Rules

Basic Game Overview

IGOW is a version of the classic game, typically referred to as HORSE or SKATE, modified to work for a very large group of players via the internet and social media. The game is designed to be fun for all skill levels to participate. IGOW is not a super serious or intense competition, especially during the preseason training it is mostly for fun, and pilots of all skill levels are encouraged to participate! No one should make the mistake of not joining just because they don’t believe they can win. Just participating in IGOW will make anyone a better pilot and give them an excuse to go out and fly at least once a week. Plus, they will have a chance to win a ton of awesome prizes along the way! Many of the past IGOW players have drastically improved their flying skills while at the same time gaining followings and sponsorships largely due to their participation in the IGOW competitions. 

Weekly Challenges

Unlike a standard game of HORSE/SKATE where all players get in order and take turns attempting tricks, in IGOW most every week a Challenge will be released in video format on Thursdays and then all active players will have ~8 days to complete the challenge requirements and enter their video submission via the weekly Google Form before the specificed deadline on the following Saturday. Then on Saturday, I will host a livestream where I will watch all of the weekly video submissions and decide if each is a pass or fail for the given challenge. If a pilot cannot successfully complete all of the challenge requirements and properly enter their submission before the deadline then they will receive a letter. If a pilot receives 4 letters I-G-O-W, they will spell IGOW and thus they will be eliminated from the game. This is commonly referred to as "Whooping-Out" by players of previous seasons, and yes it still makes sense to say whoop-out even though there are only 4 letters now because the last letter you get when you are knocked out is in fact a W, which stands for Whoop, so you still most certainly would be valid in refering to that elimination as a whoop-out. I rest my case.

Preseason aka IGOW Training Ground (8 Challenges - 8 Weeks)

*Any Size/Type of Quadcopter is allowed!*

IGOW5 will continue to evolve the game format from most previous seasons to maintain appeal to everyone from the novice pilots just trying to learn FPV freestyle basics to the expert pilots looking for top level competition. Similar to IGOW4, the fifth season will have a presesaon with 8 challenges that will be refered to as the "IGOW Training Ground." These challenges are for any skill level pilot to progress from a beginner level to intermediate level or for an experienced pilot to brush up on their fundamentals. The IGOW Training Ground is designed to acclimate new players to the game format and to replicate the first ~10 weeks of the game in past seasons which featured skills that use to be difficult with a whoop but now are considered basics due to the rapid progression in both technology and pilot skill over the last few years. Pilots are NOT required to participate in the preseason and there is no risk of elimination if you participate in the preseason challenges. 

Regular Season (11 Challenges - 15 Weeks)

**See Rules below for allowed Whoops**

The "Regular Season" of IGOW5 will begin after the last Training Ground Challenge with the first official IGOW5 challenge being released on June 1st. The first challenge will be unique in that pilots will have THREE WEEKS to complete the challenge and submit their videos via the official google form. The remainer of the regular season challenges will have the standard ~1 week deadline. There will then be a total of 12 challenges in the regular season. If a pilot fails or misses 4 total challenges during the regular season then they will spell "IGOW" and be knocked out of the competition. After the 12 challenges of the regular season the field will be narrowed down to 32 pilots who will compete in the playoffs.

Playoffs Group Round (2 Weeks)

Before the playoffs, all 32 pilots will have to create and declare a challenge. In the Group Round, pilots will be split into 8 groups of four. And everyone will try complete as many as 4 total challenges; the 3 challenges created by the other three pilots in their group and their own challenge. The field with narrow from 32 to 16 with the 2 top pilots from each group moving on to the head to head rounds Note: This is a basic summary of the full playoff rules that can be found below.

Playoff Bracket Rounds (2 Weeks)

The playoff for IGOW5 will function like a March Madness bracket. The top 16 pilots will be seeded into the bracket by the judges based on regular season and playoff performance. The pilots will compete head to head in mini games that test different skills. Each pilot must use a combination of skill and strategy to move through two rounds of bracket matchups to make the final four. Note: This is a basic summary of the full playoff rules that can be found below.

