Entries now closed for the 2015 Windhammer Prize

Entries have now closed for the 2015 Windhammer Prize for Short gamebook Fiction. Sixteen authors have been accepted for this year's competition and their entries are currently being adapted to the standard competition PDF format.

This year has produced an amazing array of gamebook goodness, including fantasy and sci-fi, gothic horror, modern-day thriller, comedy, historical adventure and quirky alternate worlds. Written by both established gamebook authors and talented newcomers these adventures showcase interactive fiction at its innovative best and will be available for free download from the 17th of September.

It should be noted that as the number of gamebooks has exceeded 14, the competition rules now require an extension on time for the close of voting and winner announcement dates to the 14th and 21st of November respectively. Due to the unexpected number of entries submitted there must also be a short extension of time for all entries to be properly converted to the standard competition format. Due to this delay all entries will be available for free download and review from the 17th of September.

This year's contestants are:

Ivailo Daskalov
Nicholas Stillman
Tammy Badowski
Chan Sing Goh
Andy Moonowl
Richard Penwarden
Phillip Armstrong
Andy Wright
Steffen Hagen
Stuart Lloyd
Felicity Banks
Robert Douglas
Adam Johnston
Jac Colvin
Sahil Asthana
John Evans

All information regarding this year's comp including full entry guidelines, competition schedule and prize details can be found at http://www.arborell.com/windhammer_prize.html

May Glory and Renown follow all who have entered.

Regards

Wayne Densley
2015 Windhammer Prize for Short Gamebook Fiction
http://www.arborell.com/windhammer_prize.html

Robert Douglas
Wed Sep 9 01:16:39 2015

Exciting :) exciting:)...sixteen entrants in the tourney this year!

Wayne Densley
Fri Sep 18 07:47:08 2015

Voting Now Open For The 2015 Windhammer Prize

Hi all

Arborell.com is pleased to announce the commencement of voting for the 2015 Windhammer Prize for Short Gamebook Fiction. Gathered for your consideration are sixteen entries this year, each an exploration of what can be achieved within the gamebook genre. If you like your sci-fi dark and dirty, your historical adventure intense, perhaps your alternate worlds wierd and dangerous, or maybe you just want more fantasy than you can poke a long stick at, the Windhammer Prize will definitely have something for you. All gamebooks are free to download and all are available at the Windhammer Prize homepage.

It should be noted that this voting phase will continue until the 14th of November with winners being announced on the 21st of November. All intending voters should be aware of the voting rules that can be found at the Windhammer Prize homepage.

If you wish to download this year's entries please go to - http://www.arborell.com/windhammer_prize.html

May Glory and Renown follow all who have entered.

Regards
Wayne Densley
2015 Windhammer Prize for Short Gamebook Fiction

Robert Douglas
Fri Oct 23 11:29:53 2015

I think there's a complete blackout of communications regarding all Windhammer entrants - it will end once the competition is over. Sorry, didn't realize!

Tammy
Fri Oct 23 21:30:40 2015

There will be reviews next week from Crumbly Games.

Tammy
Sun Oct 25 20:18:46 2015

Some reviews here by someone who doesn't know how to bloody review properly:

http://www.talking-time.net/showthread.php?t=17235

and

http://www.crumblyheadgames.co.uk/blog/

and if you can use Google to translate, there's more amatuer reviews here:

http://knigi-igri.bg/forum/163/4819

Stuart Lloyd
Sun Oct 25 20:24:09 2015

Robert - I think there's some tacit agreement to not talk about Windhammer amongst the entrants. I've never been told not to, but I've always felt it's fair to everyone else that I don't voice my opinion one way or the other as a contestant. If I had no stake in the competition, I would feel less guilty writing reviews before the voting closed.

Stuart Lloyd
Sun Oct 25 20:25:47 2015

Tammy - thanks for the heads up. I always enjoy Crumbly Head Games' reviews.
Also, Emily Short has reviewed 3 Windhammer gamebooks on her blog so far and she may review more.

https://emshort.wordpress.com/tag/windhammer-prize

Robert Douglas
Sun Oct 25 23:15:35 2015

@ Stuart Lloyd,
Understood. BTW, I've never heard of Emily Short until now.

