checkpoint 1 — games for good

About the challenge
Checkpoint is a hackathon series for builders aged 13–18. Twice a year, we pick a theme, give you 48 hours, and see what you can make.
This is Checkpoint 01, and the theme is
Games For Good
.
Build a game that does something beyond entertaining. That might mean teaching a skill, raising awareness of an issue, making play accessible to someone usually left out, or supporting a real cause. It doesn't have to be serious or worthy, but it has to be good, and it has to be
for
something.
Checkpoint 01 runs from
Friday 8 January to Sunday 10 January, 2027
. It's free, fully online, and open to anyone aged 13–18 anywhere in the world.
You do not need experience.
Most people who turn up won't have finished a game before, and that's the normal starting point rather than a problem. There's a workshop on Saturday about scoping something you can actually finish, and people in the forums all weekend to help when you get stuck.
Use any engine, any language, and as much AI as you want.
A note:
Checkpoint is fiscally sponsored by The Hack Foundation (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit), with named adult advisors and a published code of conduct.
Check out our website
here!
Get started
1. Register here on Devpost.
Free, takes a minute.
2.
Introduce yourself on the discussion board on Devpost.
This is where everything actually happens: finding teammates, asking for help, sharing what you're building, and getting announcements. If you only do one thing before the event, do this one.
3. Com

Requirements
What to Build
A game. That's the only rule on what to build, and beyond that, anything goes.
Any engine or framework.
Godot, Unity, GameMaker, Pico-8, Twine, Scratch, plain HTML and JavaScript, React, or something we haven't heard of. If you can share it, it qualifies.
Any platform.
Browser games are easiest for judges to play and we'd gently recommend them, but downloadable builds and mobile are fine.
Any scope.
A five-minute experience made well beats an ambitious game left half-finished.
AI is allowed and encouraged.
Use it for code, art, audio, writing, ideas - whatever helps. You'll be asked to say what you used, and you're judged on the result, not the method.
Solo or in a team of up to 4.
Team size does not affect how you're judged.
Everything you submit must be made during the 48 hours. See the Rules section for exactly what that means.
What to Submit
Submit through Devpost before
Sunday 10 January, 7:00 PM ICT
. Your submission needs:
1. A way to play it.
A link to a playable build: itch.io, a hosted web build, a downloadable file, or a repository with clear instructions. A judge needs to be able to run it and test it, with all features unlocked. If your build includes purchases that lock features behind paywalls, include a code judges can use to judge.
2. A demo video, 2–3 minutes.
Upload to YouTube or Vimeo, set to public or unlisted. Show the game being played and explain what it does. This does not need to be polished - a screen recording with you talking over it is completely fine, and it's what most people submit.
3. A written description
covering:
What the game is and how it's played
Who it helps, and how
What you'd do next if you had more time
4. An AI disclosure.
One or two lines listing which AI tools you used and what for. "None" is a perfectly good answer. This doesn't affect your score: we ask because being straight about it is part of how we want this event to work, and this encourages responsible AI use outside of this hack.
5. Your source code
, or a note explaining why you can't share it.
6. Team members listed
on the Devpost submission.
Submit even if it isn't finished.
An unfinished game that gets submitted can win Best Beginner Project. A finished game that never gets submitted can't win anything. Submit anything you have when submissions close.

Judging Criteria
Impact
Does it genuinely help someone? Is the connection to a real problem clear and thought-through, or bolted on?
Creativity
Is the idea interesting? Have we seen this before? Does it approach the theme from an angle we didn't expect?
Execution
Does it work? Is it playable start to finish? Does it do what it says?
Art & Design
Does it look and feel like one coherent thing? Is the interface readable, is the game legible while you're playing it, does the visual and audio direction suit what the game is about?
Presentation
Is the demo video clear? Does the description explain what it is and who it's for?