Strategy genre only. Not Tactics. Not Tower defense. Nor MOBA, nor cards... Only Strategy games. Turn-Based or RTS or...maybe, like, God Games qualify, though barely.
Every single game in existence... ever, has had some element of strategy involved. The word "game" and the word "strategy" may as well be synonyms. A game without strategy? That is not a game, it is merely a toy. And, yet, a gaming genre has risen and defined itself as worthy of an independent and rightful inclusion , as a distinct category, in the greater- "World of Gaming"...
And, so, what makes the notion of a "strategy game" unique and not just, like... a commonly overlooked and redundant colloquialism, like, it's so common in our common languages. It's like, saying, like... "game game"!! Or, like, "the game gaming genre"
Thus, it must be discerned...you know. like, what qualities and criteria doth thy"strategy game" deem requisite for it to be called such?
The general public will vote on a 1st, a 2nd, and a 3rd place winner, over a two week period after the jam. But, I will decide which of the submissions will be voted on. If there are enough submissions (at least 5, which would make 3rd place only win a dollar), money will be rewarded to the three winners according to the number of people who actually submit, a complete game. It doesn't have to be really long or massive, or have multiplayer or anything super fancy. but it also can't be broken, a sloppy mess or otherwise incomplete.
I will award 1 dollar per eligible submission up to 100 submissions, and then I double that for a maximum potential pool of 200 bucks, divided thusly:
1st place wins 60%
2nd place wins 30%
3rd place wins 10%
So, for example if by the deadline there are 28 people joined and 26 twenty-six submissions qualify for a total of 52 dollars:
1st, 2nd and 3rd will receive 32, 16, and 4 respectively. I will send the money via PayPal, only.
The most important factor of a game, in my opinion, is playability! And, while a playable game does mean that it's functional or operational, it's not what I meant. What I mean is that you actually want to play with it, that it may inspire and entertain you because you can try new things and learn and most of all it's fun... not for just a few days, or even for a few months..
That having been said, like, come on. let the games be ventured!
If you are uncertain or unclear on these terms, and you wish to submit a game that has a lot of strategy, but it may not classify under this jams theme/criteris, please, include a well argued case and/or description to justify why your entry should be considered and I may consider exceptions.
Questions, comments or suggestions can be discussed on the Jam's community page