The Crystal Gauntlet Contest ran from 24 June to 31 August 2017. The five best levels were added to the Crystal Gauntlet, which was released on 16 November. The 1st-place winner won $20, the 2nd-place winner won $15, and the 3rd-place winner won $5.
- Theme: Crystal.
- Difficulty: 5* Hard to 7* Harder.
- Length: Long or XL.
- Objects: Fewer than 80,000.
- Song available on Newgrounds.
- ID of 35000000 or above (to prevent already-released levels from being submitted).
Players could submit multiple levels for the contest, but only one level per player could win a spot in the gauntlet.
The Doom Gauntlet Contest ran from 14 August to 31 October 2017. The five best levels were added to the Doom Gauntlet, which was released on 18 November. The 1st-place winner won $20, the 2nd-place winner won $15, and the 3rd-place winner won $5.
- Theme: Doom.
- Difficulty: 10* Easy Demon to 10* Medium Demon.
- Length: Long or XL.
- Objects: Fewer than 80,000.
- Song available on Newgrounds.
- ID of 36700000 or above (to prevent already-released levels from being submitted).
Players could submit multiple levels for the contest, but only one level per player could win a spot in the gauntlet.
The Magic Gauntlet Contest ran from 6 October to 1 December 2017. Unlike other contests, players did not make full levels, but instead individual sections of two 'mega-collaboration' levels that would be the 4th and 5th levels in the gauntlet. There were two sub-contests, the Unknown Creators contest and the Famous Creators contest. The Unknown Creators contest was only open to players with fewer than 15 creator points, while the Famous Creators contest was open to anyone.
Two levels were uploaded to Etzer's account, one for the Unknown Creators contest and one for the Famous Creators contest. The Unknown Creators level used the song Odyssey, and the Famous Creators level used the song Empyrean, both songs made by Etzer himself. Both levels were split up into 15-second sections, with speed portals and colour channels already set up that any creators must adhere to. Creators could submit gameplay and decoration for as many sections as they wanted, but only one section could be chosen from each creator.
The two completed levels were both uploaded onto Viprin's account and given Epic ratings.
- Theme: Magic.
- Difficulty:
- 5* Hard or 6* Harder for Unknown Creators level.
- 7* Harder or 8* Insane for Famous Creators level.
- Objects: Fewer than 15,666 per section.
- No speed portals or colour channels could be changed from how they were placed in the original level.
- In addition, all colours must be placed as triggers, not in settings.
Players could submit multiple sections for the contest, but only one section per player could win a spot in the level.
| Level
|
Creator
|
Section
|
| Unknown Creators
|
 Odyssey
|
Chromatik
|
1st Section
|
| Joshenjol
|
2nd Section
|
| OSIRIS GD
|
3rd Section
|
| deadlama
|
4th Section
|
| Elisione[1]
|
5th Section
|
| Famous Creators
|
| Empyrean
|
ChaSe
|
1st Section
|
| Darwin
|
2nd Section
|
| Nicki1202
|
3rd Section
|
| MrKoolTrix
|
4th Section
|
| Enlex
|
5th Section
|
| Honourable Mentions
|
| No Placement
|
rafer
|
Unknown Creators Honourable Mention
|
| Rekiii[2]
|
Unknown Creators Honourable Mention
|
| Spu7Nix
|
Famous Creators Honourable Mention
|
| CastriX
|
Famous Creators Honourable Mention
|
| Nico99
|
Famous Creators Honourable Mention
|
| Mazl
|
Famous Creators Honourable Mention
|
| AbstractDark
|
Famous Creators Honourable Mention
|
The Monster Gauntlet Contest ran from 17 January to 29 March 2018. Due to the large amount of high-quality submissions, the number of winners was increased from five to eight. Five levels were added to the Monster Gauntlet and three to the Death Gauntlet, which were released on 11 April. The 1st-place winner won $20, the 2nd-place winner won $15, and the 3rd-place winner won $5.
- Theme: Monster.
- Must include a boss fight, but cannot include any violent or realistic art.
- Difficulty: 8* Insane to 9* Insane.
- Length: Long or XL.
- Objects: Fewer than 40,000, or fewer than 60,000 with an effective Low Detail Mode.
- Song available on Newgrounds.
- ID of 41160000 or above (to prevent already-released levels from being submitted).
Players could submit multiple levels for the contest, but only one level per player could win a spot in the gauntlet.
