This has been an incredible adventure!
Creating, running, and improving the STEEM-Pocalypse Survival Game Contest has been amazing. First of all, I think that it gives some users a great reason to check in here on steemit every day. But even more than that, it inspires some users to interact in a way that they normally may not, which not only builds new friendships, but the community as well. Often in this game steemians who were previously strangers get thrown together into scenarios where they must work together in order to survive, and they have a lot of fun doing it. Of course the opportunity to win hundreds of dollars worth of SBD also has its own appeal.
SEASON 4 RECAP
Each season has its own special place in my life. For Season 4, it was a great opportunity for the largest participation so far. There is no way that I want to limit or restrict participation, so I will do my best to always keep this contest open to all. Because of that, I am presuming that more and more steemians will participate in each new season, so Season 5 may have hundreds of people signing up initially. Since it is an elimination game, most will eventually have to die, but at least whoever wants to join in can at least give themselves the opportunity to win.
In Season 4, I implemented a solo play to begin with. Individual steemians had to consistently check in on a daily basis to prove their availability and commitment. This was to help streamline the gameplay and make sure that people playing were actually going to be playing the game. I know that situations arise where not everyone can be available each day, but to move the gameplay forward I need participants to be committed to check in and make decisions once every 24 hour period.
Another change for Season 4 is that during the beginning solo play, players got the opportunity to collect resources which would come in handy later. Then, when some of them teamed up, they had more to work with. I think that this added an interesting variable to the gameplay and worked well.
As will potentially happen with more participants, Season 4 lasted the longest of any season so far too. Since the prize pool increases on a daily basis, this meant the largest prize pool so far too! The winner, 
GAME OVERVIEW
For those of you who are new to this game or unfamiliar with how it works. here is a simple overview of the general concept to help you understand.
Basically, this game is a "choose your own adventure" style story game. In each round, I come up with different scenarios in which the players must choose an option. Each option has a predetermined outcome, and some will eventually lead to death. As players die, the remaining ones continue playing until the last players die or only one player/team is left alive.
Different variable and scenarios come up each round, some of which are based on reality and are more educational and others are just random scenarios that I come up with. By using their knowledge, researching skills, or maybe just guessing the players attempt to pass each round. Situations like avoiding starvation and staying hydrated are mixed in with various perils and dangerous scenarios. I try to keep it fun, yet challenging.
Each player has the responsibility to reply to each new post within 24 hours with their decision based on the options given. Simply put, if you are capable of accessing your steemit account, reading my latest STEEM-Pocalypse post, and replying with the number of the option that you are choosing, you will be able to play.
THOSE RANDOM GEMS
In each season, there seem to be some players that rise above the rest and make the game much more entertaining to watch and follow. Whether it is former strangers like 
In the previous two seasons, 
The star player of last season was 
They even had some fun with 
A man was lying on the ground, and the players did not know if he was in need of help or if it was a trap. @Keepdoodling took a guess at what the situation was.
I'm pretty sure that I figured out what is going on there. It's obviously that we see how
After my recent post about one of my wild friends, it was a very timely guess as to why I would be lying on the ground like that.
Their doodles went even further that round with this gem.
Of course I wanna help to papa-pepper if he needs it (he needs some shoes I guess), but not sure it's polite to interfere right know. I'll go with any option except shooting at papa-pepper - it would be totally rude :)
Personally, I thought that was a hilarious and very intelligent set of doodles, and it really impressed me. Of course not everyone has to embellish the gameplay or story-line in any way, simply replying with the number of their choice is all that is required. It is interesting to see how some players take things to a whole different level though. It makes it a lot more entertaining to follow the contest.
SEASON 5 RULES
In many ways, Season 5 will run a lot like Season 4. Individual players will have to make it past the beginning days in order to proceed. Players who do not reply within the 24 hour response period for each round will be eliminated. Players who make it past the initial rounds will be provided with opportunities to team up.
I will post the Season 5 Sign-up Post sometime tomorrow. ONLY PLAYERS WHO SIGN UP BY REPLYING TO THAT POST WILL BE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE. Unlike previous seasons, I will allow for a few days of sign up time instead of only a 24 hour window. This will help allow any interested steemians time to join in. To help make sure that people do not miss it, I will request that anyone who wants to help out wait a day or two and then resteem that sign up post. This will help with visibility.
In the previous seasons, I have done almost all the tracking of player choices and inventory documentation manually. This means that I go through the previous post, check every reply, copy the usernames into groups, and then post that information in the comment section. Some days, this takes hours of work for me to finish, especially early on in the season when there are so many players. Again, I do not want to restrict the number of players who can join in, so I am going to put more responsibility on the players this season.
In Season 5, each player with have to keep track of their own inventory, at least at first. If your player finds a pistol with two rounds of ammunition and a firestarter, then your replies should look something like this:
I choose Option 2 today. I have a pistol with two bullets and a firestarter.
It will be a lot easier for me to be able to focus on running the game if I do not have to keep track of every item that hundreds of players have every choice that they make. Also, when you have the chance to win hundreds of dollars worth of SBD, I do not think that it is too much for me to ask of you. Thank you in advance for your help.
Since individual players will be keeping track of their own moves and inventory, the potential for players to be dishonest will arise. A player who makes a decision that gets them nothing in a round may be tempted to claim that they found a pistol. Please do not lie to me. Each decision will be documented on the blockchain, so you will be found out. Also, I will ban you from participation in any of my contest for a time. I do believe in forgiveness, so I will not permanently ban you, but you will have to sit out for a few seasons. I wish that I did not have to say things like this, but since I am giving more responsibility to the players, I felt that I should cover my bases. Please do not let your greed ruin my generosity.
Also, I've teamed up with 
I'll do the signup post tomorrow! See you then!
Until next time…
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