Entrants rate games on the following criteria for Developers Choice, which also serve as a guideline to determine Judges Choice:

Fun/Design: Enjoyment of the game. Are the mechanics interesting? Do I want to play more?

Technical Implementation: Polish and complexity. Does the game push technical boundaries or have special tech to stand out? Are there few, if any, bugs and typos?

Music/Sound: Audio presentation. How well does the music/sound fit the game? Max 4 stars if external assets used.

If the game is primarily narrative text with no audio, replace this with tone and language. Does the text flow smoothly? Is dialogue so realistic you can hear it?

Graphics/Animation: Visual presentation. How clean/consistent does it look? Are animations fluid? Is there clear understanding of color, contrast, and other visual skills? Max 4 stars if external assets used.

If the game is primarily narrative text with no graphics, replace this with imagery. Are the characters, situations, and setting vivid?

Theme/Limitation: Implementation of jam theme and limitation. Is the theme prevalent? How unusual is the interpretation? How strictly does the game follow the requirement? Out-of-the-box thinking on the theme (not taking it literally) will score more points.