*Second Life Game Developer’s Competition: the Chosen Few*

Our call for submissions for the first ever Second Life Game Developer’s Competition generated a far greater quantity and quality of proposals than could ever have been anticipated. It wasn’t just the volume of submissions that was surprising, but also the range of game play experiences proposed and the diversity of team members. In the end, only eight could be selected to proceed to the next round of the competition. These game ideas encompass every genre from casual card games to advanced real-time strategy, and they come from long-time fixtures of the Second Life scene and new-comers alike. The following are the selected proposals, in alphabetical order:

Castle Siege: Real-time strategy with a medieval flavor -- keep your castle together while at the same time destroying that of your enemy. Dave Zeeman and Nexus Nash.

Deus Via (working title): A mystical Roman-themed synchronous strategy game involving the building of pathways in 3D. Tiger Crossing, Cuddles Crossing, Arito Cotton, and Michi Lumin.

Game Parlour (working title): Multiple amusements, boardgames, chess, checkers, and card games together in a pleasant games room setting. Xylor Baysklef, Huns Valen, and Hiro Yamamoto.

Mysterious Journey:A mystery puzzle quest with a dark and mysterious setting -- like a treasure hunt in the dark. Caliandris Pendragon, Elkestra Twilight, Astary Pendragon, and Moleculor Satyr.

Pet Trap: A dark and quirky, survival-horror game where players heroically recover and lay to rest the remains of long-suffering dead pets in a maze of passages. Lotte Twilight, Bopete Yossarian, Laja Blair and Moni Medici.

Route 66 Demolition Derby: An interactive car racing and demolition derby game supporting two to eight players. Bonecrusher Slate and Roman Kothari.

Tank War 3D (working title): A multiplayer turn-based tank combat game boasting multiple vehicles and play fields. Hiro Pendragon, Adam Zaius, Milo Bukowski, and Cervisco Medici.

Terrain: An ambitious real-time strategy experience leveraging advanced technology and hints of God games. Tcoz Bach, Justinsane Onizuka, and Nicola Escher.

Congratulations to the selected teams! What happens next? That’s up to you! The selected teams will soon be setting up shop on two new islands off-shore near Avalon. They’ll have some time to turn their proposals into actual games, after which the Residents of Second Life will decide, by way of dwell, just which team has created the best Second Life game of the bunch. Read the complete rules at secondlife.com/games

The contestants are busy preparing their games for your enjoyment. The winners will be decided by dwell, the number of visitors and the amount of time spent in their game area.

The 1st place prize is $500 per team member and the use by the team of about one half of a sim for a year.

You'll be amazed by what they've accomplished. Come take a look and play to your heart's content. The two islands -named Game Dev 1 and 2 - are located west of the mainland.

If they sims are full when you visit, please come back later on after the rush dies down.

We've established threads for discussions of the competing games.

Linden is proud to announce that the eight competing games have been split up onto four sims to minimize congestion and lag.

The avatar limits for the sims have been reduced to 20. Please don't teleport friends in to avoid the limit.

If a sim you are on gets crowded, and you aren't playing a game, please be considerate of others who might be waiting to play.

Also, please don't post events to occur on the any of these sims.