Finals (2-3 Weeks)

The finals of IGOW5 be a competition between the four top pilots with just one emerging as the IGOW5 Champion. The format involves creating a customized and personalized FPV freestyle line set to music that you will have up to two weeks to practice, memorize, and perfect. Then final weekend you will have a very limited time window to perform the freestyle line you created as cleanly as possible with just a handful of attempts. Your final score will be based on a combination of items including your freestyle line's TPW score on the IGOW5 Finals calculator sheet and the judges scoring of other elements including overall impression, difficulty, execution, style/flow, and musicality. Note: This is a basic summary of the full playoff rules that can be found below.

IGOW5 Playoff Groups - Round of 32

Groups Draft: After the 32 pilots who will be participating in the IGOW4 Finals are determined. The top 8 remaining pilots determined by letters and then power score will "draft" the remaining pilots into their group. The pilots get to choose their position in a Snake draft order based. Top pilot gets first pick, then the rest pick in order. The draft will be done on livestream Saturday 9/6 at 5pm PST and top 8 pilots should try to be present but can also just provide a ranking list to Skittles before the stream. Top 8 pilots will have 90 seconds to make each pick and/or they can submit their pick order before the draft. You are drafting your opponents NOT your teammates (in the sense that you will be competing against the pilots you select) so choose wisely. 

Challenge Declaration: All pilots in the playoffs will have until Thursday September 11th at 5pm PST to make up their 1st round challenges, get them approved by Skittles, and make some kind of video explaining their challenge. You must email or DM Skittles your challenge info and have him approve it before making your video. Pilots DO NOT have to actually complete their own challenges for declaration. Pilots can make up almost anything for their challenges involving flying a whoop, however some things that are NOT allowed include but are not limited to: 

1. Requiring LOS or any flight style/mode, or TX grip style and./or any kind of specific TX manipulation like one handed flying. 

2. Requiring a specific body positions while flying. For example no OGDrLove Hug arm postition or Planks or doing a headstand or anything like that. Even requiring that tricks be done "selfie" style aka using yourself as an obstacle is not allowed.

3. Requiring obstacles that would be overly difficult or time consuming to create. 

4. Requiring specific location, landmarks, or anything that would require something overly specific to be used as an obstacle. Scavenger hunt type challenges are not allowed.

5. Requiring a specific type/size of whoop or any specific type of part on a whoop. For example you cannot require a 65mm frame, 802 motor size, biblade props, or any along those lines. 

6. Designing a challenge that would require unreasonable amount of space or give an excessive advantage to pilots with a large indoor or high ceiling location.

7. UTT or race type challenges allowed where time would be used to rank everyone. You must set a pass/fail type challenge.

Round Play: Pilots in the playoffs will have from 9/11 to 9/21 to attempt the 4 total challenges from their group. Once their challenge is completed and approved Skittles with provide each pilot with a unique hand signal that they must show to their FPV Camera before or after completing each challenge. Pilots must attempt to complete the challenges of the 3 other pilots in their group as well as their own challenge. Submissions for the finals will be handled by google form just like during the season and the deadline for all Round 1 Playoff Submissions will be Sunday 9/21 at 12:00 noon PST. 

Scoring:  At the end of the round the top two scoring pilots in each group will advance to the next round and the bottom two pilots will be eliminated. Pilots will receive 5 points per successfully completed challenge from the opponent pilots. Pilot's will receive no penalty for attempting and failing a challenges created by opponent pilots beyond not earning the 5 points they could have gotten by passing. If you pass your own challenge you will receive 4 points. If you fail your own challenge you will lose 4 points. Then you receive the following bonus points based how the opponent pilots perform on your challenge:

*If 3/3 opponent pilots fail your challenge you will receive +4 points,

*If 2/3 opponent pilots fail your challenge you receive +2 points,

*If 1/3 opponent pilots fail your challenge you receive +1 points

*If 0/3 opponent pilots fail your challenge you receive -4 points.

Tiebreakers: Ties will be determined first by who whoever completed the "more difficult challenges" based on group performance. If that is equal then whoever got closest to completing any mutually failed challenges will advance. If all that is equal then the total time taken for any challenges passed by both pilots will be used. If there are no alike challenges completed then it will go to letter status to start the playoffs. If that is also the same then, then wow, I guess we do rock paper scissors; best 2/3.

IGOW5 Playoff Bracket - Round of 16 and Round of 8

Brackets: Brackets will be announced on Sunday September 21st at about 5pm PST. The bracket rankings will be determined by many factors including: regular season performance, group round performance, fellow playoff pilot's rankings, Skittles' rankings, and the judges rankings. The #1 Ranked pilot will face off vs the #16 ranked pilot, #2 vs #15, #3 vs #14, #4 vs #13, #5 vs #12, #6 vs #11, #7 vs #10, and #8 vs #9. 

Mini-Game Selection: There are a total of 5 mini games for this round. Before the round each pilot gets to ban one of the games and select a main choice and an back-up choice. If the bans are different the pilots will play the other 3 remaining games. If both pilots ban the same game, each pilot will get their top available choice of game and the final game will be randomly selected from the other two available choices. Pilots cannot ban the same game in back to back rounds. Pilots cannot choose the same game as their main choice in back to back rounds.

Round of  16 Play: Pilots in the playoffs will have from 9/21 to 9/28 at 12pm PST to attempt submit their best scoring attempts in the 3 mini-games that were selected. The highest score for each game wins that game. The pilot that can win 2/3 or all 3 games will advance, in turn eliminating their opponent. 8 pilots will remain after this round.

Round of  8 Play: Pilots in the playoffs will have from 9/28 to 10/5 at 12pm PST to attempt submit their best scoring attempts in the 3 mini-games that were selected. The highest score for each game wins that game. The pilot that can win 2/3 or all 3 games will advance, in turn eliminating their opponent. 4 pilots will remain after this round.

Ties: If pilots score the same in a mini game the tie will be broken by the pilot who achieved the score in the least amount of time. If somehow that is also a tie then it would go to whoever had a larger margin of victory (% wise) in the game that they won.

IGOW5 Playoff Bracket - Mini Games

These "games" are tests of a variety different skills in a head to head battle vs your opponent. You will want to ban the game that you think your opponent is best at and choose the games that you think you have the best likelyhood of beating your opponent in. 

Game #1: TGS Trippy Ladder:

This game is performed on an IGOW-approved TGS with the bottom gate on the ground. You must start a trippy spin going around one side-pole of the TGS and through the gates in the pattern: top-middle-bottom-middle-top-middle-bottom-middle-top-middle-bottom ect ect. It does not matter where in the pattern you begin. You earn 10 points per gate you pass through while keeping the trippy spin going in the correct pattern and keeping the pole upside down at the top of your FPV view without crashing. You can be deducted anywhere from 1 point up to the full 10 points per gate depending on the execution of your trippy spins. You can attempt this as many times as you like and then add your best CW score to your best CCW score to get your total for this mini game. The pilot with the highest combined total score is the winner of this game.

Game #2: TGS Trick-lets: 

This game is performed on an IGOW-approved TGS with the bottom gate on the ground. The idea is that you perform a sequence predetermined of 3-trick combos on a TGS. You get 10 points for each successful trick as well as a bonus 10 points for each "Trick-let" aka 3 trick combo that is completed without any bumps, ground taps, or failed trick attempts. If you can complete 3 trick-lets in a row without any mistakes or CLM major deductions you will earn an additional bonus 5 points (you can earn this up to 4 times). If you fail, bump something, or crash while attempting a trick your run is not over but you must move on to the next trick in the sequence. You cannot swap batteries in the middle of a run; it must be one continuous clip. All tricks require CLM; Constant Loop Motion failure will result in a deduction of 1 point up to the full 10 points for each affected trick. Bumps/crashes that occur in-between the Trick-lets will result in a deduction of up to 5 points per incidence. You can attempt this as many times as you like and the pilot with the highest scoring single run will be the winner of this game. Note: Top Gate = TG, Middle Gate = MG, Bottom Gate = BG

Trick-let #1: Flip through the TG, turn around and Roll through the MG, and finally Yaw-spin though the BG. You must start each motion before entering the gate and complete the motion after exiting the gate.

