--- topic: events type: guide status: draft last-validated: 2026-05-14 related-docs: 701, 654, 646, 629, 628, 627, 626, 584, 361, 324, 322, 311 tier: STANDARD --- # 630 - ZABAL Games Season 1: Farcaster Vibe-Coding Challenge > **Goal:** Define ZABAL Games Season 1 - a Farcaster-creator onboarding event for the ZAO ecosystem. Two phases: an open build-a-thon (anyone applies by shipping), then a Finals (8 builders curated by 8 ZAO mentors, each mentor embedded as a teammate). The competition is in getting selected; the Finals are a collaboration. All 8 Finalists win. > **Status:** DRAFT - working spec, designed in the open. Heavily iterated 2026-05-08 through 2026-05-14. The shareable public summary lives at `bettercallzaal.com/zabalgames.html` (with live Supabase-backed submission tech). This doc is the source-of-truth working spec + decision log. > **Naming note:** Earlier drafts called this "v0" and "Claude Code Hackathon." Current framing: "Season 1" + "Farcaster Vibe-Coding Challenge" (tool-agnostic). > **State note (2026-05-21):** Doc 701 is now canonical for FORMAT, CALENDAR, MENTOR MODEL, and INFRA STATE. Changes since this doc: the named 8-mentor roster is removed (mentors openly recruited, finalist count decided after July), the calendar is June prep / July build / August Finals (Doc 654), and the build prompt drops fixed Option A-E tracks for an adopt-a-started-project-or-build-from-scratch model. This doc stays the long-form spec + decision log; where it conflicts with Doc 701, Doc 701 wins. --- ## Part 0 - TL;DR **What:** A Farcaster-creator onboarding event for the ZAO. Bring hungry, Farcaster-active vibe-coders into ZAO by having them build something real, in public, with a ZAO mentor in their corner. **Two phases:** - **Phase 1 - Open Build-a-Thon:** Anyone applies by building something with the ZAO context prompt + shipping it publicly (live URL + open-source repo + 60s demo + /zabal cast). Use any vibe-coding harness. - **Phase 2 - The Finals:** 8 builders curated from Phase 1, each paired with a ZAO mentor as embedded teammate. 24h build + 24h promote + 24h ZAO governance vote + reveal stream. **Who decides:** Mentors pick their champions from Phase 1 (first-come-first-served, rolling). Then the ZAO DAO (Respect-earning members, 1-person-1-vote) votes on Finals builds. **Prize:** $500 USDC pool, tiered. But all 8 Finalists win - tiering is recognition, not placement. Every Finalist gets paid + a participation collectible + Respect earned during the event. **Cost to ZAO:** ~$525 (USDC pool + minor gas). Tooling subsidy dropped. Submission tech is free (Supabase). **Date:** TBD - locks once the cohort + mentor availability are known. --- ## Part 1 - The Thesis ZABAL Games is **not a generic hackathon**. It is a Farcaster-creator onboarding event. The thesis: bring talented Farcaster builders together, give them deep context on everything the ZAO is building, let them create something that helps the community with a ZAO mentor as embedded teammate, and have them earn governance in the community during the event itself. If they keep building with ZAO after - great. If not, they still walked away with a real artifact, a real relationship, and a real onchain credential. **Focused on the creator, not the thing they create.** The builds matter, but the people matter more. This is about who you are as a builder, how you work in public, how you collaborate with a mentor. That is why the application is itself a build (Phase 1) - we want to see how you actually ship. **What success looks like:** 8 new builders who understand ZAO from the inside. 8+ real artifacts shipped for the ecosystem. A recurring format (this is Season 1) that compounds the builder network + body of work each Season. --- ## Part 2 - Format ### Two-Phase Model | Phase | What | |-------|------| | **Phase 1 - Open Build-a-Thon** | Anyone can apply by building. Vibe-code something with the ZAO context prompt, ship it publicly. The build IS the application. Open to everyone with the chops to ship. | | **Curation Window** | As Phase 1 builds ship, the 8 ZAO mentors watch rolling. Each mentor claims one champion - first-come-first-served per mentor. 8 mentor-player pairs lock the Finals roster. | | **Phase 2 - The Finals** | Same Finals prompt for all 8. 24h build with your mentor embedded as teammate. 