Guidelines

Timeline

July 7th – August 7th, 2015 – Game Development period.

August 7th 11:59 PM UTC – Deadline for submissions. Completed games only. No late entries will be accepted!

August 7th-October 2nd – Judging period. People's Choice voting will also take place during this timeframe. Make sure to vote for all the games you like! The game that gets the most votes wins.

October 10th 24th– Awards Ceremony and Announcements!

Criteria

All entries will be judged based on 3 Main Criteria on a scale of 0-20:

Presentation

How your game presents itself from a non-mechanic perspective. Things included in this will include writing, art, story, music. This will focus mostly on things that the player does not directly interact with.

Gameplay

How your game plays. This will include the mechanics of your game, and all other interactions the player can directly have with the game. This can include some aspects of story and plot, if the player has a way to control the way it progresses.

Engagement

How well does your game grip the player? This will cover a lot of the intangibles of the game. How does it all fit together? How interested are we in continuing to the end? This is determined based on fun and engrossing factors.

Penalties and Bonuses!

Bugs/Glitches

Each minor glitch or bug that has no appreciable effect on the presentation or gameplay will not effect your score. A major glitch, which causes a noticeable negative effect on the game will result in a -5. If a game has a glitch or bug that results in the game being unplayable within the first 10 minutes of gameplay, the game will be disqualified completely. If it occurs after the 10 minute mark, the game will be judged based on what they played, with a -10 penalty to overall score.

The Twist: Growth

This contest will has a TWIST! A one word theme that your game must use in some way. And that word is GROWTH. You can incorporate it into your gameplay, your story, your characters or any other way you see fit. You may, if you wish, include a 50 word description of how you used the theme word in a separate text file, as being obvious is not always the same as being good. Adherence to the twist can earn you and additional 0 and 10 bonus points.

The Rules

And on to the rules! Breaking these rules can result in penalties or disqualifications, at the discretion of our judging panel. Make sure to read them carefully!

  1. Games must be complete, started no earlier than July 7th, 2015 at 6:00PM UTC, and created by you (unless you have permission to post the game). No exceptions!
  2. Games Length: Judges will only be required to judge a game for 1 hour if it passes the screening stage. As such, any game over 1 hour will only be judged on its first hour of play.
  3. You must have the right to use all assets, tools, and anything else involved in the creation of the game, such as the engine/software, visual resources, music, and so forth. Pre-existing assets not created specifically for the contest entry are allowed as long as the actual game was not started before July 7th, 2015 at 12:00am UTC. Please note that some resource creators will consider your game to be commercial due to the inclusion of prizes, so make sure you ask permission if you are uncertain!
  4. Games must be finished and submitted by Aug 7th, 2015 11:59PM UTC. No extensions will be given. We recommend uploading a day in advance to avoid any unfortunate accidents or difficulties.
  5. There is no limit on team size; you can work alone, or with a large team. Teams will have to split the prizes between themselves as they see fit. The IGMC team will NOT be responsible for the splitting of prizes. We will award only to the person who submitted the game.
  6. Each person may be directly involved in up to two submissions. This allows you to, among other things, work on a team while making your own solo project. If a team uses your resources but you did not actually work on the development of a game, then it won’t count towards your two game limit. If you are ONLY doing commissions for a submission, you are not considered part of the team for these rules. Do remember that all commissions will be required to be made within the July 7th-August 7th timeline.
  7. All files required to play the game must be included in the download. This includes graphics, music files, read-mes, and so forth.
  8. No 18+ content: games with pornographic/extreme violence will be disqualified. These games should be playable by teenagers. If you are unsure if your content qualifies as adult-only, it’s best to leave it out or ask our support team.
  9. Plagiarism, copying the work of other contestants, and other forms of cheating are forbidden. Viruses, etc. will disqualify a game instantly. Let’s make this a clean and fair competition for everyone!
  10. Everyone involved in a project should be credited unless they consent otherwise. This includes the creators of resources (graphics, music, scripts, etc.)!
  11. The game must be made in an actual game engine, and not a map editor/mod of an existing game. Rom hacks and games that run on emulators are not allowed.
  12. Games must be submitted via this platform and have an active download available. If the game is browser-based, a link to the game must be provided. Games may NOT be updated once the deadline has been reached (Aug 7, 2015 11:59PM UTC).
  13. Games must be in English. You are welcome to have translations in any language you see fit, but the entry submitted to judges must be in English.
  14. Games must be playable on Windows (at least in compatibility mode for Windows XP, Vista, or 7).
  15. Winners who do not want their prize can request that it be given to the person/team with the next highest score.
  16. The judges and contest hosts reserve the right to disqualify or ban any game or person for reasons including but not limited to the violation of these rules. Judges' decisions are final. Judges and contest runners reserve the right to add to these rules for clarification purposes.
  17. Restrictions on age and nationality are subject to the contestant's local, state, and/or national laws. No purchase necessary. Must be at least 13 years of age or older to register and submit entries, subject to the submitter’s local laws.
  18. Prizes will be delivered electronically via the e-mail address associated with the user who submitted the game on this platform. Winners will be responsible for all taxes and fees associated with their prize package.

Creators retain all rights to their respective works. The contest runners (Degica) reserve the right to promote the game on the appropriate websites, blogs, social media, etc. as outlined in the prize packages.

The judges will do their best to enforce the rules, but bear no responsibility for any entries that violate the rules against their knowledge.