The shadows are stirring, and the Mimic is waiting… 👀
It’s almost Halloween and we’re summoning our Steel Wool community for our 3rd annual pumpkin carving contest! Help us celebrate the release of the physical copy of Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic on PlayStation on October 31st. Sharpen your tools, spark your creativity, and bring your pumpkin visions to life. Whether it’s a chilling carved masterpiece or an animatronic marvel that moves in the dark, we want to see your spooky creations.
This year we are shaking things up and awarding TWO grand prizes:
One for the best carved pumpkin 🎃
One for the best pumpkin with animatronic features
Animatronic features can mean anything that makes your pumpkin move, light up, or interact—think motors, lights, or other mechanical touches that bring it to life. A carved pumpkin can have the design cut into the pumpkin and/or painted on the side of the pumpkin.
Contest Details:
Theme:
Five Nights at Freddy’s
Dates:
Start: October 21st, 2025
End: October 30, 2025 (11:59 PM PDT).
Winners announced on October 31st by noon (12pm) PDT
Prizes:
Grand Prize for animatronic and carved (1 box each): Exclusive Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic gift box
including: bobblehead, physical copy of PS5 game, stickers, buttons, postcards, notepads, pens, and van stress ball.
Runners up (3 in both categories): Physical copy of Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic for PS5 and FNAF stickers and buttons.
How to Enter:
- Carve your pumpkin masterpiece.
- Post a photo on social media and tag us with #SteelWoolCarve25.
instagram.com/steelwoolstudios
📸 In order for us to track your entry, your photo must include a handwritten note with “#SteelWoolCarve25” visible in the frame. Entries without the note will not be eligible for voting. For confirmation that your entry has been counted, we will “like” your post from the Steel Wool account.
Must-Knows:
One entry per person.
Open to U.S. residents only.
(We wish we could include everyone, but international sweepstakes regulations and shipping restrictions prevent us from doing so.)
🌏Not in the U.S.? We’d still love to see your creations! Share your pumpkin with #SteelWoolCarve25, and while your entry won’t be eligible for prizes, we may feature some of our favorite international pumpkins on our channels.
Entrants under 18 need parental consent.
Pumpkins must be FNAF-themed and family-friendly.
OFFICIAL RULES
How to Join:
Post your submission on any of our social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X), or BlueSky) with the hashtag #SteelWoolCarve25. Tag the official Steel Wool Studios account to be included.
The picture must physically have the handwritten hashtag in-frame or it will not be eligible for voting. Also, we won’t be able to locate your post and your entry will be void if you do not use the hashtag within your post’s text (#SteelWoolCarve25).
When:
Contest starts October 21st, 2025 and ends at 11:59PM PDT on October 30, 2025. Winners will be announced on Steel Wool Socials on October 31st by 3pm PDT!
Prizes:
Grand prize (carved): Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic Gift Box
Grand prize (animatronic): Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic Gift Box
3 Runner-ups for each category (Carved and Animatronic): Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic physical copy for PlayStation5 and FNAF stickers and buttons.
All entrants are eligible for honorable mentions/re-tweets/re-posts on the Steel Wool social media channels
Submission Guidelines:
Entrants under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. Entrants under 18 without a parent or guardian’s permission will be disqualified from the contest.
May only be entered if you reside within the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia. Entries originating from any other jurisdiction are not eligible for entry due to local government restrictions.
For the Carved Category:
Pumpkins may be carved, painted, and/or decorated using a variety of artistic methods and materials. All lighting should come only from a candle. (Other gourds are acceptable.)
For the Animatronic Category:
Pumpkins may incorporate mechanical, electrical, or electronic components, including but not limited to moving parts, lighting elements, sound effects, sensors, motors, and other interactive features. Use of external materials and devices is permitted, provided that the primary structure remains a pumpkin or gourd. (Other gourds are acceptable.)
Although it is Halloween, both categories must be family-friendly – so no violence, gore, anything NSFW, or slanderous.
Safety and Liability:
For safety reasons, open flames, hazardous or flammable materials, sharp or dangerous protrusions, and any elements that may cause injury, damage, or loss are strictly prohibited in all submissions. Entrants are solely responsible for ensuring that their entries are safe, stable, and comply with all applicable laws and regulations. By participating, entrants agree that the Sponsor shall not be liable for any injury, damage, or loss resulting from the creation, use, or display of any submission.
