Wow thanks for the support everyone! I'm newer here so I'm not sure if it's tactful to be the first to comment but I had a lot of fun participating and wanted to make sure everyone got some feedback =) So here's my thoughts on the entries for what they're worth!

ISLAND INFLUENCE:
(no medal)
What I like: I like the propagation of goods mechanic. I'd like to see a mixture of cubes allowed to stay on one island after scoring as this would give the person who chooses an island a little more choice in strategy. In a longer game this could make for an interesting board, I'm not sure if 9 islands would be a long enough game for this but there's something there.

What I didn't like: The voting mechanic seems more like gambling to me. With the 'first two cubes of a matching color' process, the votes I put in have very little effect on the winning outcome. I don't see much of a rationale for actually voting, especially because the more likely a color is to win the fewer points I receive for it. I'd probably be better off keeping my cubes for the points, never voting and betting on what I see other people choose for their color.

ISLAND MERCHANTEER
(no medal)
What I like: It may seem like a small thing but I like the structure of voting. Last one to vote losing 2 gold makes for quick purposeful voting. I also like that the captain acts as a mediator for the process, it could be a fun strategy as captain to immediately call for a vote not giving anyone a chance say a word.

What I don't like: There aren't a lot of choices to be made. A player will generally buy whatever card is the cheapest, and vote for whatever island will offer then the most. There is very little anyone can do to persuade them otherwise. There's also just a little too much math involved in the buying and selling, I feel like I need a piece of paper and pencil to keep track of what I'm buying and selling for and net gains on various islands.

COMMUNITY ON THE BOUNTY
(no medal)
What I like: Trading. The trading is pretty much the back bone of the game, I think it's done fairly well. I think there's enough options trading for the losers of the sailing vote to find something to do and not feel too screwed.

What I don't like: Get rid of the option to ignore the chieftan. There's no reason to attempt it, especially with the dice roll adding such a huge handicap to attempting it. even in a five player game if everyone came to consensus to ignore him, it could be completely countered by the dice. Additionally, the penalty for voting to ignore him is too much of a risk for that small chance to stop one player from trying to trade (if two out of 5 players decide to trade it is impossible to ignore the chieftan due to the dice). Honestly I think my real problem is the dice itself. I don't mind it as much in the sailing phase, you could think of it like inclement weather but it does tend to undermine the voting aspect.

BEAT TO QUARTERS
(silver)
What I like: I really like the use of dice as ships. Using the dice pips to show remaining supplies is a great visual mechanic, its easy to look around the board and tell who's ships are in danger. I like the maneuvering for key choke points on the pirate's routes that is sure to happen. The Admiral is a nice perk for the vote, and the voting itself is very strategic. Players can plan a trip to port before a voting round, or they can try to sweep up points while others are away.

What I don't like: Some of the point numbers seem a little off, but this would need some play testing first. Also, the admiral's ability to control one other player's ship for a round needs a little toying with. Will the admiral also incur the negative effects of that ships actions? Or could I as admiral move someones ship further from a port it was going to resupply at, or towards one where a raid was about to happen to force them to take negative points, or would I receive the negative points in addition the the negative Admiral points.

Overall, very nice game concept, A good array of strategies that can be employed and the rules are well thought out. I gave this one silver only because I liked the theme of my gold choice's more.

CAPTAIN'S BOUNTY
(bronze)
What I like: I liked this game a lot for the same reasons I like the Munchkin series. You can get a big group of friends together and have fun arguing with each other and competing in semi-ridiculous card slapping competitions and holding friendly grudges against people who've wronged you. I wouldn't quite classify this as a party game but I think it would benefit from moving in that direction.

What I don't like: I would need to see an example of some of the role cards. Some of the example goals seem too easy to guess that a player might have it. For example a player with a collect X gold goal will be found out pretty quickly when he has a stack of cards in front of him. A player with a kill X players goal goes on a killing streak and suddenly can't fly under the radar when they're eventually forced to have to validate killing someone who isn't close to winning. I think the case of "I win if you vote for me or he wins if you don't kill him" will come up a lot, which is just a game of favorites.

I gave this game bronze because I can envision having fun playing it. Fun out of control drama. However the role cards will need some very careful balancing to avoid it become a game of picking your favorite friend to help.

FJORD PRIZE
(no medal)

To be honest, I really didn't understand this game at all. Too many rules and nebulous terms. I also couldn't find anything that related to the theme in it. Sorry, =/

RUBBER DUCK INVASION
(gold medal)
What I like: Firstly, I really like the theme. Are rubber ducks copyright? Secondly, I like the sheer number of ducks that will be on the board and the player controlled setup. It makes for a very interesting board layout throughout the game. I also felt the wind mechanic is well done, and the ability to also have individual movement gives players enough control, but also enough wiggle room to mess with others.

