Up to an hour. Here is how things work basically. The first thing judges do is screening. We go through, play every game for 5-10 minutes, and drop ones that don't start, have massive flaws/bugs, etc.
Then any game that survives that goes to judging. Once a game goes to judging we will play it up to 1 hour. If it is longer than 1 hour, the judges no longer are obligated to continue playing (though if they enjoy it, they might anyway). Games will only be judged based on what the judge actually plays, so 45 min to 1 hour is about where you want to be probably.
i don't think 1 hour is fair especially for action genre. If you have to make a 45-60 minutes platformer/fighting/beat'em up/shoot'em up then you're most lilkely have to submit a finished game instead of a prototype.
ex: 1 stage in a beatemup game is probably only last for around 5 minutes.
