On Winning
The top five game ideas, based on votes and the host committee's decision, will present at the next event one week later. Once you present, the judges at the event will decide which creator will get the money. The $5,000 award is solely decided by the judges.
No, the ideas that win the vote are the ones that present at the next event. That is all. The $5,000 grant is decided solely by the judges once all of the presentations are heard.
Not really. The event was created for for-profit game ideas only. Judges want each presenter to use the $5,000 to move the game idea forward, even if it's a small move. If it appears the grant will be donated to the general fund of a non-profit, that presenter will not be chosen as a winner.
On Judging
Judges are looking for somebody with a really awesome game idea and a strategic next step that the game idea can take with a little money. Usually, they'll gravitate toward ideas that have the potential to grow.
Judges are chosen by event hosts from a diverse group of community stakeholders.
On Submitting
No. The host for the individual event forms a committee to make the final selection on which five ideas will present. The vote tally is strongly considered in the decision as an endorsement from the community, but the host committee selects the final five to present.
No. Views are only an indicator of how many visitors have looked at your game idea. Each visitor decides whether or not to vote. The vote tally is not made public to anyone outside of the event's committee that selects the final five presenters.
The deadline to both submit game ideas and vote on game ideas is one week prior to the event.
If you are chosen by the host committee to present your game idea, you will be notified by email within 48 hours from when submissions are closed on the website. Submissions that are not chosen to present will not receive an email notification.
No. The host for the individual event forms a committee to review ideas, consider the vote tallies, and make a final decision as to which five game ideas will be presented. It is up to the discretion of that host committee which five game ideas will be presented.
Any game idea submitted after the deadline is automatically in the running for the next event.
If your game idea was not chosen the month that you submitted it, you must resubmit the game idea for any future month.
The only way to submit a game idea for Indie All-Stars events is through the application form on FatBellyGaming.com.
Once you submit the application on FatBellyGaming.com, your idea proposal can be seen publicly and voted on by any logged in user. Game ideas can be submitted at any time.
If you are experiencing a submission loading error, it could be one of the following issues causing the problem:
- What browser and version are you using? FatBellyGaming.com is supported on the latest two versions of Internet Explorer on Windows, the latest versions of Chrome and Safari on Windows and Apple OSX, and the latest versions of Chrome and Safari on Android and Apple devices.
- Have you tried clearing your browser's cache?
- Have you double checked the vote page to make sure your idea was not submitted?
If you are still having troubles submitting your idea after you have eliminated the circumstances above, please email support@fatbellygaming.com to let us know that you are experiencing submission errors, and we will be happy to help!
On Voting
Yes, you may vote on up to five game ideas. You may change your vote at any time before the headline.
No, you may not vote more than once for the same game idea. If one game idea appears to have an unusual number of votes due to an attempt to game the system, it will be disqualified.
It was decided that Indie All-Stars is a platform to share game ideas. Therefore, it seemed a noble experiment to allow the very decision of which game ideas to present to come from the act of sharing them online, with as many people as possible, to win their votes.
On Cheating
If one idea appears to have an unusual number of votes due to an attempt to game the system, it will be.
The hosts of Indie All-Stars reserve the right to disqualify any proposal for any reason at any time.
On a Good Game Idea?
Keep it simple. Where do you come from and what do you do? Is there relevant experience you bring to your project? Do you have past successes which support your chance to be successful with this idea?
It should be simple and concise, but well thought out. How is it different than what exists on the market? (If you propose a first person shooter, be sure to show how you can compete with what's out there.) What are possible road blocks?
A good presenter has a smart way to use $5,000 to get traction. A proposal to add the $5,000 to a general operations budget will be dismissed.