VNG Games AI Puzzle Hackathon: 24 Hours with My Students

VNG Campus • 11–12 July 2026

"Reflections from a 24-hour game hackathon at VNG Campus with three hardworking students from my puzzle game class: discovering the power of AI prompting, designing a 21-level beach cleanup game with sound accessibility, and industry insights."

The Context & The 24-Hour AI Challenge

This semester I was already teaching a dedicated Puzzle Game Design class at the university. When the VNG Games Puzzle Game Hackathon was announced with the core theme of building games with AI, I invited three of my most hardworking, committed students to join me.

The Shift: From Fragmented Tasks to Individual Ownership

Initially, the team attempted to divide tasks traditionally (logic, visual assets, audio). However, in a fast-paced AI hackathon, this fragmented workflow created bottlenecks. We pivoted: each student was encouraged to build their own prototype using AI-assisted pipelines.

The Game: 21 Levels, Summer Beach Cleanup & Animal Companions

The event prompt was a summer 'Beach' theme. We created an innovative horizontal mobile puzzle game where players sift through the sand to clean up ocean trash, uncover buried valuables, and return lost items to their owners.

• 21 Unique Levels spanning iconic beaches from around the world
• Animal Companions: Crow and dog partner mechanics
• Dynamic World States (Normal, Degraded, Worst Scenario)
• Sound-Only Accessibility Mode for visually impaired players

The Industry Presentation & Retrospective

Near the 24-hour deadline, we evaluated our prototypes and presented our most polished game in front of VNG Games industry representatives. Despite contrasting priorities between commercial conventions and academic experimental innovation, my students gained massive confidence in prompt engineering and rapid prototyping.