Submissions are strongly encouraged to be mostly visual novel based, meaning the main interaction with the game is reading and observing on screen action. However hybrids are permitted and have found themselves among winners in the past.
In 2020, Therapy with Dr. Albert Kruger won 1st place, and has a number of mini-games relevant to the narrative of a patient dealing with a scary therapist.
In 2021, Stardander: Revenant won 2nd place, and had small combat and stat-raising segments built around a school narrative.
The submissions do not need to be complete to be a part of the jam, but complete entries are viewed more favorably in judgement on average.