Hello World Anvil I come bearing the gift of STATS!

I started the WAWA voting season off with a back injury. A mild one - I'll be fine in another day or two - but I opted to distract myself from it with the tedium of data entry. I assembled a spreadsheet of all WAWA awards, nominees, worlds, and winners since the first one in 2020. The numbers paint a very interesting picture...

The Conclusion

2026 has continued the upward climb of unique Worlds, authors, and new nominees from the past two years, reaching levels comparable to lockdown-era WA. And unlike prior years, the top-nominated spot is spread across seven people.

You can stop reading here if you're satisfied with this conclusion, or keep reading if you want to know more.

The Support

Data

I used the list on Learn to compile all this, but there are a couple caveats:

• Due to missing links from past years, I wasn't able to get all author names or all World names. I gathered what info I could (with help).
• There's at least one case where the winner announced on stream isn't the winner on the Best Of or Learn pages. I kept with what's written.
• The blog has two Best of 2019 posts, but the format was too different and info too sparse to include in my data.

Stats

You'll see 2023 is missing from my tables below. Prior to 2024, the competition was named for the prior year because all submissions had to be from that year. So WAWA 2022 featured articles made in 2022 but was held in 2023. The time restriction was removed for 2024, and the event name was changed to the year it was held in.

Nominees

This table shows the number of unique worlds and unique authors among each year's nominees, along with the total number of first-time nominees that year. As you can see, 2021 was a stand-out year for participation, likely due to everyone being stuck in lockdown. Participation dropped afterward, but 2026 gets close to lockdown numbers.

Tops

The below shows the top-nominated and top-winning anvilites each year by name (not username, Learn shows name so that was easier to use). I kept roughly to top 5, with fewer or more as made sense for the data. Most people who've won a worldbuilding award have only won 1 (so far). It's fun to look at those who win a lot, but they're the exceptions, not the norm.

Closing Thoughts

WAWA has continually evolved since its start. This year's changes have given us greater diversity in our nominees and eliminated the popularity contest while still giving the community a voice in what our favorite articles are. The industry judges make the biggest categories feel that much more special.

We're likely to continue seeing familiar names among nominees - exceptional worldbuilders will keep being exceptional - but it's refreshing to not have a single name sweep the competition. However, the World awards are an area of potential improvement. While I have thoughts on that, this isn't the post to share them.

There's still room to grow, but that's true of all of us. With my back injury healing, I'm itching to start reviewing nominees and making my own votes. I can't wait for the awards ceremony this year, and to see how WAWA continues to change in the future.

Special shout-out to The Gays(tm) who helped compile the data and listened to me chatter on about it. I love reviewing data like this, so if you have any other thoughts or questions, please do leave a comment!

#WAWA #STATS #stoplookingatmytags #gosh

One of my favourite articles, Keystones, is in the running for Best Article of 2026! This is the biggest category I've ever been up for, and my first time in the big leagues. We won a newcomer category during the first Worldbuilding Awards, with Solaris being awarded the Most Beautiful New World, and we've tried to keep the iron hot. In 2023, we won Best Body of Work in Worldember 2023. Could this be the year where Solaris snags a spot in the sky alongside the heroes of World Anvil?

For those of you new to Solaris , it's a space opera set in our little solar system, inspired by mythology and the wonder of looking up at the stars. It's been a sparkly crystal paradise, up until the angelic armies of the sun attacked and laid Mercury to waste.

I write Solaris alongside my cowriter and fiancée Skye. All the art for Solaris is drawn by me in MS Paint, and I made my own theme. No AI or LLMs are involved in any step of the process. I can do all of this because of the wealth of knowledge shared here on the internet, so I try to do my part in sharing what I know as well. You can find a bunch of guides by me in the Post Script of Solaris, as well as links to resources I use, and I've been trying to update all my articles with a authors note about my inspirations.

