OFFICIAL Amaze Me Game Jam

Alice

Darts addict
Forum Staff
Moderator
That's interesting, but it didn't seem to stop new accounts from voting, so either they were legit added to submit entries (I'm dubious!), or possibly that restriction wasn't set, BUT the games weren't made accessible to the public?:)
I'm pretty sure it's just the restriction not being set. There are four possible settings:
- Submitters only (people who specifically submitted their entry + designated judges + jam host)
- Submitters & Contributors (people who submitted their entry + people who were marked as contributors to a submitted entry + designated judges + jam host)
- Judges (designated judges + jam host)
- Public (probably limited to logged in users, but otherwise there's no requirement to be a participant)

So I imagine the Amaze Me Game Jam was set to allow the public to vote.

(jam host and designated judges are always able to vote; that's kinda their thing)
 

Pixel-Team

Master of Pixel-Fu
I noticed some suspicious commenting early on, which I reported to YoYo. A certain game which I won't name here, (YoYo knows) at the time the average number of ratings was around 14, this game had about 40. It stuck out as suspicious because the game was mediocre, and had no Neon in it. The commenters for this game all spoke the author's native language of Spanish, and these commenters all had itch.io account creation dates of the day before. By the end of the voting period, this game had about 70 votes. So dishonest voting can and does happen, and like @Japster says, not only do the dishonest people have to boost their own games, they also have to vote down really good games to bring those averages down. So just remember that you all did an excellent job, and I am glad that YoYo are going to pick the winners, because they know good games when they play them.
 

Evanski

Raccoon Lord
Forum Staff
Moderator
For the record, it's possible on itch.io to limit voters to people who submitted an entry + designated judges when hosting the Jam.
So with this option on, it's at least impossible to make dozens of sock puppet accounts and vote with them, unless each of them submits an entry as well.
Alice forcing me to join in next jam, smh
 

makas

Member
I noticed some suspicious commenting early on, which I reported to YoYo. A certain game which I won't name here, (YoYo knows) at the time the average number of ratings was around 14, this game had about 40. It stuck out as suspicious because the game was mediocre, and had no Neon in it. The commenters for this game all spoke the author's native language of Spanish, and these commenters all had itch.io account creation dates of the day before. By the end of the voting period, this game had about 70 votes. So dishonest voting can and does happen, and like @Japster says, not only do the dishonest people have to boost their own games, they also have to vote down really good games to bring those averages down. So just remember that you all did an excellent job, and I am glad that YoYo are going to pick the winners, because they know good games when they play them.
I think I know what Game are You talking about it was not spanish but portuguese, they we're clearly trying to be in top of the voting all the time, with bursts of 10 to 20 votes in matter of minutes.

Yeah we were checking all the time our position so this happened several times, I am not saying that is Bad but ... Even If we look ourselfs a little hypocrite to critic that particular game because we also invited a lot of people to vote in our social media (we were the second most rated game in the jam), there is a difference between invite close people to give 5 stars or worst and invite real people to check our Game and rate.

We really just wanted the most people possible to check our Game, we Saw a lot of amazing Games with so little attention that we wanted to avoid that(we rated and commented over 90 games too), fortunelly we had a lot of feedback from other developers ( that was the best part of this jam for us), and the comments are public for anyone to see, we also have very specific, detailed feedback from people we invited to vote and has to create new accounts to do it, so it seems like we had an strange phenomenom of a Nice number of developers rating us, and at same time a lot of people outside that voted us fairly, yeah we are a little sad that we are just missing top 20 in one of the cathegories, and that other Game with only 1 developer comment and a lot of ratings will be taken into account by the judges because they ended ranked in top 20, is sad to see if they can abuse the vote in favour of their Game, there is also the posibility of abuse vs other good games to vote them down and make them miss the top 20 window to at least being able to be checked by yoyogames and opera...

