints, but should be 4 to 8 weeks after design conversation between winner and game programmer.
• Commemorative patches will be awarded to the top ten (10) ranking contestants following the Grand Prize winner entry. The patches will be posted by USPS mail within a week after contest closes.
• The Christmas Carol vs. The Ghost Of Christmas Presents game ROM is made available free of charge to anybody, for non-commercial use only. You are free to share it with friends, family, and colleagues. If you're interested in a commercial distribution license, you may contact us via e-mail at [info@CarolVsGhost.com]

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to purchase the game?

No. There is no need to purchase the game in order to participate in the Carol vs. The World! Championship. You can download the ROM-Only version for free. Keep in mind that the the game is best played on an Intellivision® console, as it was designed. Also, the purchased game comes in a gorgeous "gate-fold" style box, with glossy manual and hand-controller overlays, which enhance your playing experience.

Do I need to sign up to the High Score Club forum?

No. There is no need to register or sign up for anything in order to participate in the Carol vs. The World! Championship. If you are a member of the AtariAge forum, you can post your entries directly there, otherwise you can send them via e-mail to the judges. There is no advantage either way. That said, you are welcome to join the forum and take part in our community, there's lots of nice people there, and it's free.

Will my e-mail address or personal information be published?

Not unless you ask for it. We respect your privacy, so no e-mail addresses will be published. You may include with your entry a name or nickname to display publicly on the leaderboards. If you don't specify a name, we'll use the one on the e-mail or forum post sender.

Is the free ROM-Only version the same as the one in the cartridge?

Yes. The ROM-Only version has no modifications or variations to the game-play from the one sold in cartridge. If you purchase the cartridge version you'll have a great collectable item, with its box and other assets. The ROM edition is just for playing the game.

Can I submit more than one score?

Absolutely! We understand that the more you play the better you get, and as the competition heats up, so does your score improves. So play all you want, and send us as many high scores as you manage to achieve.

Will you accept a photo taken with any old cheap camera?

As long as the game screen and the score are clearly visible in the picture, we'll take whatever you've got.

Can I take screenshots directly from the emulator?

Of course! Screenshots and screen-region grabs are just as welcomed. Just make sure that it shows the entire game screen.

What if I video tape myself playing?

Well, we really would like a single shot of the screen with your high score, but if a movie is all you've got, we'll consider it—as long as it is of a reasonable length, size, and format. If you can direct us to the specific point in the timeline where the high score shows, even better.

What file formats do you accept for the screen images?

For images, we'll accept any of the common formats, such as TIFF, JPEG, BMP, PNG, and GIF. For videos, well accept either MPEG-2, MPEG-4 (H.264), or Quicktime Movie (MOV). We'll make all reasonable attempts to open your file, but keep in mind that it may be rejected if we are unable to view it.

Do I have to "beat the game" (save Christmas) in order to participate?

Saving Christmas is not strictly necessary. However, do keep in mind that the highest ranking players participating in the championship are bound to have beat the game at least once. That said, just do your best and send us your highest score.

If I win, do I really get to choose any game customization?

Well, any within reason. You are free to make any suggestions or requests, but the game programmer will have the final say on what is reasonable to implement in a few short weeks. Generally, only one request will be honoured. For instance, you may choose to design a new level, or a customized title screen animation—but not both. You'll have a chance to talk it out with the game programmer; he's a nice guy, and he'll try to be accommodating. :)

What happens if I cheat?

You'll be immediately disqualified, shamed publicly, and you'll go straight into Santa's Naughty List! Remember, he knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for Goodness' sake. Or else, it's a big lump of coal in your stocking this Christmas, buster!

Anything else I should know or do?

Yes: HAVE FUN! It's a Christmas game, so gather your kids and friends around the TV or monitor screen, bake some cookies, drink some eggnog, and be sure to share the joy and merriment!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!