This year I also got my second nomination for Strength & Honor with Operation War Dove, the article that gave me my first ever win on World Anvil when it was picked as the winning conflict article that Summer Camp. The overview of the tech of my setting, Crystal Technology, was also nominated for Pillars of Progress. Both of these categories are voted on by you, and I highly recommend you check out all the articles and vote on your favourite!

#nniews #milestone #WorldbuildingAwards #WAWA2026

Hello everyone

First, I want to say Congratulations to all the #WAWA Nominees for their works being chosen for the voting phase! Sadly, I didn't get nominated this time around so I'm a little bit disappointed. Still, I was good that I took the plunge this year. On the flip side, I can FINALLY edit those articles I've been eager to tweak for weeks now.

With SummerCamp 2026 coming up soon, I'll have prep time before things get rolling. I've got some interesting ideas that I'm toying with. Let's just say that I want to add some "character" in my world (hint, hint)

I think that's all I will reveal for the time being. Looking forward to what the future may hold.

Have a pleasant one!

#anvilspace #original #fantasy #Worldbuilding

Hello beautiful people! I hope you’re all doing well <3

The WAWA 2026 nominees have been revealed, and I am absolutely thrilled to see my work land in two categories!! It’s always a shock to be included alongside such amazing creators and stunning worlds.

First of all, my newest world, Fate’s Misfits, has been nominated for the Most Beautiful World category! This project fills me with so much joy, as it’s a world and story I’ve experienced around the table. The characters live vividly in my mind, each with their own unique lives, and I’m so happy to be able to share them with all of you here.

Then I saw that my Aether Train article has been nominated for the Pillars of Progress category, and I’m incredibly grateful! Crux Umbra is a very different world from the others I write, and my personal favorite. I’m over the moon to see this ghost train arrive here!

Congratulations to all the nominees, as well as to everyone who submitted their work! And a huge thank you to the amazing WA team for the effort they put into reading all these entries. It certainly couldn’t have been easy to choose!

#wawa2026 #wawa

y'all what the HELL

THREE WAWA NOMINATIONS!! Wondrous Nature, Artist's Most Beautiful World, and BEST FREAKING ARTICLE!!

Oh my god if this isn't the best WAnniversary ever i'm sobbing <33

Recognition for my writing itself like Best Article is such an honour, and congratulations to all of the other nominees! If you'd like to see my nominated works, check them out below!

WONDROUS NATURE

ARTIST'S MOST BEAUTIFUL WORLD

BEST ARTICLE!!

#mochievements #WAWA2025 #WorldbuildingAwards

Dragonguard Progress Report (DPR-19)

> Issue 19 - WAWA! And LotD turns 2 this month!!

Follow the Root Directory hub for my worlds, updates, challenges, and more!

I added a Guides category to Root Directory; I totally forgot about the Character Traits article I had, and it wasn't linked anywhere. Oops.

Haven’t done much this month, but I eventually started trying to design a logo / coat of arms for the Dragonguard, using the Eldryan Sword. I’ve also been slowly updating the Dragonguard’s article to better explain its structure and operation.

Oh, and AAHH Worldbuilding Awards 2026 submissions have ended! I did not know which ones to submit this year, but I eventually got there. Looking back, I've noticed that many of my articles are incomplete to some degree and don’t feel like they have a strong chance of competing in these events. So, I went through and picked ones that I felt were actually good and could do well. With that said, I've only submitted 3 articles for WAWA this year.

Also, Legends of the Dragonguard turns 2 at the end of this month! And it’s almost at 100 followers :)

Community Highlights

Highlights Archive

Neocaine by Qurilion

Foti Dracothir by Pandora9

Serukis by Serukis

< Updated >

Eldryan Sword

Dragonguard

< Additions >

Guides (/root)

Worldbuilding Awards 2026

View the Progress Reports Archive to read past DPR posts!

#dpr #wawa

Getting ready for WAWA!

I've submitted everything I plan on entering, and I'm so excited! I've posted all of my entries in my little showcase article above, please feel free to check it out! I'm really proud of my work this year <3

And if you want to check out other people's overview pages, check out this nifty page in the World of Worlds! I assembled it last night, and anyone can submit their overview pages just by commenting the articleblock!

