The compo has ended!
Big thanks to everyone who participated! Huge congrats to the winning entries:
- Stefan Neidig with Bots
- Jorge Noro with Oblivious
- Caio Marchi Gomes do Amaral with Dungeon Lurer
Stay tuned for articles featuring all games + interview to Stefan.
***
Hi everyone! We at Zenva are happy to announce our first ever Phaser Hackathon! We are excited to see the creative and fun games we know you guys are capable of making using the awesome Phaser HTML5 development framework. See below for details!
Key Dates
Here is some important information to keep an eye on
- The Zenva Phaser Hackathon will run from July 6th through to July 30th and is an online competition
- Submissions must be made by 11:59 PM PST on July 30th
Participating is entirely free. You don’t need to be enrolled in our courses to join.
Zenva Phaser Hackathon
Goal and Game Topic
The topic is entirely free. The goal is to create a fun and interactive online game using Phaser to spread awareness about this wonderful framework, and how our courses can help aspiring developers achieve their game development goals.
Prizes – 1st Place
- The winner of the Hackathon will get free access to a bundle of +1800 USD worth of online courses containing the following titles:
- The winner will also receive a $200 cash award which will be transferred via Paypal.
- In addition, the winning submission, and the personal website/portfolio of the winner, will be shared to our entire mailing list (which consists +70,000 eager developers) as well as our social media channels.
- The game will also be showcased in our Phaser course product page for all to see.
- Lastly, the winner will be able to list that they won the first ever Phaser Hackathon held by Zenva Academy — be it on LinkedIn or their professional website — and they’ll have an award-winning game to add to their portfolio.
Prizes – 2nd and 3rd Places
- Free access to a bundle of +1800 USD worth of online courses containing the following titles:
Prize for all submissions
- All submissions will be featured in an article on GameDev Academy and shared with our entire mailing list and followers.
Game Specifications
Here are the specification requirements for the game submission
- The game must be developed using the Phaser HTML5 game development framework (see Phaser.io to download and install it)
- No other external libraries can be included
- The game must be designed for a 640×360 screen resolution and scaled using the SHOW_ALL option, such that it is easily playable on both a mobile device screen and typical desktop resolutions
- The maximum size of the completed game should be no more than 500 KB, this includes all the code except for the Phaser library, all the assets (images, sound, json files, tmx files, etc), UNZIPPED. Also the game won’t be zipped, so the 500 KB is for the game project unzipped, excluding ONLY the Phaser library.
- Minification of assets is allowed
- For the submitted entry, we need to be able to run index.html on a local web server. We won’t be executing commands like npm install, grunt, webpack, etc. You can use those tools in your personal workflow but for the submission we’ll only open index.html
- The game can’t load assets hosted elsewhere. All the assets need to be run locally.
- This is a client-side only game, to be played in the browser (this is NOT a Cordova game or a game made into an executable file).
- The game must be made available in a public Github repository and it must be open source by including a file named “License.txt” with the content of the MIT License.
- The game must work both on desktop computer and mobile phones with a touch screen.
- Only one game submission per person.
Asset Guidelines
On incorporating audio and visual assets into the game, the following should be adhered
- Acceptable assets that can be used for graphics and visuals animations are those used in the course The Complete Mobile Game Development Course – Platinum Edition, those available on the Kenney Assets Website, or artwork available on the Open Game Art Website (those listed with a CC or Public Domain License only)
- Sounds and audio files that may be used in the submitted game are those available on the Free Sound Website (those listed with a CC0 or Public Domain License only). Audio files from other sources will not be accepted
- Please make a note of where you are utilizing assets from, as you will have to include links to the assets used in the game upon submission
- You can make minor modifications to the assets described above. For instance, you can cut, filter or downsize a segment of a sound file. You can divide a spritesheet into smaller images, scale images, make minor modifications. The spirit here is to build a game with existing assets, as this is not a game artwork competition.
