To kickoff the development of multiplayer games, we're giving away $20,000 in prize money to the three best games created using the Nonoba Multiplayer API before November 1, 2008.

We are confident that our Multiplayer API is great, and we want to see as many developers as possible using it.

We also know, that in the heart of every good game developer lives a greedy little gremlin, so we're offering cash prizes for the best games that use our new Multiplayer API.

Did the greed kick in?

If not, then it will when we tell you that the grand prize is:

Oh yeah, baby. That's right.

A free pass to flip your boss the bird, leave your sad little cubicle and go out into the world to seek out joy, happiness and palm trees, or whatever floats your boat.

If the greed has indeed kicked in, then here is what you need to do to get your hands on the cold, hard cash:

• 1. Get the api

  Just download the Nonoba Multiplayer API from our download section.

• 2. Make a kickass game

  Think outside the box, produce innovative gameplay. Change the face of gameplay forever.

  You could also recreate an old classic you're deeply in love with.

• 3. Upload it

  Upload the game to your Nonoba account to become a contestant in the competition.

• 4. Cross your fingers

  Just sit back and wait for the winner to be announced.

  If you're not the patient type, you could also start spreading your game to other sites and blogs, or even create yet another game, for an even higher chance of success.

The winners will be announced on November 1, 2008.

Nonoba will judge the contest, and pick the winners based primarily on the popularity of the game, but also on other factors such as creativity, gameplay and usage of other Nonoba APIs.

There are three prizes in this competition:

• 1st place: $15,000 USD
• 2nd place: $3,000 USD
• 3rd place: $2,000 USD

And as if that wasn't enough, contestants are also automatically participating in the weekly and monthly contests

There are really only two things you need to do in order to win: Make a great game, and promote it.

Good multiplayer games usually have an emphasis on the interaction between players, via either cooperation or direct competition. Both can work equally well.

We're of the firm belief that by lowering the barriers of entry into multiplayer flash games, we'll get to see new and innovative gameplay, so don't be afraid to try out fresh ideas. You can build any kind of game you think is interesting, be it turn based or realtime.

Examples of games we'd think would be very cool to see are:

• Games built around interaction concepts, like drawing or quizzing. Anything that could be fun for a group of people sitting in a living room can make a great multiplayer game.
• Re-interpretations of old card- or board-games, Gin-rummy, Monopoly, Whist or Scrabble? Just make sure you're not violating anybody's copyrights and trademarks.
• Multiplayer tower defense, where players need to both build up their defenses and send creeps against the other players.
• Open-world games where users can join and leave anytime, like multiplayer asteroids, where players can get instant satisfaction since there's always a game in progress.

You're allowed and encouraged to spread your game as far and as wide as possible, by embedding and uploading it to other sites. Anything that increases the popuarity of your game, will increase your chance of winning.

It's also a good idea to add highscores, rankings and achievements to your game, since that's proven to increase your game's popularity and therefore also your chance to win.

1. First rule of the competition is: Don't talk about the competion.
2. Second rule of the competetion is: Except to friends, family, lovers, co-workers, bosses, acquaintances, people on Internet forums and whoever else you think might find it remotely interesting. Please.
3. Your game must be a multiplayer game built in Flash using only the Nonoba Multiplayer API for providing the multiplayer functionality.
4. Your game may be turn-based or real-time, 2-player or 10-player, co-operative or competitive, as long as it is multiplayer.
5. Your game may not contain any pornographic, hateful or offensive content. (But blood and gore is okay!)
6. You must own the rights to - or be allowed to use - all graphics, sounds and other materials in the game.
7. Your game may not violate any copyrights or trademarks of other people. You may not steal music, sound effects, graphics, code or concepts for your game, or borrow without permission. If you need help finding good resources for free music, sound effects or graphics, please check out our developer forums.
8. Employees, subcontractors and partners of Odpy ApS (Nonoba.com) are not eligible to participate in the competition.
9. Participation in the contest is automatic upon creating and uploading a game using the Nonoba Multiplayer API.
10. You can participate with as many different games as you want, as long as they all oblige by the rules.
11. If you win, we will contact you through the e-mail address in your Nonoba account, so make sure you've typed that in correctly. We will also contact you through the internal message system on Nonoba.