Yeah of course I am biased with our game, and of course I wanted our Game to be noticed we worked hard and send our entry 3 minutes before the closing time, but there are also some amazing entrys buried down in the 80-90 positions that are fairly better games that those suspiciousy voted, and also there are some obvious cases of games that are very well made and have amazing polish that are the top of some cathegories, I really like the #1 in theme it was for me totally deserved, but its weird to see a Game with that level of Quality being rated kind of poorly in other cathegories... Any way at end of the day for us was still a Great experience, of course we are going to keep participating no matter the results, because the feedback we received in this jam was the most detailed, well though and for some moments heart warming that we ever had in any way as developers and that what's keep our internal fire of keep making games going... I am in love with the community and that makes me a little salty with the results in some specific cases... peace
 
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Pixel-Team

Master of Pixel-Fu
I think I know what Game are You talking about it was not spanish but portuguese, they we're clearly trying to be in top of the voting all the time, with bursts of 10 to 20 votes in matter of minutes.

Yeah we were checking all the time our position so this happened several times, I am not saying that is Bad but ... Even If we look ourselfs a little hyppcrite to critic that particular game because we also invited a lot of people to vote in our social media (we were the second most rated game in the jam), there is a difference between invite close people to give 5 stars or worst and invite real people to check our Game and rated we really just wanted the most people possible to check our Game, we Saw a lot of amazing Games with so little attention that we wanted to avoid that(we rated and commented 90 over games too), fortunelly we had a lot of feedback from other developers ( that was the best part of this jam for us), and the comments are public for anyone to see, we also have very specific, detailed feedback from people we invited to vote and has to create new accounts to do it, so it seems like we had an strange phenomenom of a Nice number of developers rating us, and at same time a lot of people outside that voted us fairly, yeah we are a little sad that we are just missing top 20 in one of the cathegories, and that other Game with only 1 developer comment and a lot of ratings will be taken into account by the judges because they ended ranked in top 20, is sad to see if they can abuse the vote in favour of their Game, there is also the posibility of abuse vs other good games to vote them down and make them miss the top 20 window to at least being able to be checked by yoyogames and opera... yeah of course I am biased with our game, and of course I wanted our Game to be noticed we worked hard and send our entry 3 minutes before the closing time, but there are also some amazing entrys buried down in the 80-90 positions that are fairly better games that those suspiciousy voted, and also there are some obvious cases of games that are very well Made and have amazing polish that are the top of some cathegories, I really like the #1 in theme it was for me totally deserved, but its weird to see a Game with that level of Quality being rated kind of poorly in other cathegories... Any way at end of the day for us was a Great experience, of course we are going to keep participating no matter the results, because the feedback we received in this jam was the most detailed, well though and for some moments heart warming that we ever had in any way as developers and that what's keep our internal fire of keep making games going... I am in love with the community and that makes me a little salty with the results in some cases... peace
Social media solicited votes are the only reason I got 33 plays/votes at all. I almost felt like just getting people to try my game was a political exercise, since my thumbnail image was not interesting enough to get clicked on by the average player. But as the voting period progressed, I noticed that the more people whose games I played and voted on, the more "courtesy" plays and votes I got in return. It was really strange. Unfortunately, I still didn't have enough time to play even half the entries, many of which were the ones needing votes. (I think I got almost 90 played by the very end) I saw many very good, but underrated games (like Technomancer Tara which got only 9 votes!) this way.
 
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Japster

Member
Social media solicited votes are the only reason I got 33 plays/votes at all. I almost felt like just getting people to try my game was a political exercise, since my thumbnail image was not interesting enough to get clicked on by the average player. But as the voting period progressed, I noticed that the more people whose games I played and voted on, the more "courtesy" plays and votes I got in return. It was really strange. Unfortunately, I still didn't have enough time to play even half the entries, many of which were the ones needing votes. (I think I got almost 90 played by the very end) I saw many very good, but underrated games (Technomancer Tara) this way.
Yeah, I noticed this too - I think I only got developer votes, which my game's ratings show in some cases must've definitely backfired on me, while others have obviously been fair in their voting.... ;)

I reviewed 50+ games in the end, and got (I think) 28 votes, so looks like I was rating and commenting on (more than!) double the amount I got votes back on, as some people had kindly rated my game first...

