Crayon Box Tournament

At Hack&Roll 2024, my team embraced a challenge none of us was prepared for - creating a video game from scratch in just 24 hours, despite our collective inexperience in game development.

The result? A fast-paced 2D platformer that brings a fresh twist to the traditional cat-and-mouse dynamic. In Crayon Box Tournament, two players engage in a battle of wits and reflexes. One controls a nimble “box” character racing toward the finish line, while the other wields a digital “crayon” to strategically draw obstacles, turning the level itself into a weapon.

Box players navigate using WASD controls and have access to two game-changing abilities—a quick dash to gain momentum and a limited-duration phase shift that allows them to temporarily pass through drawn obstacles. This creates moments of genuine tension as players calculate the perfect time to use these powers.

Meanwhile, crayon players become level designers on the fly, using mouse controls to craft barriers and traps. The freedom to draw anywhere enables creative strategies that evolve throughout each match, making every playthrough unique.

We designed a best-of-three format where players swap roles after each round, ensuring a balanced experience that tests skills from both perspectives. The clever comeback mechanic gives the losing player a random powerup selection after each round, creating dramatic reversals and keeping matches competitive until the final moment.

The entire project was built using Godot, an open-source game engine that proved surprisingly accessible for our team of first-time game developers. What began as an intimidating challenge transformed into one of the most rewarding creative experiences of our programming careers.