The Minigame Court

Threat of Demolition

Have we lost too much momentum now, making it impossible to recover? Or was the failure of the last minigame a simple case of bad timing? Is the Court worth maintaining if it is only going to get new minigames three or four times a year, rather than a constant stream? I have no qualms in retiring it if it's served its purpose.

Photo Frenzy! Sacred Buildings

This game of Photo Frenzy! takes as its theme Sacred Buildings. Submit links to photographs of sacred buildings (on Flickr, personal sites, blogs etc. but please, not on Facebook) in the comments to enter into one of the following two categories:

• Most Beautiful Sacred Building
• Ugliest Sacred Building

Each player may enter each category once.

Deadline for entries is Thursday 31st December 2009. All entries posted with a timestamp on or before this date will be eligible for entry. Polls for each category will begin running in early 2010.

Full rules can be found on the Photo Frenzy! rules page.

The buildings in question need not be sacred to you, they could be sacred to other people (so Christians can submit pictures of Mosques, and atheists can submit pictures of Hindu temples), but you are also free to submit buildings sacred to you for whatever reason you judge. (So, for instance, if you are secularly minded you could submit a picture of a library as a sacred building, on the grounds that you considered the library to be sacred). If it's not immediately clear why the building is sacred, please explain.

Each category will be judged by poll vote starting in January 2010. Winners in each category will get their name, and a link to the winning photo, added to the Virtual Cup.

Good luck!

Minigame Drought

Apologies for the lack of minigames... I've been busy, and the minigames are the natural casualty. I will run a game of Photo Frenzy! sometime this Summer, hopefully, but I must get everything else up to speed first.

I also wonder if it wouldn't make more sense to leave The Minigame Court fallow in the Summer, when people are off enjoying the world and thus escaping from the internet for a few months.

What do you think?

Winner: Bezman

The Virtual Cup has now been inscribed with the name and victory link for the I Spy... Loading Screens minigame. You can view the cup by clicking here, or on its image in the sidebar.

Congratulations to Bezman for his undefeated record at I Spy!

Summon Bezman

Post to summon Bezman. He will appear and win any game of I Spy that is taking place, then fail to leave a victory link.

The unstoppable Bezman is a demon from beyond space and time, whose native dimension consists of pure game logic. With his unstoppable tenacity and a gargantuan appetite for victory, many a mage has been fooled into thinking that summoning Bezman will save them, only to bring doom upon themselves...

PS: Still need your victory link, Bezman

Rules of Photo Frenzy!

Each game of Photo Frenzy! will consist of a competition to find the photos that by poll vote are deemed the best examples of the category in question. Each competition consists of one theme, within which there may be multiple categories. The player or players who submit links to photos which are voted the best examples will be the winner(s).

For example, a game of Photo Frenzy! might have seaside photos as its theme, and the categories might be Bluest Water and Scariest Cliff. Players then post links to photos to enter into the poll vote, and whoever's photo is voted the best example of the category in question wins.

Photos can be posted at Flickr, a personal blog, or any other site, but must be entered as links.

For the Rules Lawyers

Number of Entries

Each player may only enter only one photo for each category, but they may enter a different photo for each category in any given game.

Copyright

Players are strongly encouraged to submit their own photographs, but are free to submit other people's photographs, under the terms of the "fair use" legislation.

Qualifying Conditions

Since winners are to be determined by vote enforcement of qualifying conditions shall not be formally enforced. However, the umpire may exclude any photo they consider inappropriate, with this decision being the umpire's exclusive purview.

Poll Votes

Votes shall be tallied using the Vizu poll applet. Thumbnails of the photos will be shown in the poll.
IP addresses and locations are logged - vote stuffers will be disqualified. Polls for each category will be run sequentially, with a winner declared after each poll.

Polls will be run for approximately one week, subject to logistical considerations beyond the umpire's control.

Heats

In the event that the number of photos submitted exceeds a reasonable number to be displayed in the Vizu applet, the contest shall be arranged into multiple heats. The winners in qualifying voting rounds will go on to be voted in a final heat to determine the winning photograph.

Winner & Prizes

It is expected that each game will consist of 2-3 categories, with the polls for each run in sequence. Each category produces a winner who will get to inscribe their name onto the Virtual Cup, along with a link to the photo as their victory link.
 
Under construction. Please feel free to discuss these rules in the comments!

Each game of Photo Frenzy! will consist of a competition to find the photos that by poll vote are deemed the best examples of the category in question. Each competition consists of one theme, within which there may be multiple categories. The player or players who submit links to photos which are voted the best examples will be the winner(s).

For example, a game of Photo Frenzy! might have seaside photos as its theme, and the categories might be Bluest Water and Scariest Cliff. Players then post links to photos to enter into the poll vote, and whoever's photo is voted the best example of the category in question wins.

Photos can be posted at Flickr, a personal blog, or any other site, but must be entered as links.

For the Rules Lawyers

Number of Entries

Each player may only enter only one photo for each category, but they may enter a different photo for each category in any given game.

Copyright

Players are strongly encouraged to submit their own photographs, but are free to submit other people's photographs, under the terms of the "fair use" legislation.

Qualifying Conditions

Since winners are to be determined by vote enforcement of qualifying conditions shall not be formally enforced. However, the umpire may exclude any photo they consider inappropriate, with this decision being the umpire's exclusive purview.

Poll Votes

Votes shall be tallied using the Vizu poll applet. Thumbnails of the photos will be shown in the poll.
IP addresses and locations are logged - vote stuffers will be disqualified. Polls for each category will be run sequentially, with a winner declared after each poll.

