Eligibility

  • Current student from Northern Virginia
  • Everyone between the ages of 13-18 is welcome to participate
  • No experience in coding, game dev, or design is needed
  • Parental approval for attendance is required

General

  • Bringing your own food is permitted and encouraged
  • Medicine can be brought but will need to be mentioned in the registration form
  • Participants are required to remain inside the venue for the duration of the event
  • No excessive noise or horseplay
  • No photography without the organizers’ permission
  • Drugs, alcohol, and nicotine products are prohibited
  • Weapons, firearms and anything that could physically harm others are prohibited
  • Harassment of hackathon participants in any form for any reason is prohibited
  • Sexual language and imagery are prohibited
  • Tempering with the network, other participants’ devices, or other hardware is prohibited
  • Violation of these rules will result in point deduction or disqualification based on severity at the discretion of the hackathon organizers

AI Usage

  • Generative AI is prohibited
  • Sprites and artwork have to be original and human-made
  • Code has to be readable, clear, and human-made
  • AI is only allowed for debugging, and it has to be documented in detail specifically
  • Participants have to be able to explain their code and architecture clearly
  • Prohibited use of AI, copyright infringement, and plagiarism will result in point deduction or disqualification based on severity at the discretion of the organizers

Project Submission

  • Project has to be a desktop, web, or mobile game
  • All game engines are allowed (including no engine)
  • Participate in teams of 2-4
  • Will have a teambuilding event for those without a team
  • 6 minutes of presentation per team, 1 hour of judging in total
  • 3 minutes presenting the game, 2 minutes explaining code, 1 minute answering questions
  • No slideshow required, show us the game and code
  • 1 team will be selected for each of the 4 categories: overall, innovation, simulation, and style
  • 2 runner-up teams will be selected for an additional prize as well