The World Gauntlet Contest ran from 16 January 2021 to 1 September 2022. Due to the large number of high-quality submissions, the number of winners was increased from five to ten. After the contest concluded, it was decided that five of the honourable mentions would also be included in the gauntlets. The fifteen levels were added to the World, Galaxy, and Universe Gauntlets, which were released on 19 December 2023.
- Collaboration made by at least five creators from the same country. All gameplay and decoration must only be made by creators from the same country.
- A player can be either born in or currently live in a country to be considered to be 'from' that country.
- Any people who merged different sections of the level must also be from the same country, but playtesters and verifiers are not required to be from the same country.
- Difficulty: 2* Easy to 10* Easy Demon.
- Length: Long or XL.
- Objects: Fewer than 110,000.
- Effective Low Detail Mode.
- Song available on Newgrounds.
Multiple levels from the same country could win spots in the gauntlets, but each creator could only be featured once.
The Discord Gauntlet Contest ran from 4 September 2022 to 2 May 2023. Due to the large amount of high-quality submissions, the number of winners was increased from five to ten. The ten levels were added to the Discord and Split Gauntlets, which were released on 19 December 2023. The 1st-place winner won $400, the 2nd-place winner won $300, the 3rd-place winner won $200, the 4th-place winner won $150, and the 5th-place winner won $100.
- Must have two different modes:
- Standard Mode.
- Optional Mode.
- Optional mode must be possible to activate within the first five seconds of the level.
- Optional mode must have different visuals and may have different gameplay, as long as the difficulty is about the same.
- No more than two collaborators per level.
- Difficulty: 2 Easy to 10* Easy Demon.
- Length: Long or XL.
- Objects: Fewer than 120,000.
- Effective Low Detail Mode.
- Song available on Newgrounds.
The NCS Gauntlet Contest originally ran from 1 June to 5 September 2024, before the deadline was extended to 3 October. The ten best levels were added to the NCS I and NCS II Gauntlets, which were released on 5 October. The 1st-place winner won $1,000, the 2nd-place winner won $800, the 3rd-place winner won $600, the 4th-place winner won $400, the 5th-place winner won $200, and the 6th through 10th-place winners each won $100. The top ten levels were guaranteed to have at least an Epic rating, though all ended up receiving a Legendary or Mythic rating.
- Must use NCS Library songs for at least 80% of the level's duration.
- Game Type: Classic.
- Length: Long or XL.
- Objects: Fewer than 120,000, or fewer than 150,000 with an effective Low Detail Mode.
- Difficulty: 2* Easy to 10* Easy Demon, with borderline Medium Demon levels still able to qualify.
| Placement
|
Level
|
Creator
|
ID
|
Artist
|
Music
|
Gauntlet Placement
|
| Winners
|
| 1st Place
|
 BER ZER KER
|
Grax
|
110774313
|
WATEVA, Rob Gasser
|
Ber Zer Ker (Rob Gasser Remix)
|
2nd Level of NCS I Gauntlet
|
| 2nd Place
|
 Next Cab Soon
|
Arclia
|
110610038
|
Thorne
|
Call On Me
|
4th Level of NCS I Gauntlet
|
| 3rd Place
|
 MAGISTRO
|
CHRAPIVA
|
110473393
|
James Mercy, PhiloSofie
|
Vienna (ft. PhiloSofie)
|
4th Level of NCS II Gauntlet
|
| 4th Place
|
WANNACRY
|
kira9999
|
110774330
|
NIVIRO
|
Annabelle's Tea Party
|
5th Level of NCS II Gauntlet
|
| 5th Place
|
I See Stars
|
meeloz
|
110774310
|
JNATHYN, Bryan Andrew Medina
|
Clockwork
|
2nd Level of NCS II Gauntlet
|
| 6th Place
|
Slasher
|
Whirl
|
110681124
|
TOKYO MACHINE
|
SLASH
|
1st level of NCS II Gauntlet
|
| 7th Place
|
BUSSIN
|
connot
|
110715909
|
TWISTED
|
BUSSIN'
|
1st Level of NCS I Gauntlet
|
| 8th Place
|
Quebrantar
|
Debihan
|
110665441
|
Mendum
|
Stay With Me
|
3rd Level of NCS I Gauntlet
|
| 9th Place
|
Neozenith
|
F5night
|
110638716
|
Dryskill, Max Brhon
|
War Machine
|
3rd Level of NCS II Gauntlet
|
| 10th Place
|
The Incinerator