What I don't like: The only thing I would like to see changed is the free for all placement of islands initially. I don't want to get rid of it but I think there needs to bee some guidelines or restrictions to placement. Islands themselves could have a different effect for different players. This way people could try to position islands strategically instead of arbitrarily. Maybe an island would give points to the player who placed it based on how many OTHER players ducks end up on it, then the player could try for a wind strategy. Or an island that was worth points for however many other islands are in the same column. Some things to think about.

I gave this one gold for the replayability of the game and the theme. I think there's a lot that can be done with the basic premise and the voting aspect makes sense to me, it doesn't seem contrived.

JELLY DRIFTERS
(no medal)
What I like: I also liked the theme of this one. It actually shares quite a bit with my gold medalist but just doesn't do enough in terms of strategy for me. However, it is a very friendly game for younger players and those of us with kids. There's a lot to offer here in a classroom setting. Learning coordinates, matching, directions, and planning can all be focused if you wanted to tailor this game for a younger audience.

What I don't like: Personally, I felt like the voting mechanic being the ONLY efficient way to move your jelly was too simplified. I feel like until someone is getting close to winning there's no reason for other players to try to thwart them, especially because in tie votes everyone gets to just do what they wanted anyway. The extra discard mechanic is just too costly to seem very useful. The game overall just seems too random and luck based for me.

Well that's it! I'll be excited to read what others thought and even more so to see what next month's theme will be.

- Brian

Kudos to everyone who made the effort to submit board or card mockups. I failed to do this for my entry, but appreciated it in the other entries.

Sorry these comments are a bit terse... I thought it would be better to post short critiques than wait until I had the time for longer ones.

###Entry 1: Island Influence

I found the theme uninspiring. The voting mechanic is a neat one, but probably too random to form the central basis of a strategic or tactical game. Betting on a lot of events with high variance doesn't appeal so much to me.

###Entry 2: Island Merchanteer

A simple and effective-looking trading simulation. Unfortunately - even though my entry was also a trading game - I'm not wild about trading games. I'm guessing this game requires too much mental arithmetic for my taste. Hard to tell how much the voting mechanic will add to the game.

###Entry 3: Commutiny on the Bounty

My entry. I'm interested that the two people who have critiqued it so far think that ignoring the chieftain is too risky and should never be chosen. But paradoxically, if that was how most people played the game, then ignoring the chieftain would be 100% risk-free (it's only risky when over 50% of players might pick it). In other words, if I play against two other players who never ignore the chieftain, I will collect 1 free good every turn. The purpose of this mechanic is to balance risk assessment with psychological evaluation of the other players.

###Entry 4: Beat to Quarters (Bronze)

I gave this entry a Bronze medal, mostly because it seemed like a fairly elegant implementation of a pirate defence game. On the other hand, I have mixed feelings about using dice as playing pieces. They aren't as flavourful as little wooden ships (or illustrated cardboard markers).

###Entry 5: Captain's Bounty

This may have promise as a fast-paced light party game. Rules a little unclear - does every player get to vote, or only those with vote tokens? What happens when the timer runs out? I can't see why anyone would ever vote for another player to get a role. I suppose it might depend on the play group. Definitely not a serious strategic game, since the secret goals would be very difficult to balance fairly.

###Entry 6: Fjord Prize

A game of betting on... what exactly? Difficult to get a sense of the game's purpose from reading the rules. Ironically, for a game about fjords, a little dry in flavour terms.

###Entry 7: Rubber Duck Invasion

Sounds like a fun game. Possibly a bit too much variance in the wind - looks like the game could end up in an unpredictable state quite often. Also, a vote can be completely wasted if it is a minority one. Two orthogonal directions help this a bit, and the cards also help. In retrospect I think I like this better than Beat To Quarters - it should have had my Bronze medal vote.

###Entry 8: Jelly Drifters (Silver)

Awesome mockup. Great use of different objects for the jellies to drift onto. Possibly similar issues to entry number 7 with wasted votes ("I want to go East, but my vote won't make any difference because the other two players want to go North"). Would be improved by further player control mechanisms - why not allow the jellies to move actively as well as passively?

###Entry 9: Pistols and Planks (Gold)

Simple, easy-to-understand gameplay. Plenty of thematic flavour. The bag is a cute idea, but could be fiddly. The potential problem of wasted votes is reduced by the limited supply of white and black tokens. No obvious rules problems (but of course only playtesting can decide this). A well-deserved Gold medal.