Still, I know we're all busy, and tbh, I'm kind of thankful some ppl didn't vote me back, given the above! - I'd happily share ALL of my voting for transparency, as it would show I'm a VERY fair rater - but I'm guessing as devs didn't know what exact ratings specific ppl (like myself!) gave on their game, they may have erred on the side of caution... ;)
 

Roldy

Member
I'm pretty sure it's just the restriction not being set. There are four possible settings:
- Submitters only (people who specifically submitted their entry + designated judges + jam host)
- Submitters & Contributors (people who submitted their entry + people who were marked as contributors to a submitted entry + designated judges + jam host)
- Judges (designated judges + jam host)
- Public (probably limited to logged in users, but otherwise there's no requirement to be a participant)

So I imagine the Amaze Me Game Jam was set to allow the public to vote.

(jam host and designated judges are always able to vote; that's kinda their thing)

I think there is at least another setting.

I joined the GMTK2021 but didn't actually submit anything. I could still rank entries but I first had to rank 25 random games before I could freely choose games to rank.
 
I spent pretty much all the time I played either returning votes for people who voted for me (felt weird not to do that) or going through the list of games that had the lowest number of votes cast. I think I got to around 31 games overall, I wanted to do more (and I wanted to stream), but I had some unexpected time taken from me during the weekend so what can ya do. This meant I didn't really get to play any of the top-rated games (at least during the voting period), which was kind of a bummer, but I wanted to help out those who were struggling to get votes.

From those "lowest number of votes cast" games, here's a few I think really shone (in no particular order):

Technomancer Tara
This game was pretty incredible. It was hilarious, well-paced and had some really fun mechanics. It wasn't overly long or difficult, but it used all the time I played effectively. I really enjoyed it and can't believe it go so few votes cast.

Hit Hero
This game needed polish, but the overall idea was really solid. I loved having to use an object to do the combat, rather than just having a gun or whatever. Once I got used to the combat, it transformed into a strategic puzzle game, which was a nice surprising touch considering the game doesn't look like a strategy game. Finding the optimal movements to win was great.

Finding Neon
By golly this game was hard, but it was very juice-filled and had some wicked dialogue. I imagine if I poured more time into it and managed to get over the difficulty spike it would be a really fun platformer. Definitely try it out if you like difficult platforming challenges.

Wastoid Rodney and The Keytar of All Space Time
While this game wasn't made specifically for the jam, it was criminally undervoted. It had a wide variety of enemies and upgrades, it was goddamn hilarious with Bill and Ted references peppered throughout and it was the perfect length to knock out a completion of the game before anything became boring (while not being super short either). I had a huge amount of fun with this one.

Miracle Men
I really liked the concept behind this one. There was obviously a lot of work that went into all the graphics (the robot bouncing as he jumps is buttery smooth) and there's a lot to sink your teeth into. It's let down a little bit by the frequency of enemy encounters, but definitely worth playing.

DungNeon
This one took the "guns do stuff besides just shooting" idea that's been used a few times before and really ran with it. There's a huge amount of levels and some pretty fun platforming combat with a great variety of weapons. I get the feeling that it wasn't made specifically for the jam, but it's really good nonetheless.

Out of all of them, I think Technomancer Tara was hit the hardest, there's so much love you can feel has been poured into that game and I was shocked that it ended up rated so low, I thought it was at least top 20 material in every category.
 

Xor

@XorDev
I only got around to playing about 20 games so I don't have a complete picture, but of those games, these are my top picks:

Lucent Depths - There's a deep progression system, beautiful graphics, and interesting use of theme. I spent the most time playing this game because I just loved upgrading stuff and going deeper.
Non-Stop Space Probe - A very well-rounded game. I'm not super good at this genre so it can be a bit frustrating, but I blame myself for that. The game is very well executed.
Swap - A simple puzzle game sort of like Tetris. I really liked the relax mode.
Neon Cleaner - Very impressive 3D engine. Love the graphics style and it has some interesting gameplay mechanics that make it unique. Unfortunately, it's a bit too difficult and has a major crashing issue.
Photon Storm - A super polished game with pretty graphics and solid gameplay. I wish it was a little more flexible as I feel like I have very little control. Used to play Run from the Sun so I love this type of game.
Has anybody else played "Run from the Sun"? Or just me?
 
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I just wanted to thank everyone for playing my game! The interaction with all of you guys during the voting phase was really the highlight of the jam!

Here's also my rankings!

Image1.png


Oh, and I love the idea of listing our own favorites for more exposure! Here we go!!!

