And that's it, time's up! Put your pencils down and start biting your nails, because...
IT'S JUDGEMENT TIME!
Out of sheer irony, we had THIRTEEN people who managed to finish in time! I swear, this wasn't planned! Some projects are looking rather impressive, some are looking not-so-impressive, but I can at least assure you all that unlike some previous contests, there aren't any projects so painfully awful that they make me want to strangle myself with my own tail. At least that I've seen yet, no promises on my survival!
Now that the game creation period is over, the judges will be going over each of the games individually and grading it in the four categories mentioned in the original post: polish, playability, ingenuity, and entertainment. The games will be ranked in order by the average score of all categories by all five judges, so it's entirely possible for one person to just barely beat another person by a single decimal point. Any ties for the prize winning ranks will be honored with both parties getting an equal number of prizes, though it is highly unlikely given the variation between the judges.
The judges have a deadline of August 30th at the very latest to finish all of the games and turn in their assessment. But keep checking back here before then too, because it's likely that we'll all be done before then and announce the final scores at the earliest convenience for everyone! Also, if anyone doesn't want to have their game recorded for a video review, speak now or forever hide in shame, because in addition to the usual after-contest gathering to review the games, I might try something different and make a video countdown of the winners to announce the score. Who knows!
No matter what the scores are in the end though, remember that the biggest point of pride is in simply finishing at all! It's a grueling challenge to be able to push something out at that pace, and nine of our contestants couldn't do it. So congratulations to all of you guys, and I hope you've had as much fun doing it as I am playing your work! :3