We've had some discussion about if and how to do some rewards/awards, beyond the real victory of building a game in a month. Based on what we talked about, I'm creating this thread as a place for me (and anybody else who wants to make their own awards) to post these bonus awards that people can receive.
I seriously doubt that any of these (even the sum total of all of them) will be enough to change how hard people work or anything. It's really just for fun, and just an experiment. (If this doesn't work out, we don't have to do it in Competition #6.)
Keep in mind that these rewards are done completely at the whim of the person offering them. This includes, but isn't limited to:
- They can back out at the last second (including after announcing a winner) with no penalty or ill-effect.
- They could give multiple awards to the same person.
- They can say they felt like nobody really earned the award and give it to nobody.
- They can give it to themselves, if they feel like they deserve it more than anybody else.
- They can eliminate people or groups simply because they felt like it. (Maybe they don't feel like teams with multiple people is fair, even though they forgot to say so when announcing the award. Or maybe it's simply a case of "he doesn't like you.")
- They're allowed to change criteria mid-competition, or even post-competition.
- They're allowed to get it wrong. The award might be given to somebody else that you think deserves it less (or that you know deserves it less). Doesn't matter.
In short, it's completely in the hands of the person giving out the award. That might sound a little extreme, but I think it's the best way for us to have fun with these awards.
Because of the above, don't break your game in an attempt to achieve one (or multiple) of the awards. They're small and could vanish in an instant.
Having said all of that, I think these awards will be fun. A good way to get and give recognition with your friends in the community.
Anybody is free to post their own rewards here. The reward really can be anything you want, and reward people for doing whatever you feel is worth recognition. I wouldn't be too surprised to see several "best/favorite game awards", and that's perfectly fine, but please also consider alternative and unique things that can be recognized to widen the breadth of these awards.
And… please don't feel any pressure to make your own award. If you feel so inclined, please join in. I think it will be fun. But if you don't, that's perfectly fine. (I really think only a couple of people are going to do this. You won't be alone.)
To keep things organized, let's have each award be its own top-level post. This allows people to make comments or have discussion underneath it.