Hello! This is my first Game + Game Jam ever!

Question:

1. how rates work?
2. is it allowed to edit and fix game bugs and other stuff, like does it affect something?
3. some of the games have good amount of rates, and some have tiny, does it mean those who have more rates, have the opportunity to win ?
4. if I played and rated games without adding feedbacks, will I get more rates or it's not the matter ?

please don't forget while reading to * Time.deltaTime;

Happy Game Jamming! :)

1. I don't know myself

2.no only if its game breaking stuff that needs to be fixed but there's nothing wrong with updates AFTER the jam/rating period

3. Yes you need atleast 20 rating in this jam to have a chance to win

4.I don't know although I think it's always better to leave a comment because that way the developer learns and people might play your game

1 and 3. This jam requires you to have 20+ rates. Itch.io algoritm also penalize games that have less rates than the median (but it probably doesn't matter because of the 20 rates cap of this jam).

2. This jam only allows game breaking bug fixes.

4. By default the "submissions" page is random, so just rating games doesn't help you getting more rates. There is a "sorting by karma" option that sort according to number or rates and feedbacks posted, but idk how many people are using it as it is a bit hidden. I think the best way to get rates is to write feedbacks and hope that the dev rates you back.

1. Games are rated in 6 categories from 1 to 5. Once the rating period is over I assume there will be winners per category and overall score winners. Though Im not really sure how it exactly works, this is just my assumption.
2. According to this jam's rules, you can only edit game-breaking stuff, like something that makes it impossible to play the game or the sort. Once the rating period is over I think you can do whatever you want with the game.
3. As others said, you need at least 20 rating to be able to win. Now, I don't know how the rating's overall score and quantity affects the final score.
4. Usually, people try games of people that tried theirs and wrote feedback, its not a sure thing, but its more probable. There are also posts on the community section for people to share their games to be rated. Also, I don't think people get notified in any way if their game was rated, only when feedback/comments are written, so just rating games doesnt do much if you want their attention. All in all, If you want people to try and rate your game, interact with the community, write feedbacks, etc.

Thank y'all for the help and replies, I'll do my best!

for the edits:

I want to edit the game's page, thumbnail...

also in the game I realized that I should add cursor mode to locked or confined for web GL Gameplay

and found a glitch that player can cheat to know if he/she will loose or not