24h promote. ZAO governance vote (24h). Reveal stream. | ### Phase 2 Finals Timeline (relative - absolute dates TBD) ``` T-3 days Onboarding call (90 min): rules, infra, wallet linkage, visibility-mode lock-in, voting-mechanism walkthrough T+0 Prompt drops to all 8 simultaneously. Build window opens. Voter eligibility snapshotted now. T+0->T+24h BUILD WINDOW. Mentor embedded as teammate (Discord/Meet, live with the player). Build in public via declared visibility mode. Open repos. T+24h Ship deadline: live URL + open-source repo + 60s demo + ship cast on /zabal T+24h->48h PROMOTE WINDOW. Cast it, demo it. ZAO accounts amplify all 8. T+48h->72h ZAO GOVERNANCE VOTING WINDOW. Respect-earning members cast 1-person-1-vote ballots onchain. Live tally. T+72h Live results-reveal stream. Recognition order announced. USDC + collectibles distributed onchain live. ``` ### Why Two Phases (not single-stage application) - "Apply with a paragraph + a vibe" sets a low bar that filters for confidence, not capability - "Apply by building" sets a high bar that filters for real shipping ability + makes the application itself valuable - Phase 1 is genuinely open - anyone can enter. Curation happens on demonstrated work, not bios. - Resolves the low-bar-to-apply / high-bar-to-accept tension: ship a thing to apply. ### Why "All 8 Win" The competition is in Phase 1 (getting selected). Once you are a Finalist, the Finals are a collaboration among the 8 - not a competition between them. All 8 get paid + collectible + Respect. The DAO vote orders recognition; it does not pick winners-vs-losers. --- ## Part 3 - The Mentors 8 ZAO mentors, curated by Zaal from the ZAO inner circle. Each mentor: - Defines their own search style (the kind of builder they want) before applications open - Reviews Phase 1 builds rolling, claims one champion (first-come-first-served) - Is embedded as that player's teammate during the Finals - live in Discord/Meet, in DMs, on-call. Can share screen if the player is hardware-limited. Helps with project management, ZAO connections, distribution while the player codes. - The mentor is as important as the player. They are the connection point that lets the player stay locked in. ### Roster (locked 2026-05-13) 1. ohnahji 2. candytoybox 3. eduard - confirmed 4. freezetheverse - likely streamer-focused category 5. Iman - ZAO Music team 6. Thy Revolution 7. Tom Fellenz - ZAO Music DBA, likely smart-contract / hard-coder category 8. Adam SongJam - SongJam founder, ZABAL co-creator ### Mentor Incentive - "On the Team" Mentors get: a Hats Protocol "ZAO Mentor S1" NFT (permanent onchain role), a private mentor channel, public cast credit on launch + reveal, ongoing ZAO ops-conversation involvement, auto-eligibility for future Seasons. No cash - this is team membership + status + recognition. Being a ZAO Mentor is a real, persistent org role. ### Per-Mentor Categories (TBD - each mentor drafts their own) Each mentor defines a search style so applicants can self-select. Examples discussed: a streamer-mentor looking for "a streamer with little vibe-coding experience"; a builder-mentor looking for "a smart-contract / hard-coder developer." Surfaces builder archetype diversity in the cohort. Each mentor's 1-liner is collected before the open call. --- ## Part 4 - Tooling + Visibility ### Tool-Agnostic Players use whatever vibe-coding harness fits them - Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Aider, Cline, Bolt, v0, Lovable, or a hand-rolled pipeline. The constraint is not the tool, it is **show your work in public**. ### 4 Visibility Modes Each player picks at least one primary mode + supplements with ongoing /zabal casts: 1. **Live Twitch stream** - the default. ZAO restreams all 8 to one hub. 2. **Recorded screen sessions** - upload to YouTube/Loom within 1h of each session. 3. **Public AI prompt logs** - share conversation/composer history every 1-2h. 4. **Frequent build casts** - screenshots + prompts every 1-2h on Farcaster. Anti-cheat: empty starter repo at T+0 (verified empty git log) + the visibility mode timestamps cross-checked against git commit times. --- ## Part 5 - Prize Structure $500 USDC pool, tiered with floor. **Every Finalist who ships gets paid** - tiering is recognition of standout work, not win/lose. | Place | USDC | |-------|------| | 1st | $150 | | 2nd | $100 | | 3rd | $75 | | 4th-8th | $35 each (5 x $35 = $175) | | **Total** | **$500** | Plus every Finalist gets: - A participation collectible (likely a Hats Protocol role NFT - spec TBD) - Respect earned in ZAO governance during the event itself - Distribution boost from ZAO accounts during the promote window - An open-source GitHub repo as a portfolio piece - Their vibe-coding session footage as a content asset ### Tooling Subsidy - DROPPED Earlier drafts offered up to $20/mo for the player's vibe-coding tool. Dropped 2026-05-11 - simplifies the offer, cohort self-selects for people who can already afford their tool. ### Total ZAO Cost | Component | Cost | |-----------|------| | USDC pool | $500 | | Participation collectible mints (Hats, on Base) | ~$10 | | Submission tech (Supabase free tier) | $0 | | Voting infra (Snapshot or onchain) | $0 | | **Total** | **~$510-525** | --- ## Part 6 - Judging: ZAO Governance Vote **No human judge panel. Not open token-holder voting either.