You must submit a Ubuntu or Windows desktop (x64) application which adheres to the following conditions:
- Excluding readme and copyright attribution, it is under 4 megabytes in size using the power of 2 system also known as Mebibytes (MiB).
- It is the size of the unpacked project which is counted, not the compressed archive size.
- It doesn't contain anything that violates any Canadian federal law.
- Isn't porn, doesn't have gratuitous nudity and explicit or implict sexual acts.
- It is a video game.
- You have a full month to do it, so it is expected it will be made during that month (may 2023).
- Premade art, sound assets engine code are allowed.
- It isn't a game mod or hack.
- It isn't an online multiplayer-only game.
- Games with an online multiplayer component are fine as long as the main part of the game is entirely playable in solo. This is for judging reasons.
- Excluding file size, Judges are free to not include the multiplayer part of the game in their evaluation.
- If there's a dedicated server application, those files also count and must be included in the submission.
- It doesn't stream nor download content from the internet.
- It is available for free for the duration of the judging period.
- It can be downloaded for the duration of the judging period.
- For clarification, a desktop application is an application that isn't a web application.
- Something that embeds a web game into a binary desktop application, like electron or tauri is allowed. However, please keep in mind that some of these tools, like electron for example, will blow up the size of the executable way past the 4mb limit, so alternatives like tauri should be preferred.
Games are ranked by judges. Games are ranked using a point system which incorporates different categories. There are 3 categories with 5 points each; Gameplay, Theme and Size. However, there's a double standard for size; Size points are worth double in the total score.
Ranking for gameplay and theme is entirely subjective; the number of points awarded is up to each judge. However ranking for size is mostly objective; there is a predetermined number of points to be awarded for each tier of size and the judge may add decimals for how impressive that size is according to their own judgement. Here is the size tiers and their corresponding points:
| Size tier | Points (Min) | Points (Max) |
|---|---|---|
| > 1MB | 0 | 0.99 |
| <= 1MB | 1 | 1.99 |
| <= 512KB | 2 | 2.99 |
| <= 256KB | 3 | 3.49 |
| <= 128KB | 3.5 | 3.99 |
| <= 64KB | 4 | 4.49 |
| <= 32KB | 4.5 | 5 |
The final score is obtained by the average rank given by each judge. Total Score = Gameplay + Theme + Size * 2
Libraries, frameworks and runtimes also count towards size unless they're already installed on either a stock Windows or Ubuntu machine. Those are:
- Windows 10 or 11 only
- Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS
An example of something that doesen't count is the Java runtime, because there's a JVM shipped with Ubuntu. Although Java isn't installed on Windows by default, it is pre-installed in Ubuntu. Thus, as a matter of fairness, JVM won't be counted for windows either.
An example of something that does count is the raylib game library, because it is installed on neither Windows nor Ubuntu by default.
Executable packers like upx are allowed.
If you're using a compiled language, you should submit a binary. You can just submit your source code with a build script, but if that build script fails or if the judge doesn't want to run your build script, then the judge is free to not evaluate your submission.
Participants are allowed to work in groups of any size.