Best Illusion of the Year Contest

This long-running contest archive gathers short demonstrations that make still pictures spin, solid objects misbehave, and familiar scenes stop agreeing with themselves. The best route in is the finalist archive, not the stale submission banner on the homepage.

What is Best Illusion of the Year Contest?

The prize is fun, but the archive is the real attraction. Each finalist page pairs a creator's explanation with a linked video, so a quick visual trick can lead into a lesson about motion, depth, contrast, attention, or the brain's eagerness to settle on a plausible story. The 2024 collection ranges from a motionless image that seems to spin to mirrors, forced perspective, impossible solids, and a prism that changes identity with the viewing angle. Year links reach back to the first contest in 2005, turning a handful of winners into a winding cabinet of perceptual curiosities.

What you can do there

• Browse prize-winning illusion videos
• Read creators' explanations
• Explore finalists by year

Why we picked it

Few archives make perception science this immediately tempting. You can arrive for one impossible object, follow the creator's explanation, and emerge twenty minutes later suspicious of every straight line in the room. The mix of artists, scientists, physical builds, and screen-based effects keeps the collection from feeling like a single trick repeated forever.

How to get the most from it

Start with the three prize winners from 2024, then open that year's full finalist page and choose one effect whose explanation sounds impossible. After the video, reread the creator's note and try to identify the cue your perception trusted. Use the year archive or topic tags for a longer wander, and take breaks if repeated motion or afterimages become uncomfortable.

Good to know

Most demonstrations open on YouTube, so playback may bring sound, captions, tracking, and bandwidth needs from that service. The site asks for donations, displays sponsors, and invites advertising. Its homepage was stale in August 2026, still calling for 2025 entries with a deadline that had already passed, so verify current contest dates elsewhere before submitting anything. Some clips rely on flicker, apparent motion, afterimages, or other strong visual effects.

Who made it, and when?

Neural Correlate Society is the credited creator or organization. The earliest supported launch date we found is 2005.