Trick-let #2: Split-S TG to BG, Immelmann BG to TG, Juicy Flick or Snapback MG

Trick-let #3: Powerloop MG-TG-BG*, Powerloop BG*-MG-BG**, Powerloop BG**-TG-BG. These must be done back to back to back so that the end of one loop is the start of the next.

Trick-let #4: Mattyflip MG-BG, Mattyflip TG-MG, Mattyflip TG-BG. These must be done back to back to back so that the end of one trick is the start of the next.

Trick-let #5: Half-Matty Pendulum Ladder, 6 half-matties alternating roll directions up and then back down the TGS in this pattern BG, MG, TG, TG, MG, BG back to back to back in a pendulum like motion such that the end of one trick is the start of the next. 

Trick-let #6: Honey-baked Hamhook, BG-TG-BG*, Barani BG*-TG-BG, Kururi TG-BG-TG. These must be done back to back to back so that the end of one trick is the start of the next.

Game #3: Aux Plumes Inspired Loop Routine:

This game is performed on an IGOW-approved gate with the bottom of the gate on the ground. The idea for this challenge is that you must keep a continuous looping motion going as you transition between types of loops with 90deg and 180deg yaw spins at the top and bottom of your loops. You must always pass through the gate at the bottom of each loop. Each yaw must be done the same stick deflection direction for the entire routine and then it must be repeated in the opposite yaw direction again. You get 10 points per loop completed cleanly. All tricks/loops require CLM; Constant Loop Motion failures, minor bumps, or ground taps will result in a deduction of 1 points up to the full 10 points for each affected trick. Once you crash or stop continuously looping motion you get a strike, three strikes and you are out for that yaw direction. You can attempt this as many times as you like. You combine your best single run score for each yaw direction and the pilot with the highest combined total score wins this game.

Set #1 (4 loops): 1A. Powerloop, 90deg yaw at bottom,

                             1B. Side loop, 90deg yaw at bottom

                             1C. Reverse loop, 90deg yaw at bottom

                             1D. Opposite Side loop, 90deg yaw at bottom

Set #2 (4.5 loops): 2A. 1.5 Powerloops, to inverted at the top above the gate then 90deg inverted yaw

                              2B. Side loop from inverted down through the gate and then back up to inverted,

 90deg inverted yaw at the top

                              2C. Reverse loop, from inverted down through the gate and then back up to inverted,

 90deg inverted yaw at the top

                              2D. Other Side loop, from inverted down through the gate and then back up to inverted,

 90deg inverted yaw at the top

Set #3 (2.5 loops): 3A. From inverted, then 1.5 Powerloops, 180deg yaw at the bottom

                                 3B. Reverse loop, 180deg yaw at the bottom

Set #4 (2.5 loops): 4A. 1.5 Powerloops, to inverted at the top above the gate then 180deg inverted yaw

                                 4B. Reveside loop, from inverted down through the gate and then back up to inverted,

    180deg inverted yaw at the top

Set #5 (1.5 loops): 5A. Powerloop from inverted down through the gate and then back up to inverted,

    360deg inverted yaw at the top

                                5B. Complete the last 0.5 Powerloops down through the gate a final time.

Game #4: Single Gate Speed Run:

This game is performed on an IGOW-approved gate with the bottom of the gate on the ground. You MUST have an osd Timer or an external timer visible to the FPV Camera before and after your run for this challenge. To stress clean execution over sloppy speed, each bump or ground tap is an addition of 1/2 second to you total time. A full disarmed crash is enough penalty in itself and will not incur an additional 1/2 second penalty. You must perform the following as fast as possible:

Step #1: Fly forward through the gate to start the time *Once through the gate

Step #2: 5 CW orbits of the right pole (or reverse) *5 times through the gate

Step #3: 5 CW orbits of the left pole (or reverse) *5 times through the gate

Step #4: 5 Powerloops of the top of the gate *5 times through the gate

Step #5: You must then transition to Mattyflips you can do this anyway you like but you must fly backward through the gate the same direction you have been flying forward through it previously *Once through the gate

Step #6: 5 Mattyflips of the top of the gate *5 times through the gate

 The last gate of each step is the 1st gate of the following step. Your time begins when pass through the gate yo start the 1st orbit and ends after you pass through the gate backward on your 5th mattyflip. You should pass through the gate a total of 22 times in the same direction during this challenge. Your total time is your score in this challenge. The pilot with the lower time wins this game.