Polls will be run for approximately one week, subject to logistical considerations beyond the umpire's control.

Heats

In the event that the number of photos submitted exceeds a reasonable number to be displayed in the Vizu applet, the contest shall be arranged into multiple heats. The winners in qualifying voting rounds will go on to be voted in a final heat to determine the winning photograph.

Winner & Prizes

It is expected that each game will consist of 2-3 categories, with the polls for each run in sequence. Each category produces a winner who will get to inscribe their name onto the Virtual Cup, along with a link to the photo as their victory link.
 
Under construction. Please feel free to discuss these rules in the comments!

Results: I Spy... Loading Screens

Here are the results for the I Spy... Loading Screens minigame, which finished on 24^th April 2009 I have listed all the nominations in order, even the ones that didn't score because they were never verified.

    Using only blue colours:
        Uplink (Andrew 3, Bezman 2)

    Using only green colours:
        Fallout 3 (Andrew 3, Bezman 2)

    Using only red colours:
        Bushido Blade (Bezman, never verified)
        BC Rearmed (Bezman, never verified)
        Dungeon Siege 2 (Katherine 2, Bezman 1)

    Displaying a cat:   
        Chu Chu Rocket (Bezman, never verified)
        A Game With a Kitty (Katherine 3, Bezman 2)

    Displaying a bicycle:
        No sightings!

    Playing music:
        GTA: San Andreas (Andrew 3, Bezman 2)
        Hinterland (Andrew, never verified)
        Last Ninja (Bezman 2, Andrew 1)
        Civilization 4 (Andrew 2, Katherine 1)
        World of Warcraft (Katherine 2, Bezman 1)

    Featuring a minigame you play while the main game loads:
        Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars/Circle of Blood
         (Duncan 3, Bezman 2)
        Tekken (Ben 3, Bezman 2)

    Lasting longer than 1 minute:
        Warhammer: Mark of Chaos (Andrew 3, Bezman 2)
        Arkanoid on ZX Spectrum (Bezman, never verified)
        Skool Daze on ZX Spectrum (Bezman, never verified)

    Lasting less than 1 second:
        GTA3 (Andrew 3, Bezman 2)
        Deus Ex (Andrew, never verified)
        World of Warcraft (Katherine 2, Bezman 1)

    Showing an advertisement:
        Portal Defenders (Bezman 3, Andrew 2)

    Stating "Now Loading":
        Mad World (Bezman, never verified)
        Every Extend Extra Extreme (Bezman, never verified)

    Stating "Please Wait":
        Xbox 360 Update Screen (Bezman, never verified)

Final Scores

• Bezman 2+2+1+2+2+2+1+2+2+2+2+1+3 = 24 points
• Andrew 3+3+3+1+2+3+3+2= 20 points
• Katherine 2+3+1+2+2 = 10 points
• Duncan 3 = 3 points
• Ben 3 = 3 points
  

            Winner: The Unstoppable Bezman!

Please let me know which “victory link” you want inscribed on the Virtual Cup in the comments!

A new minigame will begin in May 2009.

I Spy... Loading Screens

How many videogame loading screens can you spot in the target categories below?

Rules

To score points, you must post comments stating which videogames have loading screens which fit into the target categories below. For the purpose of this game, a loading screen is anything displayed on screen when the game is first loading, or during any subsequent loading sequences.

Players are limited to one comment per day. This comment can nominate up to two (2) sightings and verify any number of sightings. Any additional comments will be marked void and not counted for scoring.

The game ends on 25th April 2009 - all comments with a timestamp on or before the 24th will count.

Scoring:

• 3 points for nominating the oldest verified sighting of each target.
• 2 points for the verification that goes with the above.
  
• 2 points for nominating additional sightings of a particular target, when verified
  
• 1 point for the verification that goes with each additional sighting.
  

Each sighting thus scores once for the nominator (3 points for the oldest-reported sighting for each target, 2 points for each other sighting of that target), and once for the verifier (2 points for the verification of the oldest-reported sighting of that target, 1 point for verifying each additional sighting of that target).

Complete rules are available here.

Because you only score points if your sightings are verified, really obscure sightings are less likely to score than really obvious sightings - but then, with internet players the reverse is sometimes true!

Prize

The winner will have their name inscribed on the Virtual Cup, along with a link of their choosing.

Target Categories

The following are the categories you can score in. Have you spotted loading screens with the following attributes...

• Using only blue colours*
• Using only green colours*
• Using only red colours *
• Displaying a cat
• Displaying a bicycle
• Playing music
• Featuring a minigame you play while the main game loads
• Lasting longer than 1 minute
• Lasting less than 1 second
• Showing an advertisement
• Stating "Now Loading"
• Stating "Please Wait"

*The screens can also use black and white, provided the only chromatic colours used are those listed.

Remember: one comment per day, with up to two (2) sightings but any number of verifications. Game ends when the timestamp switches to 25th April 2009. Good luck!

Rules Update: I Spy

The Rules of "I Spy" have been updated as follows:

• Only 2 sightings per day (previously 3)
• One post per day, not one post per 24 hours

These changes are in line with suggestions made by Bezman. Does this rules update mean a new game of I Spy is about to begin...?

Winners: Matt and Neil

The Virtual Cup has now been inscribed with the name and victory links for the Superlative: Longest Running Player and Prognosticate: Longest Running Player minigames. You can view the cup by clicking here, or on its image in the sidebar.

Congratulations to both winners! More minigames soon.