I had the honour to be one of the judges for the MIX10 10k event. Here are my personal favourites.

It was a lot of fun to got through the 80-something entries. And also quite a bit of work. To get to my final Top 10 list I rated every entry with up to 5 points for Originality, Functionality and Technology and then calculated the average. In the event of a tie I let me seduce by the design.

1. Kernel Panic

A refreshing idea, fun to play. I am impressed how the author packed all the physics and game logic into 10k. Top!   (link)

2. Frog Log

I am not surprised at all that Frog Log won the hearts of my fellow judges and the Grand Prize. It's a good idea that makes you smile when you first put your hand on it, packed with functionality and a great showcase of what you can do with a few lines of HTML5.

Interesting detail: the author won a second prize last year with a Silverlight application. This proves that a great developer is great independent of the technology he actually uses.   (link)

3. Pipe Runner

Again, I love Pipe Runner for it's simple yet challenging and original gameplay. And it makes great use of the Silverlight technology to save code length and bring us a great user experience.   (link)

4. The Fabulous Silver Magic Lantern

This entry caused some controversy because of the heavy graphics downloaded. However, design isn't a winning criteria. So... why is it in my Top 10 list? First because I like the originality of the idea: make a retro kind of search engine. Second because there is still a fair amount of functionality built into the UI details. And last but not least the guy knows very well how to use Silverlight to squeeze things.   (link)

5. LightStream

This is art! When you touch that application you feel like floating through the space... simply a great user experience. I only wish it had some more levels to play.   (link)

6. Rescue Battlefield

While the idea is far from being very creative I gave the application maximum points for the full featured functionality (10k! Wow!) and to squeeze so much out of Silverlight technology.   (link)

7. Money, money, money... 

Ok, the design is horrible, but as mentioned before it's not a criteria. The idea is so freaking good and the use of the latest Silverlight technology is so creative that I had to put it on my Top 10 list. I am glad my wife can't see me wiggle in front of my webcam. I guess I look like an idiot.   (link)

8. CircleDraw

A lot of functionality for 10k, I am impressed. Plus a decent dose of originality and good use of Silverlight Technology deserve a top rating.   (link)

8. Spin Art

A lot of functionality for 10k, I am impressed. Plus a decent dose of originality and good use of Silverlight Technology deserve a top rating. Yes, that's the same I said about CircleDraw. That's why they share the rank.   (link)

10. Stickies

I was so impressed by the functionality the developer packed into 10k and how well he used HTML5 that a position in my Top10 is more than deserved.   (link)

Some final thoughts

Most of the applications had been written in Silverlight, so the competition was very tough. Things have been a bit easier for HTML5 and Gestalt developers as there have been fewer entries. However, this doesn't mean that MIX-DOS and 100pxls do not deserve the runner-up prizes! They are great. Especially MIX-DOS caught my eye because it's kind of a cousin of my last year winner entry Turtle#.

I am a fan of what Microsoft brought to the developer and designer world during the last years. Here in my company we are passionate about Silverlight and how it is shaping the future. But it would be really great if you Redmond Boys could manage to build a HTML5 compliant browser...