A dark blue Reconnected Crown sits atop a pedestal with the words 'Age of Discovery' carved into a dark, stone background
Image by Knstis

Reconnected 2026: Age of Discovery!

We are excited to announce that our yearly LittleBigPlanet creative contest is back! This year’s theme is Age of Discovery, and we can’t wait to tell you more about how you can win a rare, custom prize crown in Reconnected 2026!

What is #Reconnected2026?

Reconnected is an annual creative contest hosted by LBP Union. We are a team of volunteers that operates Beacon custom LittleBigPlanet servers. The contest first began in 2021 to celebrate the return of the LittleBigPlanet servers for PS4 following their shutdown that March. We’ve been hosting the contest ever since to give this generation of creators a chance to show the community what they can do!

When we come together, our community is full of strength, love, and passion. Reconnected celebrates our freedom and privilege to Play, Create, and Unite!

Contest Details

Here is the timeline of the contest:

  1. June 1: Contest kickoff!
  2. August 1: Submissions close
  3. As soon as October 1: judging concludes and results posted

Following the release of the results, prizes will be distributed, including the treasured Reconnected Crown!

Winners and Prizes

There will be, at most, three grand prize winners of this contest; there will be one winner for each game: LittleBigPlanet 1, 2 and 3. We will also choose one runner up from each game. Winners will be selected provided that submissions meet our minimum standard of quality and criteria described on this page.

Grand Prize Winners

The grand prize winners will receive the Reconnected Crown, a custom, modded costume piece that you can wear in-game. They will also be eligible to receive a unique role in our Discord server, a special group on our new forum (beta), and a team pick.

Runner Ups

Second place winners for each game will be eligible for a team pick.

Theme: Age of Discovery

What is an Age of Discovery?

  • Tall ships sailing to explore distant lands
  • Space capsules traveling to faraway stars
  • Shrinking down to find the mysterious world between atoms

The answer is up to you! We want to see you create a level where the player takes part in discovering something new. Consider the above items as ideas. Here are some topic keywords to help you create a level that fits this theme:

  • Exploration
  • Curiosity
  • Unexpected
  • Surprise
  • Travel
  • Unknown
  • Worlds

Remember: Levels that align closely with this theme will be awarded more points in the judging process.

Criteria and Rules

Submissions must follow these rules to be considered:

  1. Your submission must meet a minimum standard of quality.
  2. Your submission must be a playable level with gameplay (not a film or art piece).
  3. Only original submissions will be accepted; do not use copyrighted materials. Plagiarism is not tolerated.
  4. To contact you about your submission and to be eligible for all prizes, you must sign up. Details below.
  5. Your submission must contain the hashtag #Reconnected2026 in the title.
  6. Submit your level before the deadline, August 1. Late submissions or submissions edited after this date will not be accepted.
  7. You may work as a team if you wish, but only the person uploading the level is eligible to win prizes.
  8. Do not feature any real individuals or personas in your level. All characters should be fictional.
  9. You may only make one submission.

Judging

Levels will be judged on four dimensions:

  1. Theme: how well does the level align with the theme of Age of Discovery?
  2. Quality: does the level look and sound exceptional?
  3. Gameplay: is the gameplay fun and engaging?
  4. Originality: is the level unique, novel, or original?

Levels that exceed expectations in each of these four areas will be awarded more points in the judging process.

Sign Up for Reconnected 2026

To make the most of this contest, you should to sign up. This is important as we will need to contact you about your submission if you win. How you sign up impacts the prizes you will be eligible for. There are three ways to sign up for Reconnected 2026:

  1. Sign up via our forum: in addition to your crown and team pick, this will allow you to be eligible for an exclusive account role identifying you as a winner of Reconnected.
  2. Sign up on Discord: signing up for the contest via our Discord server makes you eligible for an exclusive account role identifying you as a winner of Reconnected.
  3. Simply submit your level: if you do not sign up via one of the methods above, we will contact you via the email address attached to your Beacon account to arrange delivery of your Reconnected Crown.

Which option you choose is up to you.

Option 1. Sign Up Via Our Forum

Our forum is a new alternative to our Discord server to help give LittleBigPlanet fans an alternative place to talk about the game besides Discord. This is an ad-free and algorithm-free space. To sign up, you will first need an LBP Union Passport account. Once you have an account, follow these steps:

  1. Head to our Contests category.
  2. Create a new thread with the title of your level
  3. Add the Reconnected 2026 tag to your post
  4. Include your Beacon username, a description of the level and pictures if you have any! You can change any of these details before the final deadline, this is just a fun way to share what you’ve been up to 🙂

That’s it! We’ll contact you via a DM on the forum if we need to discuss prize distribution and will award your role when the time comes.

Option 2. Sign Up On Discord

To sign up for Reconnected 2026 on Discord, follow these steps:

  1. Join our Discord server.
  2. Visit the #contest-submissions forum channel. You may need to enable it in the Channels & Roles view.
  3. Create a new post in the forum channel tagged ‘work in progress’ with the title of your submission.
  4. In the post, list your Beacon account name.
  5. Optional: feel free to show off anything you’ve already done in here too if you’d like! 

When you have published your level, it makes it easier for us if you change the tag on your post to Submitted, but we can take care of this during the judging process if you forget.

Option 3. Just Submit Your Level

You don’t have to ‘sign up’ at all. At minimum, all you need to do is publish your level with the #Reconnected2026 hashtag and follow all the rules above. This will help us find your level so we can review it. However, if you win, you will only be eligible for the Crown and a team pick. You can later contact us if you decide you’d like to add the roles to your Discord and forum account if you have them.

If you win, we may contact you via the email attached to your account to coordinate prize delivery.

Good Luck!

We’re so excited to see what amazing creations you have in store for us this year! Feel free to ask questions via the comments below or join our Discord server and check the Creative News channel to join the discussion.

Good luck!

Attribution

A huge thanks to this year’s Creative Works Administration:

  • Knstis: created the animation video and thumbnail
  • Minister of Relations: Ryan2k11
  • Minister of Relations: Kubacakagoomba
  • CWA Director: Potatoboii_
  • Godofsackboyz

Start the discussion at forum.lbpunion.com

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