Neon Nightmare

QUICKN

Neon Farmer Bros

Lucent Depths

NeoRoboJack

All of them deserve a much higher ranking! So the only possibility is that some of you haven't played them yet. Check them out you won't be disappointed! : D
 
Thanks to anyone who tried out my game. I got a ton of valuable feedback that'll be useful whether I decide to develop my entry out further or use it to come out of the gate stronger on future projects.

I managed to try out a little over 50 games during the voting period. In no particular order, a few of the games I really enjoyed:

Lam's Untitled Neon - I'm generally not really into visual novels and exposition heavy games, so I went into this one expecting to not like it - but then the whole glass bending mechanic and the scoring system felt so good that this ended up being one my favorite games from the entire jam.

Neon Slide - Something about the gameplay in this one was addicting to the point that I had to keep having "one more try" until I could beat the whole thing.

Moon Risen - This game might not have been quite as on theme as some of the other games, but I'm a sucker for metroidvanias and this one feels like it's off to a good start.

VertiBlock Battle - A solid feeling little puzzle game that I enjoyed. I would have liked it if there had been an endless/score attack mode.

Flashflight - The gameplay is a little simple, but the visuals are easily among the best of all the jam entries.
 
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Japster

Member
I noticed some suspicious commenting early on, which I reported to YoYo. A certain game which I won't name here, (YoYo knows) at the time the average number of ratings was around 14, this game had about 40. It stuck out as suspicious because the game was mediocre, and had no Neon in it. The commenters for this game all spoke the author's native language of Spanish, and these commenters all had itch.io account creation dates of the day before. By the end of the voting period, this game had about 70 votes. So dishonest voting can and does happen, and like @Japster says, not only do the dishonest people have to boost their own games, they also have to vote down really good games to bring those averages down. So just remember that you all did an excellent job, and I am glad that YoYo are going to pick the winners, because they know good games when they play them.
I'm intrigued now mate... ...Is this also the game that random accounts can join their discord using the page's invite, but for some reason mine and other dev accounts on here, can't? - appears I'm seemingly pre-banned, very strange - or maybe it no longer exists... ...(I'm definitely not in too many groups etc) - Oh, to have been a fly on the wall, ha ha.... ;)

1625054770141.png
 

Pixel-Team

Master of Pixel-Fu
I'm intrigued now mate... ...Is this also the game that random accounts can join their discord using the page's invite, but for some reason mine and other dev accounts on here, can't? - appears I'm seemingly pre-banned, very strange - or maybe it no longer exists... ...(I'm definitely not in too many groups etc) - Oh, to have been a fly on the wall, ha ha.... ;)

View attachment 41002
I'd rather not say. It's not important. What is important is that YoYo and Opera have the final say, and I have a feeling that people who thought they could win a game jam with votes instead of good games will be disappointed.
 

Japster

Member
I'd rather not say. It's not important. What is important is that YoYo and Opera have the final say, and I have a feeling that people who thought they could win a game jam with votes instead of good games will be disappointed.
Oh, no worries, I definitely didn't want you to say, just meant I was honestly intrigued, but nothing beyond that... :)

Let's await the outcome then! - ...and I have to say, the fact that YoYo and Opera are actually vetting and playing EVERY entry, then making their own choices based on their own preferences AND the earlier more legitimate results, has greatly restored my faith in this Jam's selection process... :D
 

makas

Member
Oh, no worries, I definitely didn't want you to say, just meant I was honestly intrigued, but nothing beyond that... :)

Let's await the outcome then! - ...and I have to say, the fact that YoYo and Opera are actually vetting and playing EVERY entry, then making their own choices based on their own preferences AND the earlier more legitimate results, has greatly restored my faith in this Jam's selection process... :D
I agree with this and is probably too much to ask but wouldnt be amazing to have a oficial final general position for all the games ? Anyway kudos to yoyogames and opera for playing all the games I don't mind if our Game is lower ranked than is after the voting as long as is played and judged fairly with all the other games
 
I agree with this and is probably too much to ask but wouldnt be amazing to have a oficial final general position for all the games ? Anyway kudos to yoyogames and opera for playing all the games I don't mind if our Game is lower ranked than is after the voting as long as is played and judged fairly with all the other games
I'm not 100% sure, but I think when the judges release their results there will be an "Overall" category added with the ranking for that.
 
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