Game #4: Cube something or other. TBS

This game is performed on an IGOW-approved cube gate with the base on the ground. I dont have the other details quite yet. But it will be more trick based similar the TGS trick-lets. Details Coming Soon

IGOW5 Finals - Final Four Pilots

The finals of IGOW5 are designed to somewhat replicate the pressure to perform when it matters that is essential to all forms of competition and the main element that IGOW has lacked in all previous seasons. The nature of the IGOW game format, having pilots compete from all around the world without being in one location naturally makes it much more logistically difficult to have a typically competition where everything comes down to a final matchup or performance, however I have done my best to somewhat replicate the need to be able to perform in the pressure of the moment which this finals challenge format.

Preparation Period: Each of the pilots that make it to the Final Four will have from Sunday, October 5th until Saturday October 25th at 12pm PST to create their own customized freestyle line set to any song or music they choose and then practice and perfect that line as much as possible. The pilots must submit an example clip and the IGOW5 Finals TPW score sheet of their ideal run set to the music of their choice. Part of the scoring will be the musicality of the run which is basically how well the routine goes with the selected music. Pilot are allowed to listen to their music while performing their run especially if that helps them his musical queues in their routine. All runs must start with the drone landed and disarmed and the time and music must start on arm.

Final Performance: After you have finalized your freestyle line and practiced it enough that you are feel ready for your "final performance" then you will choose a starting time. This can be anytime from as early as 12:00 noon PST on Tuesday October 21st until as late as 11:00am PST on Sunday October 26th. At your choosen Final Performance Time I will give you a custom hand sign. You will then have exactly 30 minutes to complete the best possible imitation of your perfect run showing your hand sign to the camera either before you begin your run or after your complete your line and send the video file of your best line to Skittles before the 30 minute timer elapses. You can just send all the lines you did during your finals time and then you can find the best one after the 30 min time period is over.

Scoring: Your final score will be based on a combination of items including your freestyle line's TPW score on the IGOW5 Finals calculator sheet and the judges scoring of other elements including overall impression, difficulty, execution, style/flow, and musicality.

What "Whoops" are Allowed in IGOW5:

This season we are allowing ANY SIZE/TYPE of QUADCOPTER for the IGOW Training Grounds! For the regular season we try to be as inclusive as possible with our definition of a "whoop" here at IGOW. Most any build you would refer to as a whoop probably will be allowed. We have no specific requirements for any components; you are welcome to use parts from any brand or combination of brands and all video and RX link systems are allowed. All video submissions for the regular season and playoffs of IGOW5 must be performed with ducted quadcopters aka "Whoops" that meet the following specifications:

1. FRAME: Any whoop frame less than 100mm diagonal motor to motor size is allowed. There is no minimum size. All frame materials are allowed.

2. MOTORS: Any brand/style of brushed or brushless motors of any size and any KV are allowed.

3. PROPS: All propellers smaller than 2.5 inches are allowed. Any style/shape of blades and any amount of blades are allowed.

4. BATTERY: Any 1S or 2S battery is allowed and using two 1S in series is also allowed. Any battery connector type is allowed. Max charge 4.35V per cell. 

5. DUCTS: All whoops must have ducts or guards that mostly enclose the prop. There are some exceptions to this rule, specifically for some stock BNFs like the Emax Nanohawk. Check with FPVSkittles by emailing IGOWhoop@gmail.com with questions about the viability of specific builds.

6. CAMERA: Any FPV Camera and camera angle between 0 and 65deg is acceptable for any challenge unless the challenge requirements specify otherwise. Multiple FPV cameras are not allowed.