Tammy
Mon Oct 26 02:18:47 2015

I like CrumblyHeadGames too. Some reviews are not very nice in some of those sites/forums I posted. I just say if you get a bad review just see it as a way to improve yourself in future. There were 16 entrants so it will not be possible to do everyone's gamebook.

I found another site that promises to do reviews but only after the contest is over. Not sure if this will be helpful or not but here it is to bookmark:

http://stillmanscifi.com/windhammer-reviews.html

Robert Douglas
Tue Oct 27 15:51:32 2015

@ Tammy,
You're quite right as regards improvement based on constructive criticism. However, I would say that listening to certain opinions and ideas can sometimes backfire. One such example would be the sequel to Deus Ex - DX Invisible War was released in late 2003/early 2004 (depending on which region) and received very mixed to negative reviews in comparison to the original game's universal acclaim. Personally, I considered it a generally good game with some brilliant ideas, yet lacked the scope and ambition for which the original DX is famous (in several respects). But the real mistake Ion Storm developers made was listening and catering to all fan feedback - which isn't necessarily a good thing. Even dev director Harvey Smith later admitted DX:IW wasn't nearly as good as it could have been. Like he says, 'hindsight is 20:20'. It's a hard lesson, but one with a good ending: he went on to help create the legendary 'Dishonored'. If you're interested, you can find out more by googling 'Harvey Smith, DX Invisible War'.

Tammy
Tue Oct 27 21:13:34 2015

Better to get a review than no review.

And I'll check it out, thanks.

Tammy
Tue Oct 27 21:15:45 2015

I'll take bad reviews or no reviews for my stuff, I don't mind. lol :)

Tammy
Mon Nov 9 23:46:48 2015

On Crumbly Heads Games website. He's reviewing a majority of the Windhammer entries.

http://www.crumblyheadgames.co.uk/

Andrew Wright
Tue Nov 10 03:49:44 2015

Some interesting Windhammer 2015 reviews here:

https://heterogenoustasks.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/cyoa-structures-windhammer-2015/

I feel there's a big IF infiltration this year and a lot of tedious bitching about having to read rules and roll dice. I mean, is this a gamebook competition or what? If I want to read tedious prose there's oceans of bad fan fiction out there to wallow through. (Rant over) :-)

Tammy
Tue Nov 10 20:29:25 2015

Finally. Well said, Andrew.

Robert Douglas
Wed Nov 11 04:18:02 2015

I've absolutely no idea what 'IF' is.

Robert Douglas
Wed Nov 11 04:46:14 2015

@ Tammy,
I'd forgotten about Crumbly Heads gamebook reviews. Sorry you had a somewhat rough review of 'Thiathrow'.

Phil Sadler
Wed Nov 11 09:28:45 2015

I like this bit from his review about your grammar:

"there’s missing commas"

I think he means: "There ARE missing commas."

Robert Douglas
Wed Nov 11 16:27:15 2015

@ Phil,
Well said, Phil. Certainly, I still have points to learn concerning grammar, doubtless there will be some or many throughout all my gamebooks. Saying that, I can forgive people their grammatical mistakes a thousand times over, yet one reviewer complaining AND making the same mistake is unforgivable.
There are times when a reviewer makes a fair point. I wanted to purchase the non-fiction book 'Waterloo' from Amazon and, curious, read some of the readers' reviews. One fellow actually pointed out some discrepancies in Bernard Cornwell's historical facts, and he seemed very sure of himself. Concerned, I got in touch with Bernard via his website (yes, anybody can write in to him and he does reply!) and raised awareness of such issues in a polite and respectful manner. His website agent got in touch with me and I explained again the points raised. He replied in due course confirming certain corrections would take place in future editions. Bernard doesn't make many mistakes, but to his credit he's always admitted to and apologised for them. Not that it really matters to me, as I've always enjoyed his stories. But the 'Waterloo' book was really about historical facts which I'm sure he wanted as correct as possible.

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