Each month, developers win cash prizes for having the highest-rated new games! Click here for official rules. Check out the official contest page here.

We reached out to the top 5 winners to ask about their inspirations and experiences developing last month's top games on Kongregate!

• First-Place Winner

VasantJ, developer of Medieval Chronicles 4: Hey everyone. Thanks for the amazing support this episode got. It was beyond my expectations, and it is currently the highest rated game of all the ones I made so far. I know everyone was waiting for Song & Silence but... come on. Endgame got released last month. :D

This episode was based on a simple concept: "Can you forgive someone who unintentionally wronged you?" The concept was a bit heavy I admit, but it is something that has always been on my mind. I am aware that the answer differs from person to person and depends on the facts behind it, but nonetheless, it was an interesting topic for me.

So thanks for playing; if you have any opinions on this topic, I would love to hear your side, as it will help me get a better understanding of this topic and humans in general.

...I mean us humans... I mean I am a human. I have skin like you guys... er, us. You know what, forget I said anything.

And nobody better call the MIB on me. Thanks for playing! XD

• Third-Place Winner

Rootpew, developer of Split Or Steal: Firstly, I'd like to lend a massive thanks to Kongregate (in particular, Danilo!) -- they provided an invaluable resource in general advice and QA prior to the launch, and continued to provide Split or Steal with their full support once we were live on the platform.

It's with thanks to the team at Kongregate, and their efforts that I'm able to extend an equal thanks to the 55,000+ players who have played one (or more!) of the 300,000+ matches that took place in Split or Steal in just under a month.

Starting a career in Indie Development is difficult -- the 16-hour days of non-stop development can do a lot of damage in themselves, but the constant fear of nobody seeing the results of your work can often drive a stake into the strongest of projects. This fear multiplies when you realise that you're making a game that essentially boils down to two whole buttons' worth of mechanics on launch day. It further multiplies again when you realise there's no longer a big company paying your rent anymore.

Now, having seen the amazing community of players that welcomed the title to Kongregate, and those who provided their own invaluable feedback and support throughout the launch period to shape the future of the title, it's safe to say that the development cycle was more than worth it.

Thanks again to everyone who joined us for the launch -- next stop, Kartridge! (And... maybe a detour into an Audio Department to pick up a soundtrack along the way.)

• Fourth-Place Winner

Vectorinox, developer of Idle Hamlet: First of all, a big thanks for the members of Broken Mouse Convention for their initial feedback. Thank you to those Kongregate players who followed the game during its first few turbulent weeks and those active in the chat room. Because of these people, the game has grown much better than its initial release.

How did the game come to be? I previously made mods for Civilization 5, specifically for the one-city challenge. I played a lot with it, then decided to make a game that's just about building one small town. And then Bloodborne's Lovecraftian theme got mixed up during development. I never was a programmer in the first place, and have an easier time doing artworks. You can tell that from the game's pretty UI and lack of... something else.

The lifeblood of all games are its players. No players, no game. So thank you to all of you for playing Idle Hamlet and keeping it alive!

Congrats to the rest of the winners below!