How I Built an Action Game with Godot During a Global Teen Hackathon with Prizes

Description and use

A teen coder built the CodeWare game in Godot, spending over 51 hours, and earned 1013 Stardust, enabling the purchase of a 3D printer.

Problem

A teen coder wanted to create a more substantial project than a beginner tutorial to earn a high Stardust payout in the Stardance hackathon.

Outcome

The project achieved a high Stardust payout, earned a 3D printer, and received positive reviews highlighting fun gameplay, good design, and thorough devlogs.

Workflow

• Installed Godot and set up a new project
• Designed the title screen and mountain range level layout
• Implemented five minigames with timers and life system
• Added UI for lives, timer, and end‑game screens
• Polished graphics and added sound effects
• Created devlogs and documentation for storytelling
• Uploaded builds to Itch.io, GitHub Pages, and GitHub Releases
• Submitted project to Stardance and received reviews
• Calculated payout using multiplier formula

Evidence

I had absolutely no experience in any sort of game development. I didn't even have Godot—or any game engine, as a matter of fact—on my computer.

Source

I spent 51 hours and 38 minutes of real coding time, backed by a time tracker also provided by Hack Club.

Source

I did so well on this project that I got an unimaginable payout of 1013 Stardust with a 16.45x out of 20x multiplier, with a 20% bonus for being "Blessed" because of my thoughtful voting.

Source