Cool, I'm in the finals :)

I'm excited to be in the finals!!

Miles and I will be updating Space Kitty soon, sorry to keep everyone waitng. We're grappling with other deadlines, and we both worked through the weekend on those projects. Soon, soon... Thanks for your patience!

Congratulations to all the finalists, you definitely deserve it!
And thanks for all the updates! I checked the individual threads and almost invariably ALL user feedback has been taken care of, great work! I can't wait to try out the new versions...

Well done to all finalists! Bit disappointed that Decon didn't make it as I've been looking for a colourful bubble blowing fix since I finished playing boomshine for the billionth time, but all the games that have been shortlisted are awesome!
Is it me or is the standard getting higher?

I loved all of the games, but one of my favorites, Angular Momentum, needs to get updated. That sticking problem is annoying, but otherwise it is a magnificent game!

Some of these games are unquestionably great, but I have to say that I liked the overall collection of games for the "Grow" and "Replay" competitions better. Now, this may be due to my own personal preferences, since I skew much more towards puzzles than action, and I was already groaning internally when Jay first introduced the ball physics theme.

Regardless, congrats to all of the finalists. My favorites are Factory Balls, Roll, Bobteds, Angular Momentum, and Ballistic Wars (my winner, by far).

Also, I'm curious, did the games get posted in the order that they were received? I was definitely running out of steam to play new games by the end of the entries, so I hope that those who submitted earlier were rewarded by more eyeballs.

Yay I'm in! :D Congrats to all the others who are shortlisted!

I encourage everyone to play Ballistic Wars again. Same concept, speedier gameplay with a more polished interface. Try it even though you completed all levels in the previous version.

May the best game win!

Save the Planet wins my votage for two reasons:

1) Its gameplay is highly addictive to me
2) I felt smart when I realized I was the first to suggest bonus points from combos, and this boosts my self esteem (not really, but it is pretty awesome to realize the combo suggestion I made was implemented and really improved the game, at least to me.)

w00t fact0ry balls made it!!

when (or if) you fininsh, watch the whole ending and read his credits. Lol

I think we had some really strong entries this competition. Congratulations to all the finalists!

Contours gets my vote, in large part because of the amazing level editor. If you only played the in-game levels, go check out the comments thread for custom levels by Brian, myself, and others. There are a lot of cool levels to be played.

My favorite is Chap Hai - Way of the Dragon. It has a certain feeling that appeals to me,
the wooden background with the dragons, the red & yellow marbles and the mixed sound of stone and wood when the marbles are set into motion. Among the finalists, i think this game has the best artistic design and theme.
The game itself has a nice mix of skill, strategy and luck. The first few levels are relatively easy, you get to know the game and its philosophy. After that,it gets harder. But since the boards at each level are organized as they are (there are some thoughts behind there relative order and appearance, great job there!), you will gain enough experience in order to complete the levels. I have been playing this game for a while now (maybe to much...) and i will keep on playin' it until i reach that final board. Great game and good luck in the final.

I love me some independent game developers. You all rock!

Thanks for adding Particle Blaster :D

Wan Hazmer: Just checked out the new UI on Ballistic Wars. Great job! It looks like you fixed almost all of my complaints, except the one about the pony.

I look forward to trying out some of the other games that have been updated. ☺

OMG - i can't believe Roped didn't even make the final 28.
i thought it was great. Jay, is there any way i can make a small donation to it despite the fact it's ineligible for the audience award?

some great games in the final nevertheless. i've got about 6 favourites, with Sky Blocs top of the heap; i'm just a puzzle freak!

I just read your entry all the way through, Jay. I hope that in future competitions, even if you pre-select certain entries for representation, you will make all entered games available to us either by mirrored hosting or by link. All the entries in this competition deserved some attention and I think it'll be the same for the next one!

Good point Scramble 125, I agree that even the ones that I didn't like so much I really appreciated playing or at least attempting to play. Maybe at the end of the competition so that it doesn't overwhelm the main one. Then again I see how tricky that'll be...

Anyhow

WELL DONE EVERYONE, top class games and thanks for all the hours I've wasted this last week exploring your efforts. I really appreciate it!

I love Absolute Awesome Ball Game and consider it my favorite for its replayability and addictiveness. Still, I really enjoyed most of the games in this contest, and wish good luck to the finalists!

Not sure of the best place to post this... but...
Jay, I wonder if you might consider making the flash games full-screen? I always go through the process of viewing the source, copying the URL and pasting the .swf file URL in the browser window for full-screen. However, it would be relatively simple for you to implement from your end.

Here's what it would require (all pretty easy to do):
1. Allow the window to be resizable. It is possible to set a default width/height and allow the window to still be resizable at the same time.
2. Remove all html except for the flash file.
3. Set the flash file to 100% height and width so it fills the entire screen.
4. At that point, you may want to add the jayisgames text to the flash file itself (because it's now gone).
5. If you are worried about performance, well, the window still defaults to the same size, so there is no performance issues by default. However, you could add a notice telling people that they can resize their window or make it fullscreen for more viewing area and, but watch out for performance issues if they do so.

Hey Jay - I'm really pleased that Roll made the finalists - thanks a lot :)

I'm afraid I didn't have a chance to make any changes to the game, I hope that isn't held against me. I enjoyed the process and wish all the other finalists well. I'm looking forward to seeing the final results.

Aaaargh, I don't have time to test them all! I want to play but I don't have time to do that :(

So far I think that Angular Momentum & Space Kitteh are the best. These games seem to have it: a real taste of ball kinetics and flavour of "replay value" ;)

Is there any way to play the old versions? Although I like actually having a chance to beat the final level of Ballonius, the new music seems really out of character.

Hi, Jay and everyone else behind the competition!

Thanks for putting my game through to the final as well. I agree with most of the messages here, there have been so many great games this time around! Good luck to everyone!

TFD

meh, i figure i will post this here too :D

Sweet--voting time :)

I do, however, want to point out two things.
First, everyone should vote! It is only one dollar--which is 1/10 of the cost of a movie, for (presumably) many more hours of fun. Not only that, but each of these developers and designers have put TONS of work into their games, and it is only with your support that you will be able to continue to play such amazing games.

The other thing I wanted to address was that, in addition to voting for your favorite game(s), I would suggest making a small donation to Jay's site as well. The reason why is that he and the rest of the JIG team have put in an extreme amount of work (between making the game UI, getting sponsors, answering questions, moderating comments, and all the other million things that go into this competition to make it a success--it is literally a full time job!). To do this, select *Vote for multiple submissions* and then in the comments section specify the amount you will be donating to the site. Through this small contribution, it is a way to give your thanks for all the fun this past week or so has given you.

If you are unable to do the above, then I am sure you can find other ways to contribute.... ;)

I just figured it was something that needed to be said :D

Anyhow, off to go replay these great games to see who I will be voting for!

I voted for 2 because I just couldn't choose!
Thank you all for the great games!!