Thanks to everyone who entered our 10th Casual Gameplay Design Competition. Again we were humbled by the response from the community, both in terms of developer support with their unique and innovative game entries, and by the players and judges who make the time and effort to judge the games and to leave their praise and constructive feedback for the participants. This time we asked for games designed around the theme of "ESCAPE", which resulted in 14 creative entries from all over the world.
Today marks the end of the competition, and we are here to honor all of the games that were entered, as well as award a few prizes, too. Thanks to our kind and generous sponsor: Armor Games for their continued support (Thanks, Dan!), and to Pastel Games for providing feedback to all of the participants (Thanks, Karol and Mateusz!). Karol Konwerski is the story writer of Covert Front, The Fog Fall, The Great Escape Games, Rizzoli and Isles, Aurora and so on; and Mateusz is, of course, the creator of the Submachine series, Daymare Town, 10 Gnomes, among others, and helps to produce all the Pastel Games creations. Their feedback will soon be published on each respective game discussion page. It is due to the efforts of these people that we have the following prizes to award, so please show them your kind support as well.
The judging for our competitions is carried out by the JIG community at large, and all the games were scored based on theme, appeal & fun, innovation, composition, and technical merit. We appreciate the effort everyone put into judging the entries fairly and objectively. The results of your efforts are presented below.
And now, to the game designers who have made this, our 10th, competition a success. We appreciate and applaud your efforts and your dedication to the art of game design and to the pursuit of fun and enjoyable casual gameplay.
- First Place
($1,000):- Deep Sleep by Scriptwelder
- Armor Games Awards (to the Top 3 Flash games)
($500):- Deep Sleep by Scriptwelder
- The Freewill Cycle Volume 2 by William Buchanan
- Somewhere in England, 1928 by Drink Cider. Make Games.
Once again, congratulations to everyone who submitted an entry! Just being able to complete a game within a short development period is quite an achievement, in and of itself. Moreover, your continued participation in these competitions makes future competitions like this possible, and we can't thank you enough. We are very fortunate to even be able to hold these competitions and share your works with the world at large. The entire collection of entries are all quite deserving of our praise. Look for reviews of the top games here on Jayisgames.com in the coming days and weeks.
Following is a list of the top 10 games by score:- Deep Sleep
- This is Not an Escape
- The Freewill Cycle Volume 2
- Somewhere in England, 1928
- 40xEscape
- ...As I Drift Away...
- Locker Escape
- The Grimoire
- Interlock
- Risk Subway Escape
We have published the community scores in a spreadsheet showing the average scores in each category for each entry.
Congratulations to Scriptwelder, Deep Sleep is an extremely deserving winner. It's the kind of game I've been missing and wish we saw more of. There had better be a sequel or I think the JIG community may resort to pitchfork/torch-wielding tactics. Not many pixel games can make your spine shiver and a tiny bit of wee come out.
Also, congratulations/commiserations to the rest of the entries where appropriate. I was a little surprised where some games fell but there's no escape from the judges. Haha, get it? What? Don't look at me like that.
Speaking of bad puns, one has to ask...
Can a Scriptwelder do an Adobe Flashdance?
Sigh... this is why I don't write reviews here.
I was pulling for scriptwelder - congratulations.
Jay, I don't understand why "This is Not an Escape" came in second, but didn't win any prize money. I particularly liked that one (in fact it's the only one I really liked among the top four). I hope it's just a typo.
Ah....never mind....top three FLASH games. Sorry!
Congratulations scriptwelder, I really felt your game was polished and had a great display of pixels :D
What a wonderfully terrifying game Deep Sleep was. I like the references to Submachine. All the creeping horror of Submachine, now with moments of actual terror!
Congratulations Scriptwelder! Your game was really well done and was able to keep a unrelenting tone of dread as long as I was playing it. Admittedly this was only up until the point where something decided to scare me out of my seat by clawing at the window on the furnace but that is mission accomplished for a horror game.
Also want to say that I loved Somewhere in England, 1928 for combining Lovecraftian horror and escape games in a really unique way and for creating likable characters in such a short amount of time.
I want to thank Jay and everyone at Jayisgames for accepting my game entry even though I am pretty sure it breaks at least three of the entry requirements. Thank you so much for putting on these wonderful competitions!
Well done Scriptwelder and everyone who entered! If I ever had any doubts how much effort is involved in getting a game together I know better now, so a hearty congratulations to everyone who made it over the finish line, as well as thanks for letting us play along.
This was a fantastic learning experience for me. I knew no AS3 when I started writing mine, and while it's probably not wise to share one's early experiments, Jay's comp gave me the impetus I needed to actually make it a full game rather than a half-complete idea bit-rotting on a hard-drive somewhere, so mucho gracias to him and his team as well.
In fact HOORAY FOR EVERYBODY, players, judges, entrants! Except for bugs, Boo for bugs! BOO!
Congrats Scriptwielder! Game was very well done, and well worth 1st place. Keep up the good work, and hope that any sequels will be equally good!
Loved your first attempt, fumblemouse, as well you know. Can't wait to see what else you do. How cool that you let all of us be part of your very first effort!
Congrats to the winners! Deep Sleep was certainly eerie, and I loved the pixelated/jumpy atmosphere. I think though towards the end I found it a bit buggy - but otherwise a good game.
Disappointed that Bonte didn't win though :(
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