Important to note:
One (1) pumpkin entry per person
One (1) category: please choose either carved or animatronic.
Entries must be posted with required handwritten hashtag (#SteelWoolCarve25) between 12:00:00AM PDT on October 21, 2025 and 11:59:59PM PDT on October 30, 2025.
Winners will be chosen by Judges from Steel Wool’s development team based on creativity, originality, and execution.
By entering this contest you acknowledge that your pumpkin’s image will be used on the Steel Wool Studios website and/or accompanying social media accounts.
Each entrant agrees that entrant’s Submission conforms to the submission rules and that Steel Wool, in its sole discretion, may remove any Submission and disqualify an entrant from the contest if it believes, in its sole discretion, that the entrant’s Submission fails to conform to the Rules.
Terms and Conditions
All entrants under the age of 18 years old, for the Steel Wool Pumpkin Carving Contest, must have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. If you are under 18 and want to participate in the contest, your parent or guardian must enter on your behalf or submit proof of permission along with the entry. Your parent or guardian must provide clear consent on your contest entry in order to be eligible for any prizes to be awarded. Entries for participants under the age of 18 without a parent or guardian’s permission will be immediately nullified. This contest is open only to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia. Participants are only allowed to submit one (1) pumpkin entry. Duplicate entries or submissions will not be eligible for judging. Contest entries will be judged based on the criteria dictated by the Steel Wool Studio contest blog post. All entries (and accompanying parent or guardian permissions) must be submitted to the Steel Wool official social media accounts in order to be valid. Submissions made on any other social media platforms besides Twitter (X), Instagram, Facebook, or BlueSky will not be deemed eligible as an entry. Participants must comply with all rules and guidelines dictated by the official contest blog post found on the Steel Wool Studios website. This contest will be open for entries from 12:00:00AM PDT on October 21, 2025, through 11:59:59PM PDT on October 30, 2025. Any entries submitted after this window will not be accepted or eligible for judging. All judging will be conducted after the submission deadline and winners will be announced publicly on October 31st, 2025. All entries will be treated equally and fairly. Early submissions will not be favored over later submissions in the judging process. Winners that are picked by judges will be announced in a Steel Wool Studios public social media post. All entries must not contain material that is inappropriate, indecent, obscene, hateful, tortious, defamatory, slanderous, racist, or libelous. By submitting your pumpkin images to this contest, you agree to your pumpkin’s image to be used on the Steel Wool Studios website and accompanying social media platforms. Your content and personal information will not be used for marketing purposes for Steel Wool Studios and will only be applicable to the context of the contest. All entry submissions are final, and no changes can be made to your submission after it has been received. All submissions must not contain material that violates or infringes any rights of any other party. If your entry is selected for a winning prize, you are agreeing to allow Steel Wool Studios to contact you via the direct messages of the social media channel you submitted your entry on. If you are contacted by an entity claiming to be Steel Wool Studios outside of our official channels, notify us immediately. Steel Wool Studios will not contact you via any unofficial social media accounts. Steel Wool Studios will contact all winners via direct message to collect the necessary information to send your prizes. All winners must respond to the message within 72 hours in order to claim their prizes. All participants under the age of 18 who are selected for a prize must have their parent or guardian respond in order to claim their prizes. Unclaimed prizes will be passed onto the next runner-up. In the case that your entry is deemed ineligible or invalid, and your entry was selected for a prize, the prize will be passed onto the next runner-up. All prizes are non-refundable, non-returnable, and non-exchangeable. Steel Wool Studios will need to collect the necessary mailing information in order to mail prizes to selected winners at the end of the contest. If the selected winner does not have a valid mailing address within the United States then they are ineligible for receiving a prize and another winner shall be picked in place of them. All winners of the contest will be posted after the conclusion of the contest and after all winners are confirmed. By submitting an entry, the entrant agrees that the entrant’s submission conforms to the rules and guidelines defined in Terms & Conditions and in Submission Guidelines. In no event will the released entities be responsible or liable for any damages or losses of any kind, including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of your participation in the contest. Without limiting the foregoing, this contest and all prizes provided “AS IS” without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. Some jurisdictions may not allow the limitations or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages or exclusion of implied warranties so some of the above limitations may not apply to you. Check your local laws for any restrictions or limitations regarding these limitations or exclusions.