Good luck to everyone participating <3

#mochievements #WAWA #WAWA2026 #WorldbuildingAwards

Hello everyone,

I have finished my submissions for #WAWA2026 after updating my world's theme (and recovering from a sprained knee after being a bit overzealous at the gym...definitely hurts as much as you can imagine. Free advice: if you do any intensive reps of Machine Leg Press, skip the cardio on the gym bike. Thank me later).

I have decided to create a hub featuring the articles I submitted. I encourage you to give them a thorough read over your favorite snacks and comfy spot!

#anvilspace #Worldbuilding #Fantasy #WAWA #WorldbuildingAwards2026

It’s WAWA time again, and I couldn’t be more excited. Another year has wrapped up in the best possible way here on World Anvil, and I am deeply grateful to still be part of this wonderfully creative community.

This hub gathers everything I’ve submitted, simply because I am proud of them and I want to share them with you all. A special thanks to Mochi who convinced me to create such an article again this year!

What about you? Are you submitting anything? If so, let me know! I'd love to check out your wonderful work and showcase your hub articles in mine <3

And if you are still thinking about submitting or not, my only advice is this: JUST DO IT! It is a wonderful celebration of creativity and you have everything to win and nothing to lose.

Take care friends!

#wawa #wawa2026

Hello everyone,

I have recently uploaded the first draft of the map of my original world of Arktoria. it is currently live for viewing right now: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/arktoria-jdebro

As this is the first draft of the map, I'm still making edits to the map so changes can still occur. A few map markers pointing to some of the nations are active, but the rest will come later on. I might submit this to the #WorldbuidlingAwards but I'm still thinking on that. In any case, feel free to view what I have so far.

Have a pleasant day!

#anvilspace #WAWA #map #originalfiction

Dragonguard Progress Report (DPR-18)

> Issue 18 — WAWA submissions start soon!

Follow the Root Directory hub for my worlds, updates, challenges, and more!

Woo, 2026 New Year's Resolutions have been made! Not too much worldbuilding done this past month because I was reading a lot of your guys’ stuff. But I did add some navboxes and category pages to my /dev/null world, so hopefully that will make it easier to navigate. I also added navboxes to my Root Directory challenge hub world.

I do not know what I’ll be submitting to the Worldbuilding Awards, if anything, but I’ll probably have a think and polish up some things this month.

Side note, so close to 100 followers on Legends of the Dragonguard!! It’s at 93 as of writing this. :)

Community Highlights

Highlights Archive

Karak-Nul & Gak-Nul by ThePinkGM

Amphitere by PrincessESH

The Undoing by Demongrey

< Updated >

Hawkwing

— /dev/null —

Construct

< Additions >

2026 New Year's Resolutions

Cliffhanger

Ridgeback Drake

Örldwyrm

— /dev/null —

Navboxes and Category pages!

Categories:

architecture

Locales

Nodes

society

Characters

Culture

Organizations

biota
technical

Conditions

Hardware

meta

View the Progress Reports Archive to read past DPR posts!

#dpr #worldember #nyr #wawa

The Owlworks makes its Youtube (re)debut!

It only took an age and a half, but the winds of creation finally found themselves beneath my wings! Behold, my first vlog!

— - One tired but accomplished owl

I took a years-long Youtube hiatus, and now we're BACK — starting with a new writer vlog series where I take you through month-by-month adventures in the Owlworks! This episode 0.5 kicks off the series with a 2025/winter recap and covers the end of March... with most of April being through at this point (oh my god??), you likely already know where the next episode will pick up!

Be sure to subscribe so you catch future episodes of the Owlworks Vlog! Look forward to these uploads coming every early- to mid-month!

