It's no secret that free gaming portal SPIL Games is a hardened HTML5 advocate, with the firm having launched dedicated websites for the standard back in August.

As a neat tool to promote its current line up, however, the company has also been running a development competition of late, encouraging studios to create the best HTML5 content with the promise of winning a share of $50,000.

Platform prizes

Due to run for six months, October's top prize has gone to Gopherwood Studios puzzler Sand Trap, with SPIL's judges praising the game's touchscreen technology and realtime physics.

Second place went to Block Dream by Bruno Garcia – rated so highly due to a control method deemed difficult to render in rival Flash – with third place handed to Makar Osokin's Zombie Troops, which broke down barriers for being one of the first HTML5 powered shooters.

As you might expect, all three games now sit happily for free play on Spil Games three mobile websites (m.games.co.uk being the main portal), each one handily pitched at different markets and enjoying a fair level of success with 1.5 million game play sessions so far.

All the sites currently feature 10 free to play games, with Bubble Hit, Block Mover and Castle Solitaire the most popular releases.

Developers interested in applying for future prizes can see the rules of the competition here.

It's particularly worth checking out the full terms and conditions however, especially in terms of IP rights.