The rules

IWho can play

• PlexQuest is for signed-in members who subscribe to the LucidPlexus newsletter. The Throne Room shows the standings to the same people.
• One account per person. Your name and photo on the boards are your account's.
• Your profile page and share links are public: they show your record (XP, titles, quests won) and never your queries.

IIQuests and days

• A cartridge is a set of daily quests — the one in the slot has 5 quests over 5 days. A new day opens every morning.
• Every day up to today is open: if you join late, you can work back through the earlier days.
• Some days carry more than one challenge. Each is a separate quest with its own lives, candle and XP.
• When a cartridge runs out and no new one is ready, it runs again from day one. Quests you already won stay won and pay nothing twice; ones you missed are fresh again.

IIILives and the candle

• Reading a quest is free. Nothing starts until your first RUN, HINT or SUBMIT — that lights the candle.
• RUN is always free. Try as many queries as you like.
• Every graded SUBMIT spends one life — the winning one included. You have 5–6 per quest.
• A submit the Steward refuses before grading (a forbidden word, a typo he cannot read, an answer typed in as values, a problem on our side) costs no life.
• The candle burns 10 min–25 min from your first move. When it goes out, or your lives run out, that quest is over for you.

IVXP

You earn XP once per quest, when you win it:

• The hint is bought once per quest and stays visible after that.
• A quest won is won for good: the same quest never pays twice, even on a repeat of the cartridge.
• Quests are marked EASY, MEDIUM or HARD; harder quests carry more XP.

VThe week

• The board runs in weekly seasons, from Monday 00:00 to Sunday 23:59 (+00:00 time).
• Your week XP starts at zero every Monday. Your all-time XP keeps growing.
• When the week closes, its places are recorded for good and cannot change.

VITitles and crowns

• The top three of a week are The Plexnerds.
• Hold the throne 2 weeks running to become PLEXEMPEROR. The ×N after it is your longest run of weeks on the throne. It is kept for good.
• A week in which nobody scores has no king, and breaks every streak.

VIITies

Equal XP is settled by who got there first: the player whose last XP of the week (or of all time) came earlier ranks higher. The same rule decides the board, the podium, your rank, share cards and the titles when the week closes, so they always agree.

VIIIThe Court

• This quest (in the Keep): everyone who has won the quest you are on — most XP first, then fastest from first move to win.
• This week: the week's top players and your own place.
• The Throne Room: the full weekly and all-time standings, the podium and last week's titles.

IXFair play

• Do not post answers. Talk about techniques freely — “use a LEFT JOIN”, “watch the dates” — but not the query or the rows that win a quest.
• One person, one account. Extra accounts to test answers or boost a friend are not allowed.
• No scripts or bots. Play by hand. The Keep has limits for this reason.
• Do not try to break the Keep. Queries built to slow the server or get round its checks are refused and may be reviewed.
• Found a quest whose answer seems wrong, or a bug? Tell us — reports that help are welcome.

Admins may correct or remove XP, titles or accounts that break these rules.

XIThe language of the Keep

PLEX MONARCHY uses a court-and-quest theme. These names describe parts of the game; they do not change the SQL rules.

For SQL syntax, schema, grading behavior and engine restrictions, use the SQL guide. If a query appears correct but the ledger reports a parse failure repeatedly, report the exact message rather than repeatedly spending lives.

XLimits

What SQL the Keep accepts is in the SQL guide.

⚔ Ride out to the Keep