I really hope you enjoy following along my journey as an all-over-the-place creator, and every bit of support is mega appreciated! Likes, comments, and shares help tell the Youtube algorithm that I'm not just some weirdo on the internet, but a weirdo on the internet that's worth watching :)

#TheOwlworks #WAWA #WorldbuildingAwards

A huge congratulations to all the World Anvil Worldbuilding Award winners!! I'm so proud of everyone who submitted their work and voted for their favourites, y'all are all part of making this community what it is!!

#WAWA #WAWA2025

#WAWA

I don't actively promote it much, but I do art commissions! I specialise in drawing creatures, so that's all my commissions are for at the moment. You can find it all on my Ko-Fi page!

Oh and also, I have an ongoing feature suggestion! I'd like to see community posts (and their notifications) have a title again. I've found community posts get a lot less engagement nowadays, and I think the absence of a title is part of the reason why D: please upvote if you'd like to see the title re-added to community posts, and see community engagement increase!

And finally, I have been nominated for two awards in the World Anvil Worldbuilding Awards! The A to Zoo is nominated for Most Beautiful World, and the Map of Norrab is nominated for the Artist's Cartography Award! Please fill out the google form and consider voting for me in these two categories! I'm so passionate and proud of my worldbuilding! <3

#WAWA #mochievements #featuresuggestion

A Crazy March

Dromaria has made it to the final round of the WAWAs!

WAWA

Chuck (Stonehomie) and I have worked really hard on this and I am beyond humbled to have been nominated for 5 awards this year. Thank you to everyone who voted for round 2. It's crazy and still hard to fully wrap my head around.

Our Nominations

• Best World: Dromaria
• Best Article: Chapter Nine: Wildlife
• Rise of Nations: Chapter Two: Known History
• Strength & Honor: Chapter Four: Factions & Guilds
• Pillars of Progress: Klaxon Thresher

To vote use this form. Any support int he final round would be wonderful.

All of the participants deserve checking out. To anyone who submitted, including those who didn't get nominated this year, the entries were awesome and week's worth of engrossing reading. Everyone should be super proud!

Strixxline has created a gallery for all of the nominees: here. Thanks Strixx!

Interview with Geek Native

Geek Native chose us as their March's RPG Publisher Spotlight and reached out for an interview. I just finished answering the first round of Q&A and look forward to seeing how it all turns out.

https://www.geeknative.com/rpg-publisher-spotlight/

Art Completion

The monster art for our campaign guide is nearing completion. Yury Nikifarau has killed it with all his creepy and wondrous interpretations of our creatures. He is nearing 1000 subs on YouTube and streams daily. If you haven’t shown him some love, please consider it.

New Campaign

My playgroup and I are starting a new campaign soon. I am GMing and everyone is getting amped up. We have game zero this Saturday. Debating how to keep track of the story outside the game. Currently thinking I’ll do it through in-game news articles and maybe a blog after each session. I want my players to get online and write as well, so hopefully a bit of immersion will encourage them to do so.

Keep up with regular updates here.

#wawa #wawa2025 #challenge

Oh my lordy! I'm one of the nominated 5 for Best Newcomer! That's amazing! Thank you to all those that voted for me on the last round!

World Anvil has been an absolute game changer for testing ideas, bringing those ideas to fruition and sparking life into new projects for World Anvil and beyond.

If you'd like to drop in another vote for my world of Havenguard for round two, here is the link to the voting sheet.

The awards list is also an incredible source of inspiration so please check out the other nominated works across all categories. There's some amazing creators doing wonderful things!

#WAWA2025 #WAWA

Thanks you to all who voted for my articles in the WAWAs! I feel honoured to have that amount of nominations, even for stuff I did not think would get a nomination like Terra Occidentalis world and the Golandon map :o

Already getting nominated is a blast but one can only hope for more! If you have not given it a read yet be sure to give the Avaronian Empire , Fall of the Selefer and my timeline Roman History a read!

#WAWA2025

WAWA Update from the Owlworks: HOLY / BLUE ANVIL /!

Many of you got to witness my live reactions to this information, but... six nominations??? I've done nothing but lay spiritually on the floor (maybe physically as well, for a little while) and process this!

