Arborell.com is proud to announce that the winner of the 2009 Windhammer Prize is Per Jorner, for his outstanding entry, The Bone Dogs. Merit Awards have also been awarded to Kieran Coghlan for his entry, Waiting for the Light, and to Alec Worley for his gamebook, Garden of Bones. All winning gamebooks are available for download by clicking on the awards presented below. May Glory and Renown follow all who have found success here.

This year's entries continued the high standard of gamebooks submitted to this prize competition. Congratulations go to this year's winners, but also to those who submitted entries but were unsuccessful. The quality of entries proved to be exceptional and because of this a Gamebook Archive has been established so all these great gamebooks can be accessed on a permanent basis. 2009 has been a great success and ensures the continuation of the Windhammer Prize into 2010.

For anyone wishing to read the contest guidelines and content criteria they have been provided below.


Entry Requirements and Content Guidelines for the 2009 competition

All entries submitted this year met the following criteria.

• All entries must be in English.
• All entries must be original works and not set in the world of Arborell.
• All entrants must state clearly on the first page of their entries that they are the authors of the work submitted.
• All entries must be provided in rich text format (rtf) and sent as an email attachment to entry@arborell.com.
• As this is a competition for short gamebook fiction it is required that the total length of the entry does not exceed 100 sections, or more than 40 A4 pages if printed. Having said this the entry may either be a complete stand-alone story or a self-contained excerpt from a larger gamebook adventure of your own creation.
• The entry can be of any genre except erotica.
• As this is a gamebook competition the entry must possess at the least a rudimentary character generation system and/or inventory management process to be eligible for the Windhammer Prize.
• There is no entry fee.
• All rights remain with the author and the author may withdraw their entry at any time during the course of the competition.
• An entrant can submit only one entry.
• For reasons given below you must have a valid Paypal account if you wish to receive the cash prize. Account information is not required by the organisers of this competition unless you are the winning entrant. Only at the time of winning the prize will you be asked for your Paypal details.

A Note for Future Entrants

It is the intention of the Windhammer Prize to promote the gamebook genre, and in doing so deliver to readers new and original adventures that express the innovation and creativity that can be found in authors of interactive fiction today. In pursuit of this objective the Windhammer Prize values most those gamebook entries that expand the boundaries of the genre. If you believe you have an idea for a work of interactive fiction that is both original and innovative then this competition is definitely for you. Innovation and creativity is what this prize is about and I look forward to your entry.


Competition Deadlines for 2009

The following competition calendar applied for the 2009 competition.

• A valid vote must be forwarded by email to vote@arborell.com. A valid vote must nominate the two gamebooks most favoured by the voter from the competition entrants. A vote with less than two nominations will not be accepted.
• Only one voter email is allowed per reader. All votes will be checked for duplication of email addresses.
• Feedback to the authors may be forwarded to the competition sponsors at feedback@arborell.com. All feedback given will be provided to authors at the end of competition as a part of the email notification of results.

• $100 AUD (Australian Dollars) to be paid within 48 hours into a Paypal account of the winner's choosing. As this is an international competition it has been decided that Paypal is the best mechanism for distributing the prize. If you do not have access to a valid Paypal account the cash prize cannot be paid.
• A framed certificate memorialising their success in the competition.
• Two years hosting of their story on arborell.com. This is optional and is at the discretion of the winning entrant.

• Two entries shall also be chosen for Merit awards. These entrants shall receive a framed certificate and a year's hosting of their entries on arborell.com. As with the hosting of the winning entry this is optional and is at the discretion of the entrant.