{
  "id": 14559000,
  "title": "How I Built an Action Game with Godot During a Global Teen Hackathon with Prizes",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/14/how-i-built-an-action-game-with-godot-during-a-global-teen-hackathon",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-14T23:24:25.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/thetylern/how-i-built-an-action-game-with-godot-during-a-global-teen-hackathon-with-prizes-4db0"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "I completed a few larger projects for Stardance, a global teen hackathon organized by Hack Club, a nonprofit organization for young coders. The goal was to earn a small amount of digital currency called Stardust, which can be used to purchase both physical and digital items in the Stardance shop. I named the project CodeWare, and I worked on it for a few hours following a tutorial. However, I kept tweaking and fixing bugs before submitting the final product. At first, I thought this would be a simple way to earn some Stardust, but I decided not to submit a basic project based on a tutorial. Instead, I aimed to create something more impressive. The game's title screen features the Tyleruploads Mountain Range with various mountains connected by land bridges. The objective is to cross those bridges. There are two possible endings: one for winning and one for losing all lives. The game consists of fast-paced, action-filled minigames, each with a timer. If the timer runs out, you either lose a life or move on to the next minigame, depending on the game type. Before starting this project, I had no experience in game development and no Godot or other game engine installed on my computer. I had expected the Stardance mission to be a gentle introduction to game development and Godot, but it turned out to be an opportunity to learn more about actual game development skills. I ended up investing 51 hours and 38 minutes of coding time into this project, which is roughly 5 times more than any other project I had worked on previously. My coding time was backed by a time tracker provided by Hack Club. I was able to secure an extension of one month, which increased my chances of winning a Bambu Lab A1 Mini 3D Printer. The Stardance hackathon's prize payout is determined by a simple formula: Multiplier * Hours Spent Coding = Stardust. The multiplier is calculated based on 12 reviews from other teenage coders around the world, who rate the project on originality, technicality, usability, and storytelling. I believe my project has decent originality, but it shines in technicality due to the extensive effort I put into it. CodeWare is accessible on its own Itch.io page and GitHub Pages site, with options for Linux, Windows, and Web downloads. I also think I did well in storytelling, as I made detailed devlogs to document the development journey. You can check out the game and its Stardance project page at the links provided. Currently, it's unclear whether Tyler will receive a 3D printer, and the outcome is expected to be revealed in November of this year.",
  "summary": "I had just recently completed a couple of medium-sized projects for Stardance, a global teen hackathon hosted by Hack Club, a global nonprofit organization for teen coders. To continue, I decided to follow a beginner mission that required just 5 hours of coding. I thought this project would be a quick and easy way to get a relatively small amount of digital currency for the Stardance shop, which…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}