** The judging body is ZAO members who have earned Respect. Respect is ZAO's soulbound, peer-validated reputation - earned in weekly fractal sessions over time. The eligible voter set is members with Respect above a threshold N (N TBD - set against the actual Respect distribution). Respect is inherently tenure-correlated, so this naturally skews toward long-tenure contributors without a separate tenure rule. - **Mechanism:** 1-person-1-vote. NOT token-weighted. A whale holding lots of ZABAL has no extra power - this is governance by earned contribution. - **Eligibility snapshot:** taken at T+0 so the voter set is locked before the Finals begin. - **What they vote on:** which Finals build best serves the ecosystem. Vote-for-1. - **Output:** orders the recognition tiers. Does not pick winners-vs-losers - all 8 already won by being Finalists. --- ## Part 7 - The Prompt ### Sealed Until T+0 The exact prompt - including any build options or starter framing - stays sealed until it drops to all players simultaneously at T+0. Keeps every player on equal context footing. ### What the Prompt Bundle Contains - **Brand context guide** - the full identity + build surface of every ZAO brand (ZAO OS, $ZABAL + Empire Builder, WaveWarZ, ZAO Festivals, ZAO Music, COC Concertz, Respect + Fractals). Lives at `BetterCallZaal/zabalgames-brand-context.md`, feeds the bundle. - **Open-ended build directive** - "build anything that helps the ZAO community with this context" + non-binding suggestion sparks for builders who want starting points - **Tech stack baseline** - Next.js, Supabase, Base, Farcaster mini apps, the SDKs + APIs - **Brand guidelines** - naming glossary, no emojis / no em dashes, color palette, fonts, tone - **Rules + submission bar + visibility-mode requirements** Phase 1 builders get a lighter version (umbrella context + build surfaces). Finalists get the full bundle. ### Starter Projects Zaal seeds forkable GitHub starting-point repos. Building on a starter is as valid as building from scratch. Lowers the Phase 1 barrier. Surfaced on the website's Starter Projects board. --- ## Part 8 - The Submission Tech (Built) The website (`bettercallzaal.com/zabalgames.html`) has real submission infrastructure: - **Supabase-backed submission form** - posts Phase 1 builds to a `zabalgames_submissions` table - **Public submissions board** - renders every submission as cards (build/repo/demo/cast links + status badges). Applications are public by default. - **Starter Projects board** - Zaal-seeded forkable starting points - **Schema** - `BetterCallZaal/zabalgames-schema.sql` - table + RLS (anon insert, anon read, no anon update) - **Mentor claims** - v0 approach: mentor DMs Zaal, Zaal updates `status` + `claimed_by` in the Supabase dashboard. No claim UI for Season 1. Blocking step: Zaal creates the Supabase project, runs the schema, pastes the URL + anon key into the config block. Then the form writes + board reads, fully live. --- ## Part 9 - Risks + Mitigations | Risk | Mitigation | |------|------------| | Too few Phase 1 submissions | Open call promoted across Farcaster early; starter projects lower the barrier; mentor categories give people a clear lane | | Pick conflicts (2+ mentors want same builder) | First-come-first-served per mentor, rolling. Build early gets you seen earlier | | First-come rewards hot-takes over thoughtful picks | Acceptable for Season 1; revisit if it produces bad pairings | | Cheating (pre-built code) | Empty starter repo at T+0 + verified empty git log + visibility-mode timestamp cross-check | | Player builds something off-brand / unethical | Code of conduct in onboarding; right to disqualify pre-vote | | ZAO treasury USDC liquidity | Secure $500 USDC in a dedicated wallet ahead of the Finals | | Low voter turnout | Reveal stream as the payoff; promote the voting window; consider a voter collectible | | Whale tries to sway the vote | Mechanism is 1-person-1-vote NOT token-weighted - holdings give no power | | Mentor flakes mid-Finals | Mentor pool curated + confirmed ahead; backup mentor on standby | | Date drift | Date locks once cohort + mentor availability known - the forcing function is mentor confirmations + open call | --- ## Part 10 - The Bigger Picture - **Season framing:** This is Season 1. Format repeats. Mentors carry across Seasons. Alumni become eligible to mentor or compete again. Each Season compounds the builder network + body of shipped work. - **Tokenization (future layer):** A player who wants it can launch a Clanker token tied to their build + stream. Viewers back builds financially, trade volume = parallel signal next to the DAO vote. Optional, player-driven, NOT a Season 1 requirement - design space documented in Doc 646. - **The team:** Being a ZAO Mentor is a real, persistent role. The Games are how ZAO grows its core builder + mentor tier over time. - **Sub-brand Games (v2+):** COC Concertz Games, WaveWarZ Games, ZAOstock Games - the template rides under the ZAO umbrella. --- ## Part 11 - Locked vs TBD ### Locked - Two-phase model (open build-a-thon -> 8-Finalist event) - 8 ZAO mentors, each picks one champion, embedded as teammate - Mentor picks: first-come-first-served, rolling - Tool-agnostic; 4 visibility modes, pick at least one - $500 USDC tiered pool; all 8 Finalists get paid + collectible - ZAO governance vote: Respect-earning members, 1-person-1-vote, not token-weighted - Applications public by default - Submission bar: live URL + open-source repo + 60s demo + /zabal cast - Season 1 framing - recurring format - Tooling subsidy dropped - Submission tech built (Supabase form + public board + starter projects) - "All 8 win" - competition is in selection, Finals are collaboration ### TBD - Dates - lock once cohort + mentor availability known - Phase 1 prompt content - Zaal writing the full ZAO context bundle - Phase 1 duration - how long the open build-a-thon window runs - Per-mentor categories - each mentor's 1-liner search style - Mentor confirmations - Eduard confirmed, 7 others in progress - Participation collectible spec - likely a Hats Protocol role NFT - Governance earned during event - exact Respect amount + when - Start time - balancing US-centric with global participation - Respect threshold N for voter eligibility - Tokenization layer - opt-in Clanker tokens, design space open (Doc 646) - Telegram group + brand-context [TBD-Zaal] voice/visual fields --- ## Also See - [Doc 646 - Clanker + Empire Builder for ZABAL Games promote window](../../business/646-clanker-empire-builder-zabal-games-promote/) - the optional tokenization layer - [Doc 629 - Streaming as main media source](../../infrastructure/629-streaming-as-main-media-source-flywheel/) - the content flywheel that processes Games streams - [Doc 628 - Web3 streaming + ZABAL Empire bridge](../../business/628-web3-streaming-zabal-empire-bridge/) - [Doc 627 - Twitch + StreamElements](../../cross-platform/627-twitch-streaming-streamelements-integration/) - streaming infra - [Doc 626 - Empire Builder + ZABAL POIDH airdrop](../../business/626-empire-builder-zabal-poidh-airdrop/) - apiLeaderboards pattern - [Doc 584 - Empire Builder Farcaster Creator Playbooks](../../business/584-empire-builder-farcaster-creator-playbooks/) - `BetterCallZaal/zabalgames.html` - the public shareable summary + live submission tech - `BetterCallZaal/zabalgames-brand-context.md` - the brand identity guide for the prompt bundle - `BetterCallZaal/zabalgames-schema.sql` - Supabase schema for the submission tech - PROMPT_CONTEXT.md (this folder) - the player context bundle --- ## Next Actions | Action | Owner | By When | |--------|-------|---------| | Create Supabase project + run schema + paste config into zabalgames.html | @Zaal | ASAP - blocks live submissions | | Draft per-mentor category 1-liners | @Zaal | Before open call | | DM remaining 7 mentors with updated pitch + category ask | @Zaal | Before open call | | Fill brand-context.md [TBD-Zaal] voice + visual fields | @Zaal | Before prompt bundle finalizes | | Write the Phase 1 + Phase 2 prompt content | @Zaal | Before open call | | Set up Telegram group (Zaal + Eduard + Iman, then Freeze + ohnahji) | @Zaal | This week | | Seed starter-project repos on the board | @Zaal | After Supabase live | | Lock Phase 1 duration + open-call date | @Zaal | After mentors confirmed | --- ## Sources - Internal: this folder's PROMPT_CONTEXT.md, the BCZ zabalgames.html + brand-context.md + schema.sql, ZAO research docs cross-linked above - Decision log: iterated in conversation 2026-05-08 through 2026-05-14, plus the 2026-05-13 recorded call (Zaal + Eduard + Iman) that introduced the two-phase model + mentor-pick mechanism