Eeyore wrote: > I thought the purpose of using the coasters for the theme was to > see how many different games could be built using their attributes. > if that's too restrictive, maybe it's not such a good theme. > > If Martian Coasters is going to be the theme, "what that means" is > going to have to be clearly spelled out. There are two elements that need to be balanced: - Is the game good? - Does it follow the theme? Every judge is going to have to figure out how important each one of those is. I, personally, might base 25% of each game's score on its Martian Coaster-ness and 75% to all other aspects of the game put together. Maybe more, maybe less. I would hope that none of the judges use anything less than 10% for how well a game uses the theme. Given this, it's possible for, say Thin Ice, to score a 75 from me in this competition because it's a fan-FRAKIN-tastic game that IMO doesn't use the coasters at all. I would sure hope that a 75 isn't enough to be the winning score. But if it is, then yes I would turn in my rankings that way. I'd rather see an otherwise outstanding game win the competition than one that a crappy one that use colors, arrows, and mobility of the coasters. If a game that everyone agrees does not use the theme well does end up winning, then maybe Martian Coasters wasn't such a good theme to begin with. Each judge will just have to use whatever function they feel is most appropriate to combine gameplay and themeularity. Maybe someone will use an exponential -- who knows. BUT my point is this: Let the judges, NOT an administrator decide what qualifies as "staying true to the theme". It avoids a lot of potential ill will directed at any one person. Ryan