Thank you SO much for the community love and support — for my third Worldbuilding Awards run, you've tripled my total nomination count in one act of love and fevered voting. I hope I can count on you again to pull an award or two from these nominations, but I am just so thrilled to have reached this point. Much love!

For my fellow nominees:

First off, you're incredible! Voting in the first round was hard enough, but making those final decisions was truly killer.

If you'd like some fancy graphics to promote your work this month, the nominee gallery made its return once again! Sorry for the day's delay, but I hope you enjoy them!

#WAWA #TheOwlworks #AyunSovos #Malkora #WAWA2025 #WorldbuildingAwards

Stoked to have got a nominated for my world map in the artists cartography category, and super impressed by the quality of all nominations - well done everyone! Check them all out for inspirations and don't forget to vote for your faves . #WAWA2025

I'm incredibily honoured to have been nominated for the History Awards with my History of the Seris people timeline!. I still can believe it!! ^^. Thank you so so much to everyone that voted for it!, you're awesome! as awesome are the other people nominated to the History Awards and the rest of the WAWA categories. Congratulations to all the nominees!! and best of luck for the next voting round!. You're all an awesome community!.

#WAWA2025 #WAWA

I just wanted to come on and give a big Thank You to everyone that voted for my world Curses By Darklight under "Most Beautiful World"! I'm thrilled and flattered to make it into the second round of voting! It means a lot to me, and I greatly appreciate it!

Here is a link to my new world for those that might be interested! I'm very proud of it, given it's my first attempt into a new genre.

But!

Most of all, I want to congratulate every single person who got nominated! This is a tough contest. Probably the toughest all year with fantastic worldbuilding, maps, art, and more.

So, for anyone who hasn't voted, go vote! Look though all those entries and read! Enjoy!

#WAWA2025 #WAWA

I've made two shortlists in the World Anvil Worldbuilding Awards!!

I'm so incredibly honoured to be in the running for the Most Beautiful World Award and the Artist's Cartography Award! The A to Zoo and the Map of Norrab are two entries I'm extremely proud of, and for them to be finalists means the world to me.

Remember to cast your votes using this google form, and please consider voting for my two entries! Congratulations on everyone who submitted things to #WAWA (you are so amazing, it's a scary thing to do <3), congratulations to all of the finalists, and grab your hammer... and GO WORLDBUILD!

#mochievements

Maha Aehir! Well, I'm way late to the party, but here goes! I finally found the time to gather my WAWA 2025 entries into one article, so they're easier to find ^^

Only little time left, so LFV - err Looking For Votes xP Do feel free to jump in and read the entries here:

May Mahi Guide You <3

#wawa #wawa2025

Want to do some last-minute voting for the Worldbuilding Awards, but overwhelmed with how many amazing articles were submitted? I've put together shortlists and details on how I selected what went on them, which might help you narrow down your own choices. Be bold, place votes, and most importantly, have fun!

#WAWA #WAWA2025

Warning! Shameless Self Promotion Incoming! As WAWA voting comes to an end, I'd love for you to take a look at my articles if you haven't already. I'm especially proud of the Concordant Academy of Command and the Silver Slice articles. Thank you for looking in and good luck to my fellow competitors!
#WAWA #WAWA2025 #WoWP

As we are coming close to the end of the voting period for WAWA2025 I would like promote two of my articles and my timeline! After reading many of the other amazing entries I only want to promote these two as for the other categories there are much more deserving entries than mine so please don't vote for me on those categories! :D

#WAWA2025

Friendly reminder that the Worldbuilding Awards voting ENDS in one week! (March 1st)

Worldbuilding Awards 2025

All Submissions

#WAWA

Dromaria is back with another installment of our From the Village Vault series: The Running of the Buffalo. The goblins have had their day, now it’s the buffalo’s turn. Survive the mayhem and be richly rewarded, or be trampled by the stampede.

