Thank you, I think I was lucky with this game jam, between engagement with my game and the community.

I entered the game jam on a whim, not having any real confidence as to how I'd do.  When I noticed other people posting in the forum that it was their first jam, I followed suit not knowing the normal flow of a jam or whether or not people would be responsive to the "I'm new at this" post.

After the ratings went live and I started to get some feedback, which was reassuringly positive, I noticed the option to go through games without ratings.  To me it made sense to focus on those games as there are a lot of people like me doing their first jam, and didn't think it would be fair for my game to get some attention, while others missed out as I had the time to engage with the forum at the start of the week (retail jobs are terrible for weekends, but you get time in the week that others don't).

I really appreciate the engagement I've had in this jam, and the feedback.  I have got the chance to play some interesting games all in various points of completion and some with very interesting concepts.  And I have had the chance to engage with some positive people who all seem to appreciate, not only making their own games, but trying to support others wanting to make games.

I don't know if all game jams are like this one, but as experiences go, this has been a good one to start with.