The first competition had separate sections for Inform and TADS games. Subsequent competitions have not been divided into sections and are open to games produced by any method, provided that the software used to play the game is freely available.
Anyone can judge the games, and anyone can donate a prize. Almost always, there are enough prizes donated that anyone who enters will get one.
Entries are required to be released as freeware or public domain, reflecting the general non-profit ethos of the IF community.
In addition to the main competition, the entries take part in the Miss Congeniality contest, where the participating authors vote for three games (not including their own). This was started in 1998 to distribute that year's surplus prizes; this additional contest has remained unchanged since then, even without the original reason for its existence.
The following is a list of winners to date: