Want to be inspired, impressed, and amazed by some of the best worldbuilding there is? As the year comes to a close, we’ve let our community vote for the best content on World Anvil—so here’s the best of World Anvil 2021!

How has the best of World Anvil 2021 been chosen?

Our community decided! We opened up submissions back in September, and after a (very difficult) judging process, we let our community vote for the finalists. The vote was divided into several categories, such as “most beautiful homepage” and “most informative map”, as well as a category for each article template. The winners will be featured on the Best of World Anvil page, as well as in streams and blog posts all throughout 2022! Plus, both winners and nominees will get a fancy badge for their profiles. So, let’s take a quick look at the winners of each category!

Winners of the Best of World Anvil 2021

Most well-organized world: “Dark-Fall” by ninne124

most well-organized world

Just by looking at the homepage you can clearly see the level of organization of this world—and without sacrificing the looks! The grid of categories is stunning and points you to the articles you want to read, but clearly highlights the introduction article so you know what you’re getting into. Check out Dark-Fall!

Best world introduction: “Introduction to Ethnis” by Ademal

Best world introduction

Ethnis is a huge world (one of the biggest on World Anvil!), and this introduction article manages to give you an overview of everything! You’ll get to know about the different peoples, the political factions that rule the universe, an introduction to magic and technology, and more. Check out Introduction to Ethnis!

Most creative world: “Cathedris” by Stormbril

Most creative world

In Cathedris, people live around the god-husks, the remnants of old gods, now mindless, soulless, and stuck in their own loops after a devastating war. This premise fundamentally changes how civilization has developed and it makes for a really interesting world. Check out Cathedris!

Best timeline: “Dynasties of the Empire” by melior64

Best timeline

This timeline shows the evolution of the four main dynasties of Melior in detail—just reading it you can see the thought the author has put into the world’s history! And to top it off, it also includes an interactive family tree to make the relationship between the four dynasties clearer. Check out Dynasties of the Empire!

Most beautiful map: “Blueprints for the Coastal City-State of Russin” by Stormbril

Most beautiful map

This one stood out from the rest thanks to its very limited blue-and-white color palette (which makes sense for a blueprint!). Not only that, but every nook and cranny is hand-drawn with a ton of care and detail. And, of course, it uses interactive pins to spice it up! Check out Blueprints for the Coastal City-State of Russin!

Most informative map: “Melior” by melior64

Most informative map

This is a really cool map, that not only uses a very distinct projection and looks stunning, but it also focuses on the world’s climate! You can see a helpful legend in the bottom left, as well as a ton of interactive pins and several layers to give you a unique look at the world. Check out Melior!

Most beautiful world homepage: “Darkfall” by ninne124Most beautiful homepage

Now THAT is a shiny homepage! It looks stunning from the get-go, with a very clear color scheme that goes well with the world’s themes. But it’s also really well-structured! A short introduction, a clearly highlighted introduction article, and a beautiful grid for the major categories. Check out Dark-Fall!

Best World Homepage: “Cathedris” by Stormbril

Best Homepage

This homepage has everything. A good introduction, stunning style and illustrations, and even a soundtrack and subtle animations to get you into the mood for this dark world! And, of course, it tells you clearly which articles you should read first to get into the world. Check out Cathedris!

Best overall article: “Comprilith” by Stormbril

Best overall article

The Comprilith is a very special article: it not only has amazing worldbuilding, but thanks to its stunning formatting world, it has an interactive narrative too! It’s difficult to explain, so I’ll just leave you with the link and let you have fun clicking all the buttons. Check out The Comprilith!

Best articles by template

Finally, we also have a winner for the best article of each of the major article templates:

This was an amazing opportunity to see the incredible creativity of our community. And the voting was extremely competitive too—some winners only had a few votes of difference from their runner-ups! Congratulations to all the winners: you’re awesome!

What was your favorite entry from the round-up? Let us know in the comments!

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