Judging Criteria
ZENVA staff will review all the submissions and determine the winners based on:
- Fun playing experience – is it fun and engaging?
- Polish – does it look good? attention to detail?
- Absence of bugs – does it crash?
- Cross-platform – does it play well both on desktop and mobile?
Submission Form
To enter, please complete the online submission form located here
ANYONE can join this hackathon! You don’t need to be enrolled in any of our courses
Best of luck to all, and we’re rooting for each and every one of you!
Is that 500 KB including game asset (images, audios) or just code?
500 KB including code, assets (audio, images, json files, etc). The only file not included in the 500kb is the Phaser library.
Awesome news. Can Webpack be used? I guess as long as Phaser Engine is a separate file it shouldn’t matter. Also, do we need a simple HTML page with white/black background?
Can we create our own assets? Or do we have to use the ones from Open Game Art and Free Sound?
Can multiple people work on the same project or are we required to work alone?
Hey Tim, you can only use the assets specified above. You can’t create your own assets. The reason being, we wanted to have a leveled field when it comes to artwork. You can make minor edits the those assets, you can resize them, slice them, optimize them, down sample the audio, cut a chunk of audio, etc.
you can use webpack on your own workflow, or to minify. In the submitted entry, we need to be able to run index.html from a local webserver, without having to run command-line. I’m updating the doc to add this.
Regarding the HTML page, it doesn’t matter, we’ll just look at the game in the canvas :)
Sorry I’m gonna have to change my response here. The submission is individual. We built this compo around the assumption it’s single people that compete. We’ll take this into account for the next compo if more people request teams, but I feel it’s too late to change it.
Is the resolution fixed or can we go horizontal/vertical as needed? Can it be 640×360 or 360×640?
Fixed 640 x 360 – “landscape” mode :)
Can I use all Kenney asset (audio, images) or just these sprites/tiles/audios which you are using in the Platinum Edition?
Can i use Tiled to create and load json tilemap?
Pablo, I guess you mean KB, as it’s small difference between KB and kb :)
Anyway, half of 1 MB :)
Maybe you should give a template with the fixed tech requirement to build upon.
maybe you should give a template with the fixed tech requirements to build upon?
OK I can’t use jsFxr
What part in particular is not clear? Happy to address any point that’s not clear.
A template is an empty html file with just one line of code: a script tag that includes phaser.js
Yes, you can use any tools you want. The tiles themselves should belong to the asset packs outlined in the rules.
All of them. Acceptable assets:
-The Complete Mobile Game Development Course – Platinum Edition assets
-those available on the Kenney Assets Website
– or artwork available on the Open Game Art Website (those listed with a CC or Public Domain License only)
All clear as for me, thank you for the competition and look forward for my code! :)
Now that I think more about the template it’s actually a really good idea. We’ve already started here but the next compo will definitely have a starting template.
Which of these opengameart.org licenses are valid?
– CC-BY 4.0
– CC-BY 3.0
– CC-BY-SA 4.0
– CC-BY-SA 3.0
– GPL 3.0
– GPL 2.0
– OGA-BY 3.0
– CC0
– LGPL 3.0
– LGPL 2.1
You can only the ones specified in the article which are:
– CC0
– Public domain, this means GPL and LGPL. If the same asset has both GPL AND CC different than CC0 then you can’t use it.
Is it possible to use assets we bought ? I know it’s not on your list but it doesn’t seem to contradict “The spirit here is to build a game with existing assets, as this is not a game artwork competition.” :)
Hey Francois you can only use the assets outlined above!
Hi! When you say that no other library’s can be included, does that mean that for example I can’t include an A* library, or is i just to prevent people from using other renderers, physics engines, etc… ?
You can’t use existing JavaScript libraries to solve different problems or add additional functionality to the game, unfortunately that would include A*..
Questions about mobile, by judges it will be tested using XDK or you’ll compiled using Cordova and tested as native app?
Ok, thanks! That will definitely turn things interesting!
