“Ahem.”

The host cleared his throat twice, signaling the audience to wake up as the main event was about to begin.

“Alright, next we’re moving on to the highlight of this competition—the judging segment. Please allow me to reiterate the rules of this contest.”

“All of you in the audience have received a tablet for evaluation, on which the games of the twenty contestants have been installed.”

Adam Brooks looked around and saw that there was a tablet fixed to the desk in front of each audience member—everyone had one. As soon as the host finished speaking, all the tablets powered on simultaneously.

“You may choose any of the games on the tablet to try out, with a time limit of one hour. Meanwhile, our big screen will display brief introductions to each game.”

“When you exit a game, you can choose [Recommend] or [Not Recommend]. To recommend means you’d be willing to share this game with your friends.”

“Our three judges will also be trying out these twenty games during this period.”

“In one hour, we’ll tally the total playtime and number of recommendations for each game, and use these as the basis for the rankings.”

“After that, we’ll move on to the judges’ commentary. Once the judges have finished their comments, the audience will get another chance to choose [Recommend] or [Not Recommend] for each game.”

“Finally, the game with the highest combined total of playtime and recommendations will have its designer crowned as the champion of this game design competition!”

The host’s tone shifted as he emphasized, “However, there’s one more thing for all contestants to note. If, after the top game is selected, all three judges unanimously disapprove, it will be disqualified immediately, and the original second place will become first, and so on.”

“Is everyone clear on the rules?”

“Alright, then the one-hour trial period starts now!”

There was no need for the host to announce it—audience members had already eagerly started playing.

Adam Brooks was already familiar with these rules, which was why he was a bit worried about the three judges.

In this judging system, the audience plays a crucial role, since their playtime and recommendations directly determine the game’s ranking.

However, the judges are even more important.

First, the judges have a commentary segment, and after that, the audience gets another round of voting.

In other words, the judges can steer public opinion. If two games have similar stats, and the judges lavish praise on one of them, the outcome is obvious.

Second, the judges have the ultimate veto power. If all three judges unanimously deem a game unqualified, then even if it ranks first, it will be disqualified on the spot.

This is probably out of respect for the professionalism of game design in this world, but in Adam Brooks’s view, this rule is pointless and rather foolish.

But since he was a contestant now, he could only follow the rules obediently.

At this moment, the big screen happened to be introducing Adam Brooks’s game.

Chapter 5: Can’t Help But Want to Click on This Game!

Most players didn’t start playing right away; instead, they watched the big screen, waiting for the host to introduce the games and only trying out the ones that seemed interesting.

The male host’s deep, resonant voice echoed through the venue.

“Designer No. 7, entry: FlappyBird.”

“In this game, players control a bird’s flight by tapping the screen, guiding it through obstacles. Each obstacle cleared earns the player one point.”

“The game features online connectivity and a ranking system. Yes, a ranking system.”

The host’s voice clearly faltered for a moment. It was obvious he wanted to say something grand to praise the game, but failed.

Despite his professionalism as a well-known host, he simply couldn’t find anything to compliment about this game, and ended up dryly repeating that it had online and ranking features.

Well, at least it’s an online game.

Laughter rippled through the audience. Indeed, some of the previous games were simple, but none were as basic as this one!

From the demo video on the big screen, it barely qualified as a game—but just barely!

The pixel art was atrocious.

There was no real gameplay to speak of.

There was only one mind-numbingly boring way to play.

Who would want to play this, seriously!

Now, let’s look at the three judges.

William Clark’s face was ashen.

Henry Green looked completely baffled.

Brian Cooper seemed incredulous, checking on his tablet to see if the game was really that simple.

Clearly, all three judges were thinking the same thing: “Is this even possible?”

How did a game like this make it past the preliminaries? What was the designer thinking?

The other contestants couldn’t help but laugh, their anxiety and tension completely eased.

Many were secretly watching to see who this No. 7 designer was. Was he really not afraid of becoming a laughingstock in the entire gaming community?

Adam Brooks sat upright, looking perfectly calm.

No one could tell that he was the No. 7 designer.