I know lots of authors and reviewers are only really around this forum during IFComp season. For those of you who aren’t aware, there are a variety of IF-related events going on year-round that you can participate in!
- ECTOCOMP is the community’s annual spooky competition. Participate as an author, reviewer, and/or voter. Submissions are open now, and voting will begin on November 1.
- The Short Games Showcase will open to submissions on November 23. The playing/voting period will begin in January. Games are ranked on a 1-5 scale, and there are special award categories you can nominate in.
- Early next year (probably in February), I’m planning to run a Rate-a-thon event during which people will be encouraged, perhaps through a friendly competition, to enter IFDB ratings for works they’ve played. I’ll announce more details sometime in the next few months.
- Spring Thing runs annually in April to mid-May, with intents to enter typically accepted during March. Per the website, it’s “a smaller, more informal counterweight” to IFComp. If you like receiving feedback on your work but don’t love the super-competitive aspect of IFComp, Spring Thing might be a good fit for you; you’ll get reviews of your work without the numerical scores.
- Review-a-thon will take place in July. This is an annual event I organize to spur reviews of games released outside of the big community events, as these games typically don’t get the same level of attention that IFComp or Spring Thing games get. Both new and old works are welcome!
These are just a few of the events you can join as an author/reviewer/player outside of IFComp. Anyone should feel free to shout out ones I didn’t include in the replies!