This will only be tested as a webapp, we won’t be testing Cordova apps or running any command-line. The only thing we’ll do with each entry is open index.html on the browser (using a localhost, of course :) )
Then what does it means “Cross-platform – does it play well both on desktop and mobile?”, I understood one of these judging criteria will be also how does it works on mobile.
1. License.txt, .gitignore and README.md also counts in the 500 KB?
2. Where we can send you link to repo?
1. No
2. In the submission form linked to in the article above (first paragraph).
It means that the game needs to be playable both from the browser in a computer and on the browser of a mobile phone. 1) the game needs to work on a computer (keyboard or mouse) and on a touchscreen and 2) that the game is scaled with option SHOW_ALL so that it can be easily be made responsive (ideally make it responsive which is really one line of code in css: canvas { width: 100% }
Can I change the color of any assets?
Hello I just submitted my game. Just had a question in regards to the submission. Is there a email address to contact. thank you
Hi there, just to get things right: Is it okay to use sounds from Open Game Art, or just sounds from the Free Sound website?
Acceptable assets that can be used for graphics and visuals animations are those used in the course The Complete Mobile Game Development Course – Platinum Edition, those available on the Kenney Assets Website, or artwork available on the Open Game Art Website (those listed with a CC or Public Domain License only)
Sounds and audio files that may be used in the submitted game are those available on the Free Sound Website (those listed with a CC0 or Public Domain License only). Audio files from other sources will not be accepted
Hi Kenneth, all questions regarding the competition need to be public! If you have any questions just let us know here :)
Yes you can, minor modifications to the assets is fine.
That is a great for the next competition! This is our first time running one and all ideas are welcome.
So, I can not use the sound files given in Kenney’s Assets?
Yes, Wasim! That’s, in essence, my question: how strict are you on audio assets from Kenney and Open Game Art being used? Because I found the perfect tune on Open Game Art :) The rules read pretty clear, just wanted to make sure if I can skip the hassle of searching thought Free Sound website for a replacement.
How is the filesize of the game measured? I have a repo containing all sorts of files (i.e package.json, gulpfile, …). With them the repo has several megabytes. But the only game relevant files are the index.html, the assets and dist directory. In the submission form I can only provide a link to the actual repo. Should I remove all irrelevant files from the repo in order to match the 500 KB file limit? If so what about the readme and license file taking also several Bytes?
We don’t want to change the rules so close to the finishing line as some people have submitted their games already, so we’ll stay with what’s written above. However we are taking this as feedback for the next compo!
We don’t want to change the rules so close to the finishing line as some people have submitted their games already, so we’ll stay with what’s written above. However we are taking this as feedback for the next compo!
Stefan, we didn’t think of this issue and since we are so close to the ending date I’d prefer not to modify the rules in any way as some people have submitted already. We will leave the readme out, but can you not include the other files for the submission. This is our first compo and we are taking all of this as feedback for next time
No problem at all. I will create a separate branch before removing the other files, such that my files are not removed entirely. So my final submission will by the master branch. Is that oke?
Also: I am confused with the licenses of my assets. The rules state that any CC or public domain license will do it. So currently I have CC0 and CC-BY 3.0, which are both CC. This should be no problem right? Sorry for the confusion
Hi! Is that ok to publish my game on itch.io?
Is there a tag I can use on it to link it to other submissions of this competition?
Stefan, I can see now where the confusion came from. I wrote in the rule “CC” instead of “CC0” which was my intention. We’ll go by the rules so you are fine with CC0 and CC-BY-3.0!
Caio, the game is yours to do whatever you want! As long as you follow the rules and submission process like everyone else you can do whatever you want with your game :)
Sorry to come so late, but GPL 3.0 or GPL 2.0 are also ok to use right?
Too late. I already remove them :P Another issue, which might be too late by the time you are answering because I am finalizing my entry right now. The filesize issue gives my some headache. I analyzed my directory, which I pulled from my github rope without the phaser file. It tells my that the size of the directory is 280KB (nice) and 766 KB on disk (not nice). Which filesize do you take into account? I hope not the latter one, since I am not able to reduce this one. Thanks for any fast reply!
