EDIT: humorously as the Judging for the Jam started I realized that we can not actually do half stars like I thought. as such I will be editing an amended 5 star rating system and then including the half star version at the end for posterity haha.

While Running my first Jam I’ve had time to think through my thoughts on rating other works, and so I’m placing them here, with my submission, so I can refer others back to it when needed!

A Ratings Rubric

Ratings at their core are about turning a highly subjective feeling into a more objective benchmark. saying “my subjective thoughts are X out of 100” sets relative understanding both for what is being judged and by what standard.

It is important when rating to attempt to “calibrate” your personal subjective opinions towards a more rigid/shared high watermark. To that end I am offering my personal rubric for judging Art & Media in general, in the hopes of creating a more consistent metric.

5 Star Rating

Using a 5 star system (without half stars, sadly) I find it easiest to have some centering phrases in mind while rating:

5 Stars - Excellent – one of the best here relative to the field

4 Stars - Great – not perfect but above average, parts or moments of Excellence.

3 Stars - Good — Never reaches great but a solid average.

2 Stars - Poor - Has some parts that work but its flaws are evident. often times disappointing because you can see the good they were going for but ultimately missed.

1 Star - Bad – The flaws here outweigh the merits, might have something of worth for the right person, but not for me… This needs a “page 1 re-write” to make it work.

NOTE: You may notice that the “Curve” of this rating is not the same as school-style grading, where anything below a 70 is awful. I find that grading system ends up becoming very binary, crushing all of the good things into a small space and having a very large portion that equates to failure… Following the centering phrases above should hopefully give more room at the top for shades of greatness, while still allowing people to be critical… and on that note:

Constructive Criticism

While a good portion of people who join a Game Jam compete to be seen as having made something great by their peers; Plenty of others come to a Jam to challenge themselves, to push their skills, to reach for something, and to have accountability as they do so! While we want to reward those who have made something excellent we don’t want to do so at the cost of the morale of those who were reaching but might have over extended themselves, or whose concepts couldn’t quite become realized…

When rating anything below 2.5 stars, take time to consider what you would have done differently. What possible solutions could be implemented? What encouragement could be offered so that they might take their flawed piece and refine it into something excellent in the future? What will encourage them, if not with this project, then on future projects. Attempt to offer this criticism in private, where others can’t “Dogpile” on an issue.

And lastly, to those receiving criticism, be gracious and listen to what someone had to say (they took the time to try to help you make something great) even if you disagree with their thoughts it can be helpful information! Not all criticism is correct, but all criticism offers you something. Either: A. You recognize the faults they are pointing out and can come up with solutions to make a better product. OR B. You disagree with their assessment, which forces you to think about WHY you wrote/designed/created something in the way you did, and might lead you to question “why did they see it as ____” and “is there a way I can better get across what I was trying to go for?”

We are all here to learn (even those who are here to compete!) so lets keep the community going by offering good sound judgment of our peers’ works! And Congratulations! You either achieved your goal and made something, or you attempted to, and that is to be commended!

Get out there and make more cool things!

Edit: original 5 star (with half stars) rating suggestions:

Using a 5 star system with half stars. I find it easiest to have some centering phrases in mind while rating:

5 Stars - Perfect – one of the best examples of the art form I’ve ever encountered.

4.5 Stars - Excellent – nitpicks are the only things keeping this from being perfect.

4 Stars - Great – not perfect but well above average (likely parts of which are perfect.)

3.5 Stars - Very Good – does what it set out to do well and has moments of true greatness.

3 Stars - Good — Never reaches great but above average.

2.5 Stars - Solid – This is Average, does what it came to do, has some good moments but largely is just serviceable.

2 Stars - Okay - flawed in some ways but still has merit.

1.5 Stars - Poor - Might have some things that work but the flaws are glaring.

1 Star - Bad – The flaws here outweigh the merits, might have something of worth for the right person, but not for me… This needs a “page 1 re-write” to make it work.

0.5 Star - Awful – This idea doesn’t work in any way, and should be left behind…