|
vegtam
|
109432148
|
Chris Linton, Paul Flint
|
Watch The World Burn (ft. Chris Linton)
|
5th Level of NCS I Gauntlet
|
| Honourable Mentions
|
| 11th Place
|
Metamorphosis
|
fawksgdd
|
110732600
|
Egzod, Neoni, Maestro Chives
|
Royalty
|
No Gauntlet Placement
|
| 12th Place
|
Uprising
|
RadiationV2
|
110772842
|
Netrum, Halvorsen
|
Phoenix
|
Chosen as 3rd Level of Force Gauntlet
|
| 13th Place
|
Exotic Soul
|
Kiriia
|
110773161
|
Desembra, Spitfya
|
Cut The Check
|
No Gauntlet Placement
|
| 14th Place
|
Own Display
|
ElMatoSWAG
|
110724639
|
Rob Gasser
|
Supersonic
|
No Gauntlet Placement
|
| 15th Place
|
Towerinator
|
Lyal
|
109138917
|
JNATHYN
|
Dioma
|
No Gauntlet Placement
|
| 16th Place
|
DIOMA
|
Subwoofer
|
109958348
|
JNATHYN
|
Dioma
|
No Gauntlet Placement
|
| 17th Place
|
Wonderbop
|
MrKoolTrix
|
110773973
|
Raven & Kreyn
|
Bubble
|
No Gauntlet Placement
|
| 18th Place
|
Electric Algal Bloom
|
ivyteal
|
110535166
|
Desembra, Spitfya
|
Cut The Check
|
No Gauntlet Placement
|
| 19th Place
|
The Whale
|
Serponge
|
110741112
|
THYKIER
|
Inferior
|
No Gauntlet Placement
|
| 20th Place
|
The Diablo
|
Pipenachho
|
110679874
|
Laura Brehm, Warriyo
|
Mortals (ft. Laura Brehm)
|
Chosen as 1st Level of Haunted Gauntlet
|
The Space Gauntlet Contest ran from 24 November 2024 to 19 March 2025. The ten best levels were added to the Space and Cosmos Gauntlets, which were released on 5 April. The 1st-place winner won $1,000, the 2nd-place winner won $800, the 3rd-place winner won $700, the 4th-place winner won $600, the 5th-place winner won $500, the 6th-place winner won $400, the 7th-place winner won $300, the 8th through 10th-place winners each won $200, and the 11th through 20th-place winners each won $100. The top ten levels were guaranteed to have at least an Epic rating, though all ended up receiving a Legendary or Mythic rating.
- Theme: Space.
- Must be a newly-created level, despite older levels with this theme already existing.
- Game Type: Classic.
- Length: Long or XL.
- Objects: Fewer than 100,000.
- Must have an effective Low Detail Mode if certain parts have performance issues.
- Difficulty: 2* Easy to 9* Insane.
The Random Gauntlet Contest originally ran from 18 July to 16 November 2025, before the deadline was extended to 14 December. The ten best levels were added to the Random and Chance Gauntlets, which were released on 19 January 2026. The ten winners each received $500, and the honourable mentions each received $100. Unlike previous contests, the levels were not ranked; instead, there were 10 winners and 10 honourable mentions. The top ten levels were guaranteed to have at least an Epic rating, though all ended up receiving a Legendary or Mythic rating.
- Random Trigger must play a core part in the level's gameplay and visuals.
- Must be a newly-created level, despite older levels using the Random Trigger already existing.
- Game Type: Classic.
- Length: Long or XL.
- Objects: Fewer than 100,000.
- Must have an effective Low Detail Mode if certain parts have performance issues.
- Difficulty: 6* Harder to 9* Insane.
While there were no specific requirements, extra emphasis was placed on gameplay readability during judging.
The Duality Gauntlet Contest ran from 5 April to 2 August 2026. The ten best levels received an Epic rating or greater, and will be added to the Duality and Paradox Gauntlets. The ten winners will each receive $500, and honourable mentions will receive $100. As with the Random Gauntlet contest, the winning levels were not ranked; however, they were revealed in alphabetical order.
- Level must 'explore duality in an interesting way'.
- Game Type: Classic.
- Length: Long or XL.
- Objects: Fewer than 100,000.
- Must have an effective Low Detail Mode if certain parts have performance issues.
- Difficulty: 6* Harder to 10* Easy Demon, with borderline Medium Demon levels still able to qualify.
While there are no specific requirements, extra emphasis was placed on gameplay readability during judging.
Lustre
Crystal Essence