7. Any flight mode including Acro, Angle, Horizon, Acro Trainer, Level Race, ect are all acceptable for challenges unless otherwise specified in the requirements. 3D mode is not allowed. Any type of mode where you are not making the stick inputs in real time are also not allowed. This would include preprogrammed stick motions or any type of computer/AI flying.

8. Pilots can fly either FPV with goggles or a screen or they can fly Line of Sight for any challenge unless the challenge requirements specify otherwise.

9. Pilots can submit any goggle recorded DVR (analog, HDZero, Walksnail, DJI, ect), any onboard DVR (Caddx Turtle, Runcam Spilt, Walksnail, DJI, ect), or any separate action camera footage (Caddx Peanut, Insta360go, DJI, GoPro, Runcam Thumb, ect) for their weekly challenges. Any external recording devices like a PowerPlay or similar are also allowed. If any stabilization is used it must be noted in the submission form. Note: Some challenges may require timing which can be done via OSD or via external video with a stopwatch.

10. Pilots can fly different whoops for each challenge or even each requirement within a challenge as long as all the whoops used meet all of the above requirements.

Video Submission Rules

All video submissions for IGOW5 must meet the following criteria:

1. All videos must be submitted made via the corresponding weekly Google form before the specified challenge deadline typically on Saturday about 3 hours before the review livestream. The submission links will be available on the website www.InternationalGameOfWhoop.com 

2. All videos must be uploaded to youtube with the hashtag #igow5 in the title. This is to ensure there will be minimal copyright music issues during the review livestreams.

3. All videos must be a maximum of 60 seconds long unless otherwise specified. That is the total video length including any intro and outros. You are welcome to upload an unlisted video for your submission to meet the time requirement and then also post a longer edit on your channel pubically even if it is just to add a typical youtube outro. 

4. All videos must show the challenge requirements completed in real-time with no edits. Each challenge week will have its own specific requirements, but the one universal requirement for every week is to show all the weekly challenge requirements being performed from start to finish at regular speed with no editing of the footage. However, as long as a video includes one regular speed clip of the requirements then a pilot is welcome to include slow-mo and other cool effects to the rest of their video. We absolutely encourage music, creative cuts and edits, sound effects, slow-mo, and LOS views all of which will go a long way to making a video stand out among the crowd. It is fully encouraged for a pilot to make their video as entertaining as possible! Just make sure all the requirements are clearly shown at least once somewhere in the video. 

5. All entries must be from a single participant and it must be the same pilot for the entire competition. Pilots are not allowed to have anyone else perform any of the challenge requirements for them. This includes any type of preprogramming of stick movements, using AI to fly, etc. Each pilot can only participate once, no mutli accounting. 

6. All weekly challenge requirements must be new footage performed during the current challenge week unless otherwise specified in the challenge requirements. A pilot cannot use old footage as the only clip shown to pass a challenge requirement but they are welcome to include previously filmed content in addition to the freshly performed challenge requirement for the week.

7. Do not attempt to cheat. Cheating includes but is not limited to attempting to hide cuts, speeding up or slowing down footage to gain an advantage, and using whoops that do not meet the requirements. If a pilot is caught cheating in any way, they will be eliminated from the game and forfeit any pending prizes. Don’t even try to cheat. It’s not worth it; the community will catch you and shame you.

Fine Print

Obviously, IGOW is not responsible if you break your whoop or injure yourself or others, or damage property while attempting any challenges. IGOW does not encourage or condone the breaking of any local laws/rules/regulations while attempting to complete the challenges. If you do not feel safe or don’t want to take the risk of any challenge you can just skip that week and it will only cost you a letter. DO NOT feel pressured into anything you do not want to try! Remember, this is all for fun! By submitting a video you are allowing IGOW to use that content for any future purposes. The Tiny Whoop Team Pilot Sponsorship offer for the IGOW champion is pending Jesse Perkins approval of the winner; he retains the right not to offer the sponsorship for any reason.

Good Luck and Happy Whooping!