Teams and entries
Your house leaders will organize the team. You can contribute through programming, art, music, writing, design or testing.
Everyone is expected to take part, subject to school scheduling and arrangements.
What to make
Choose any genre and take the theme in whatever direction you like. Aim for about 10 minutes of gameplay with a clear ending or goal. Ten minutes is a guide, not a time limit.
Players will choose between the games on a shared website. Your game can stand on its own; it doesn’t need to connect to the others.
When you can start
The competition will run between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We’ll announce the exact dates before it starts.
After kickoff, you can work whenever you like, including evenings, weekends and Thanksgiving break. There’s no limit on how much time you spend.
Game requirements
- Language
- Python
- Proposed tools
- Pygame-CE and Pygbag, subject to compatibility testing
- Controls
- One directional joystick and eight action buttons
- Showcase setup
- A Mac connected to the arcade controller
- Hosting
- The school’s local server, accessed through the school network
Core gameplay must work without a keyboard or mouse. You choose what the eight buttons do. Include instructions so players know the controls.
Every house can use the arcade controller for testing. Arrange access with the other teams; there are no fixed sessions or time limits. We’ll test the browser, controller and hosting setup before kickoff and share the requirements you’ll need to follow.
AI, assets and outside help
- AI is allowed and encouraged. Use it wherever it helps, but the game’s core idea should come from your team. You don’t need to declare how you used AI.
- You can use open-source libraries, templates and assets you have permission to use. Include credits where needed.
- Don’t submit an existing complete game, even with modifications.
- You can ask people outside your team for help and share resources with other teams. Teachers can contribute directly to their own house’s game.
- Mr. Jones won’t help build any of the games, since he’ll be judging them.
Keep the game suitable for school.
Checkpoints
You’ll submit your progress each week and get feedback from the organizers. Dates will be announced.
- Week 1
Concept and planning
- Game concept and interpretation of the theme
- Design and gameplay mechanics
- Team roles and responsibilities
- GitHub repository
- Week 2
Playable prototype
Submit a prototype with a complete round of the main gameplay, from start to finish. Your GitHub history should show what you’ve built since Week 1.
- Week 3
Final game
Submit the finished game through GitHub. Leave time to test it, fix bugs and improve how it looks, sounds and plays.
Contribution records
Keep a shared document recording what each student and teacher contributed, including work that won’t show up in code, such as art or testing. Include asset credits there too. Your GitHub history should also reflect who worked on the game.
Judging
Give a 3–5 minute pitch, then show Mr. Jones the game in action. He’ll judge it using the categories below. The pitch doesn’t have a separate score.
Score breakdown
100 points total- Creativity
- 30
- Enjoyable Gameplay
- 25
- Polish
- 20
- Technical Achievement
- 12
- Teamwork
- 8
- Development Process
- 5
If the game isn’t finished
You’re expected to finish by the deadline. If you don’t, Mr. Jones will judge the parts that work. Broken features can lower your score in the relevant categories, but an unfinished game won’t automatically be disqualified or receive an extra fixed penalty.
Rankings and house points
Your score after deductions determines your house’s rank. Winners and house points will be announced at the showcase; other prizes are still to be decided. Mr. Jones has the final say on scores, judging disputes and house points.
Late submissions
For each late submission, use one row from the relevant table. Add up the deductions if you miss more than one deadline. These points come off your total, separately from the Development Process score.
| How late? | Points off |
|---|---|
| Up to 24 hours | 2 |
| Over 24, up to 48 hours | 4 |
| More than 48 hours | 6 |
| Still missing at the next checkpoint | 8 |
| How late? | Points off |
|---|---|
| Up to 24 hours | 5 |
| Over 24, up to 48 hours | 10 |
| More than 48 hours | 15 |
| Not submitted by showcase start | 20 |
Your score can’t go below zero. If there are exceptional circumstances, speak to the organizers.
Submitting your game
Send us your team’s GitHub repository and instructions for running the game, preferably in a README. The repository can be public or private. If it’s private, give the Refract team access.
- Your teamSubmit the repository
- Refract TeamPut the games together
- School serverHost the shared website
We may need to adjust the code to make your game run on the shared website and controller. Any changes must preserve your gameplay and content, and should be documented.
Download the full rulebook 6-page PDF · 26 October 2026