Stefan, it’s the size on disk what we’ll look at. Reducing image file sizes is quite easy with Gimp, if you haven’t already: Image menu – Mode – Indexed, images can be reduced significantly with no quality loss for pixel art / images with a few colors.
Assuming you are taking about images or sounds, those licenses correspond to public domain so therefore yes.
OH! I did not know that and assumed that the actual file size was meant. I filed my entry yesterday, where I linked the code. Is it ok if I reduce the filesize on disk and make more commits to the repo in order to get not disqualified? Sorry for the inconvenience. I will make sure that the last commits are done before the deadline.
I made it to reduce the filesize of the project to be under 500 KB on disk. The code is now mess but it still works :D I am really sorry for the confusion. I did not know that it was 500 KB on disk and not the actual filesize. I made the commit to the repo but I filed my entry yesterday. Is that a problem? Should I file another entry or is the code only taken after the deadline? I hope this is fine. Would be awful if the last 2 weeks would be in vain.
Hi Stefan, sorry for the late response. If you reduced the size that’s all good. No need to add another submission, we’ll look at the latest commit that is within the time frame so no need to worry.
Welp, I’m not gonna finish this one in time.
However, this contest made me “speed learn” Phaser at a rather rapid rate, only having nights and weekends, trying to finish something worthwhile.
I learned A LOT just from doing this!
It’s now July 31, 2:59 AM, EST here, which would be July 30, 11:59 PM, PST according to the rules.
Was a good run, tho. I’m still going to work finish up my game!
There no way in hell I’m letting all this work go to waste.
– C. out.
Good to hear that. There are several platforms (e.g. itch.io) where you can host your finished game for free, so that you can share it with others.
Thanks, Stefan.
Yeah, I’ve heard of itch.io, so I’ll look into that.
Even though I was almost done, at least now, I can go back and take my time on those parts that were rushed (mostly polish, feedback, and no audio) as well as work on the things I decided to leave out – some of them at the last minute!
-C. out.
Absolutely go for it! Don’t let it go to waste. Glad to hear you it was a good learning experience!
Hey @Zenva. How are the reviews going? Any news? :)
+1
Don’t hold your breath.. I assume they’ve given up… Pretty piss poor organisation of a contest IMO.
Why so salty? The competition had its issues of course. But as they said it was the first of its kind and they take feedback in order to make it better the next time. In the meanwhile the winners were announced in twitter and in their mailing list. Your feedback that the should have posted something here is something that they’re happy to hear about I suppose ;)
Pablo is too long on the market with its Zenva, I don’t believe that he gave up, I’m pretty sure there is a reason.
If the organisation was bad, then you can organise your own hackathon, spending your time to prepare, organise, while parallel running its own business as Pablo, with own prices and then we’ll judge which one competition is better.
Just text me on contact@doyban.com about that, once it’ll be ready ;)
Fair point – I think this page should have been updated to reflect that – Rather than the generic “results next week” message
Exactly! I hope Pablo will do this in order to show that the competition as well as the grading is over.
Hey Drummer, we already announced the winners last week over our mailing list and Twitter. Those are our official communication channels. We are putting together a couple of really nice articles featuring an interview to the winner and screenshots + Github links to every single entry. What, in your opinion, can we do to make the next compo better?
Thanks for your comment Daniel! Sorry we didn’t update this page. I thought the mailing list + Twitter would be enough, next time we’ll do a better job at updating all channels.
Congratulations for the winners, Stefan game was really world class development, is there any possibilities to reach you?
@Stefan, if you can please reach me at https://twitter.com/doybangames or contact@doyban.com, I might be really honored to talk with you a bit :)
Just 1 noticed, it was not written there, but Oblivious game shouldn’t be minified, I mean there should be also uncoded version, as the others (me too) did, with possibilities to learn each other from each other as it’s also the point here.