Thank you to everyone who voted!
I have to say, I'm impressed: there wasn't a single story that didn't get placed into the Top 5 by at least 3 voters.
Read on to find out more about each category's top scorers, or scroll to the bottom to see the winner.
Best Riddle/Puzzle:
Voters were unanimous in their descriptions of what makes a good puzzle:
-- The puzzles in most of the other games were ridiculously easy, and others weren't set up or clued well with the 'challenge' being to read the author's mind. This one gave all the information needed but made me sit down with a notepad to sort it all out.
-- It was a simple and easy to understand puzzle, but it was also difficult and challenging enough so that it didn't feel like you were having the answer spoon fed to you.
-- Out of all of the storygames in the contest, it was the one that I was the most motivated to solve. I actually got a pen and paper to chart the information, and it was satisfying when I finally figured it out. It had just the right amount of challenge in it that didn't make it too easy or too difficult.
-- It was very intricate, with just enough information to solve everything and no more, so there was clearly a lot of thought and planning put into it. This was the puzzle that kept me entertained the longest, with a constant sense of progress rather than just frustration at not being able to figure it out - I had to read through it multiple times and had to puzzle all the disparate hints together, but it was solvable and really gave you sense of accomplishment.
Best Riddle/Puzzle:
The Nurse's Logic Puzzle from Castle Conundrum
Runner-up Best Puzzle:
Colored Key Card Puzzle from Alien Abduction
Writing Ability
The following stories were all ranked "Above Average"
The Dream Thief
Alien Abduction
Castle Conundrum
Full Moon's Night
Under the Bridge
Survival of the Fittest
Curse of Norgurune
Walkthrough Usage
These three stories had the most difficult puzzles- 1/3 or more of voters admitted to using a walkthrough.
The Dream Thief 42%
The Poem 40%
Survival of the Fittest 37%
Overall Winner
Castle Conundrum by BenCrucifix
First Runner-up
Alien Abduction by Ogre11
Second Runner-up
The Dream Thief by Future
Honorable Mentions
Survival of the Fittest by breezy134
Under the Bridge by betaband
Full Moon's Night by bilbo
These stories will all be placed into the front page rotation.
Thanks again to everyone who participated, whether by writing or voting. I hope you had fun, let's do this again sometime. ^_^
