Announcement - Results! Winners! ~Sleigh the Competition! 2023 Christmas Game Jam

Second Youtube Video. I'll finish the rest on my third stream.

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To everyone who submitted entries to the Game Jam:

I strongly recommend that you invest the time to either play all the games, watch one of the streams of the games being played, watch individual play throughs, or a combination of the those.

I also recommend that you read all of the feedback and comments on all of the entries and not just your own.

Everyone has different perspectives on things. And even though you might find that you don't agree with all the results and feedback provided for different games, it will definitely give you context for your own results and feedback.

I am pretty sure if you see all the games and read all the feedback, you will gain something of value.

And if you want to be more competitive and do better for a future Game Jam, you will probably gain valuable insight.

After finally playing or seeing all the games, I was definitely struck by the vast differences across the spectrum of entries.

Once again, congratulations to everyone who participated and thanks again to the host and judges.

Really? It is new years eve... Who in their right mind would still be playing christmas games? I heard more Little Drummer Boy and Silent Night then I care to suffer. :p

I played a handful of the entrees, and immediately learned that my entree was not one for the win. There was some good stuff, there was some bad stuff too. But most of all there was a lot of them. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. If you want to play them all, you'd be busy for a while. (Knowing they are about 20 minutes long, meaning you can play 3 an hour.)

Anyhow... I wanted to see how many there are exactly and... The whole topic seems lost. If I search for Christmas or game jam or entrees only, I can't seem to find the thread. Was it deleted? Or am I just very bad at searching?

Nevermind, I found it.
Event - Sleigh the Competition! 2023 Game Jam ~SUBMISSION ONLY~

It did take a while to play through them all and it is an investment of time. But it could be a valuable investment of your time. Unless you just want to move on, which is also perfectly fine.

I also think there is a difference in playing the games under a time crunch, playing the games to consider them under the judging categories of the Game Jam, and playing them more as an experience to see what was created and achieved.

I think all three of those are very different.

But if playing through them is just a slog that you do just to check off a box then no, you probably won't get as much out of it.

I guess I would clarify to say I recommend it as an educational opportunity. If it would be more of a chore for someone, then their time would probably be better spent doing something else.

Because if you play through the games, just to get through them, you are bound to miss things that you might notice if you were just playing through because you wanted to experience what was created, one at a time, and not just 1 of 30+ games to get through.

It also wouldn't hurt to give it some time before looking at the games closer. To have a fresh perspective and get the holiday tunes out of your system. :stickytongue:

But again, just my opinion and just my suggestion.

Well, I enjoyed playing them before judgement day and more importantly before Christmas day. Once it is December 27th*, I had enough of all the little drummer boys, silent nights, jingle bells and ho-ho-hoes.

(*Yes, december 27th, not 26th. Where I live, Christmas lasts 2.5 days. Christmas Eve, 25th and 26th of december.)

Psh, I streamed 26 of them in one day. :p

That was before Christmas, right?

No, it was the 27th.

And people watched? Or did you stream to a brick wall? :p Anything Christmas related after Christmas is like pepper and salt after your meal. It is like going to a concert after the band left the stage. It is like jumping into a movie after the end credits starts rolling. It is like getting excited after the climax. :p

Yeah, quite a few people watched it. :p

And more watched it after VOD. Like me.

Haha. Well better them than me. :p

You don't want to see what I said about your game? ;)

Haha. Well, sure. But all you said about the other 25, that is a bit much Christmas for me. :p

It's not personal though. I've watched your streams in the past. I just don't like Christmas after Christmas.

The party is over, go home! Okay... You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. :p (In this case you means Santa, not Trihan.) :p

Oh, there goes Mr. Humbug--

In all seriousness, though, I think that Zombie is totally right--there's so much to learn by playing or watching other people's games. I would never have thought of time management or actual, full-on seek-and-find without seeing Slim's and r66r's entries! And the combat in NekoCassowary's entry, where you overcome your foes by doing negative damage, seemed to me a stroke of genius. I loved it.

Seeing how different people did or did not include a narrator, seeing how differently people weighted the different judging categories (or ignored them altogether, and made something purely for fun without worrying how it would be judged)...it was very cool, and something I super didn't have a chance to do after the last jam I participated in.

Adding my heartfelt congratulations to everyone who participated! That was no mean feat, what you just accomplished. And to you brave streamers who tackled playing them all--thank you! That's a huge undertaking in its own right XD

Sure! I don't debate that. :p But uhm.... Does it have to be Christmas games? :p

(By the way, in my game it said the gingerbread house was there specially for you, because you dressed up as a Christmas elf in your avatar, and straight away you changed it. Hope that wasn't because I mentioned it. :p )

Not at all! I changed it because I had just commissioned the art of my jam game's main character, and the artist very kindly made me a matching avatar to go with it XD

I said this during Trihan's stream, but that shout-out blindsided me in the best possible way. You had no way of knowing this, but one of my mom's many small businesses was actually writing gingerbread pattern books! So that really made me smile.

That is your original main character?? Oh.... Oopsie! I thought it was Link from Zelda. :p

Mine must not have been one of the entries you played, she's hard to miss XD


Also, as mentioned...my game was based on true stories of things that have happened to me when I actually go out and give gifts to retail workers, so it should come as no surprise that Rosie's design is based on my real, actual outfit XD Crane's art reads much better at avatar size than my mirror selfie ever could!

Sorry, I was joking. I knew it wasn't Link. :p But uhm, no. i think I missed this one. But from the screen shot alone I can tell you've put more afford in it than I did. :p