Challenges by Date

Challenges have been a part of the SWG since our group was formed in 2005. Before the archive, there were challenges. Before References or any special projects or B2MeM or any of the myriad things we've done over the last decade-plus, there were challenges. Challenges end and a new challenges is posted on the 15th of the month. (Yes, that means there is one thrilling day each month when there are two active challenges!) Participants—both authors and reviewers—will receive a stamp in their challenge stamp collection for their participation. Deadlines apply only if you want your fanwork to receive a stamp.

Every challenge that has ever been offered by the SWG is available for use by creators of fanworks who are looking for inspiration. Even if the deadline for stamps is passed, you are welcome to use the challenges listed on our site. And comments on past challenge fanworks are always welcome and always receive a reward for that month. Want to join us? Click to read the guidelines below!

Challenge Guidelines
  1. New challenges will be released monthly on the 15th. You can find the current challenge in the Challenge section of our website or listed in the sidebar under Current Challenges. The current challenge can also be found on our satellite groups on Dreamwidth, Tumblr (using the #swg challenges tag), and Discord.
  2. Challenge entries must be created for the challenge. In other words, a previous fanwork cannot be "retrofitted" into a challenge even if it fits. However, you are welcome to add to an existing fanwork with new content that fits a challenge.
  3. Challenges will need to be posted to the SWG archive no later than the 15th of the month in order to receive a stamp for that month's challenge, unless otherwise specified. If you are using the challenge prompt as part of another fandom event where the event rules do not allow you to post the fanwork on our archive before the challenge deadline or if you have serious extenuating circumstances that cause you to miss a deadline, you can contact the mods to arrange a deadline extension. Make sure that you add your story to the challenge using the Challenges field on the fanwork submission form. The SWG accepts all types of fanworks (art, audio, link collections, playlists, series, videos, writing, and multimedia fanworks), all types of fanwork are suitable as responses to challenges, and all must be posted to the archive.
  4. You are welcome to cross-post your work wherever you want, but at a minimum, it must be archived on our website.
  5. Works must be Silmfic, but any genre, rating, pairing, characters, or format are allowed. Works-in-progress are welcome.
  6. Challenge participants will receive a stamp for each challenge that they complete. In addition, if you comment on a challenge fanwork, you will receive a stamp for participating as a commenter. Unleash your inner philatelist because we will start a stamp collection for all participants that will be updated from month to month! Some months have special stamps (or even secret stamps ...).
  7. Comment challenges have no due date. However, if you are commenting on a story posted more than two months ago, we appreciate if you contact us and let us know that you need a stamp. Please note that comment stamps are not available for specific challenges before January 2017.

Current Challenge

Scavenger Hunt

SWG Scavenger Hunt challenge banner - a photo of an open stamp collecting book, with colorful old stamps piled haphazardly in the open pages. A black magnifying glass is laid atop one page. Text gives the challenge name; the challenge runs 15 May - 15 June 2026.

As a kid, were you ever given a list of clues to solve to find the location of small prizes? Or did you play the types of games where you need to talk to people to track down the objects you need? This month's challenge combines a scavenger hunt with a Matryoshka challenge. Tie on your sneakers, grab your map and canteen, and get ready to search!

During a Matryoshka challenge, creators make a fanwork using multiple prompts that are revealed one by one (like nesting dolls!) The Scavenger Hunt challenge puts a bit of a twist on the traditional Matryoshka format.

You will still create a fanwork using multiple prompts. However, instead of receiving those prompts one by one from the moderators, you will seek and find those prompts from other participants or by following clues to locate them on the SWG website.

To start, check the list of prompts below. The interactive path includes clues, pointing a creator on the archive who will provide your prompt for you.

Find the creator and comment on one of the creator's fanworks. Note that this should be a real comment that responds to the fanwork, not just asking for the prompt (though it is helpful if you are clear that you do need a prompt!) The creator will reply to your comment with a prompt.

If you aren't up for interacting with another creator, check out the historical path. Prompts here point to a piece of SWG history located on the site. Find the page and you will find the prompt.

You can mix prompts collected from the interactive and history paths.

You can start your fanwork as soon as you get your first prompt and collect more prompts later, or you can collect all the prompts you want first and go from there. The number of prompts you collect depends on how difficult you would like the challenge to be:

  • Beginner = 2 prompts
  • Easy = 3 prompts
  • Medium = 5 prompts
  • Difficult = 7 prompts

For Fanworks That Aren't Writing

If you want to create a fanwork other than fiction for a Matryoshka challenge, you can use any of the following approaches to your prompt set:

  • You can, of course, use the Matryoshka rules for fiction. For example, if you are making a fan vid, you could open each prompt one at a time to guide the storyline and selection of video clips.
  • You can use each prompt individually to create a series of flash fanworks using either the prompt title or the full prompt (or a mixture of both). For example, if you request a Medium prompt set and want to make fan art, you could do a series of five sketches that fit each of the five prompts.
  • You can open all of the prompts at once and make a fanwork that incorporates them all in some way, using either the prompt title or the full prompt (or a mixture of both).

Other Details

There are a number of special stamps available for this challenge. If you need one of the special stamps, you will need to let the moderators know.

  • Completing the Difficult (7-prompt) challenge.
  • Completing a challenge using all prompts from the interactive path.
  • Completing a challenge using all prompts from the history path.
  • And if you use both prompt types (interactive and history prompts), there is a special stamp for you too!

What if the creator never replies with a prompt? Please allow creators at least twenty-four hours to reply. If you do not receive a prompt by that time, let the moderators know the fanwork you commented on, and we will send you a prompt.

Moderators will be monitoring comments during this challenge to ensure that participants receive a prompt in a timely fashion. If the fanwork creator later responds too and gives you a prompt, you can use them both if you want.

This is a collaborative challenge. If you take "collaborative" to mean solving the clues with others, that is allowed! If you post to our Discord, please use the #monthly-challenges channel and spoiler any clues you solve so that those who are trying it on their own aren't spoiled.

And finally, here are some links that may help with solving the clues:

View prompts for the Scavenger Hunt challenge.

Untold History

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