This is the 26th free 5e adventure we have crafted for Dromaria and we are approaching enough to complete our chronicles book compiling them all so far. Each one spotlights a piece of our Southern Tritos Dominion.

In other news, only 8 days remain in the first round of the World Anvil Worldbuilder Awards. We have submitted to several categories and are hoping to advance as far as we can. We love having the opportunity to share our work with you all and the further we go, the more people will have a chance to discover us.

#wawa2025 #ftvv #sharethelove #WAWA

I'd wanted to write you all a lovely community post about my #WAWA2025 entries, but after encountering a collection of bugs, I decided to go overboard with a fancy article instead. Click through for fun buttons, silly images, and thoughts on what defines the Best World.

River Rush - WAWA Edition

Voting has begun! I know I've shared this before, but since voting has opened, I wanted to share what Isekai has to offer for this year's WAWA.

Good luck to everyone that is participating this year. I've seen a number of amazing entries and it makes me excited to see how those entries inspire others!

#RiverRush #IsekaiNews #WAWA2025

Wow. Can you all believe it's almost March already? I had so much I wanted to do but so much is happening and it's just a bit XP but, as always, I'm just trying to keep praying and keep going. Today, I have a couple of interesting updates for you all.

Enter the WaWa!

I entered the WorldAnvil WorldBuilding Awards this year! If you would like to check out all my entries (and maybe cast a vote or two) check out the webpage here:

Kickstart the ZineMonth!

I launched a project for ZineQuest and ZineMonth called Rock Paper Scissors Spy. You can find more info and back the project here:

I plan on debuting more art and info for it soon, but things have just been so all over the place for me. If you have any questions about anything, please don't hesitate to ask them! I also made an unofficial challenge for Friendship February that goes hand-in-hand with it. Join if you'd like. It's free!

Streaming Schedule!

I've been streaming on Twitch (or at least trying to)! If you'd like to hang out, the best thing to do would be to follow my Twitch channel here: https://www.twitch.tv/wordigirl, or join my Discord server here: https://discord.gg/wordigirl and grab the Watchers role so that you can be notified whenever I go live. I really need to start putting disclaimers on my schedules. Sadly, things haven't been working out for me to stream exactly on time lately.

Support and Subscriptions!

If you aren't already a part of the agency, please consider joining! It will help me a lot. Even if you can't pledge to the Kickstarter or buy merch, signing up for WILLOWISP tier for as little as $1 per month, or even making a one-time contribution can go a long way. I am extremely grateful to each and every one of you who follow, donate, and support me and my work. Words cannot express my eternal gratitude, especially in these tough times. Check this page for all the different ways you can support or join the agency:

Infinite Imaginations Discord Server!

We have so much fun in the Discord server! From Questions of the Day to Drabble Prompts, to Role Play games, cool conversations, and more! There are all sorts of things to do and all sorts of wonderful peeps to meet. Plus, Handsome Co-Host is there. If you're already here, say hi! We'd love to get to know you more. We've even started a monthly Talent Showcase to help people get eyes on their work. Join for free here: https://discord.gg/wordigirl

I think that's about all for the free update. If you would like more secrets, consider subscribing, even for as low as $1 per month. God bless and much success with all your plans! Sending prayers, love, and healing hugs your way always. Know that you can reach out if ever you want or need.

#unofficialchallenge #friendshipfebruary #wawa #worldbuildingawards #discord #community #update #kickstarter #news #zinemonth #zinequest

I put together a list of all the Dromaria submissions for this years #wawa2025. We are honestly really excited to be participating. This is going to be a fantastic year for gaming and worldbuilding. Love you all and thanks for the considerations!

This year I drew a map. By hand and then in photoshop for the first time, in a very very long time. And I'm still really happy with the result - it kickstarted the world of Dlynaeth for me! Every time I run out of inspiration, I look at my map and fill in a new little thing, a new seed from which to worldbuild.

So I would be most honoured if you would take a look at my map too and hopefully you'll like what you see. If you do, please consider voting for it! Thank you, Anvilites <3

#WAWA2025