Probably! The [Spring Thing] rules are somewhat vague [on that point].
Letās contemplate the rules:
All entries must be previously unreleased at the opening of judging.** By āunreleasedā, we generally mean that a qualifying entry has never been widely distributed, sold, or made available for public play or download prior to the competition.
Note that this rule does not prevent you from having your game tested by a few beta-testers** , as long as you know who each of those beta-testers are. The author must know who has had access to copies of their games before the competition. If you have placed a version of your game on the web, then the link to to play or download the game cannot have been publicly handed out.
Personally, I donāt consider a demo, or an intro, as being the same nature of the complete work. Of course, the rules must be interpreted, but not for us.
I would say, also, that in our days with demos, intros, and overall, early-access, a hard interpretation of the rules isā¦ like behind 5 or 10 years. But it is ok for the comp to evolve slowly.
I remember when Shattered Memory was disqualified in 2001. That started some debate about the convenience of allowing translations. But it was not until 2014 that translations were allowed, as documented here:
Soā¦ Thatās how a community growsā¦ slowly. And thatās fine.
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