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

Description and use

The author built the CodeWare game in Godot over 51 hours, earned 1013 Stardust, and purchased a 3D printer.

Problem

The author wanted to create a more substantial project than a simple beginner tutorial to earn a higher Stardust payout in the Stardance hackathon.

Outcome

The author successfully built a polished action game in 51 hours, earned a high Stardust payout, and purchased a 3D printer.

Workflow

• 1. Joined Stardance hackathon and chose a beginner mission requiring 5 hours of coding.
• 2. Decided to exceed the beginner scope to avoid a simple tutorial submission.
• 3. Installed Godot engine and set up a new project.
• 4. Designed the game world (Tyleruploads Mountain Range) and minigames with timers.
• 5. Implemented gameplay mechanics, lives, and win/lose conditions.
• 6. Iteratively tested and debugged to polish the game.
• 7. Added documentation, devlogs, and README for storytelling.
• 8. Uploaded the game to Itch.io, GitHub Pages, and GitHub Releases.
• 9. Submitted the project to Stardance and received reviews.
• 10. Calculated Stardust payout and purchased the 3D printer.

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

The game is a collection of fast‑paced, action‑filled minigames. Each minigame has a timer you can hear ticking throughout the game.

Source