The creativity and ingenuity on display at CodeDay Winter 2023 was truly exceptional, making the task of selecting the best projects a daunting one for our panel of judges. After careful consideration of the hundreds of outstanding submissions, we are elated to present our World Champion Awards for Winter 2023 to the projects that stood out for their unparalleled innovation, skill, and imagination.

Excellence Award: Ghosts Don’t Rest (CodeDay Dallas)

By Latika Sreenath

Play as Breven Murphy as he wakes up to find out he’s died during a getaway with his “close” friends. Find out who’s the one that got away in this easy-to-play mind game filled with puzzles, dialogue deduction, and misdirects!

CodeDay is the place where creativity meets code, and this game from CodeDay Dallas was our favorite example this season. The team really impressed us with amazing character art, technically impressive levels, great writing, and an overall polished result. We’re excited to present them with our highest award this season!

View on Showcase

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Creative Concept: TIE!

“A low budget show” by Ryan (San Diego)
&& “Necessities made Unnecessary” by A.S. and Jashith Narang (CodeDay Mumbai)

A movie with a fight between a dinosaur and a bat. – A low budget show

This program is an animation about 2 stupid inventions that nobody needs. -Necessities made Unnecessary

We’re thrilled to recognize two projects from opposite sides of the world for their outstanding use of code to create cinematic masterpieces. Both defied conventional projects and pushed the boundaries of creativity to new heights.

View “A Low Budget Show” on Showcase

View “Necessities made Unnecessary” on Showcase

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Art: Guy With Sword (CodeDay Seattle)

By P.H., Maliya G., and Sindhura

We created a 2D platformer on Unity

We are thrilled to present the “Best Art” award to “Guy With Sword” which, despite its misleading name (the guy has no sword), captivated us with its stunning and playful hand-drawn style. While we often give art awards for pixel art, this team has demonstrated that creativity can take many forms and sometimes simpler is more fun.

View on Showcase

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Music: Penguin’s Meltdown (CodeDay Seattle)

By Aarjav, Eric Ge, Nipun Goursetti, Sanjog S, Shrey S

Penguin’s Meltdown, players take on the role of a penguin sliding down a treacherous and ever-changing icy slope. As they navigate through the game, players will encounter challenges that mirror the real-life effects of climate change on the penguin’s environment.

This project uses entirely custom-made art and animations, but we were even more impressed by their custom soundtrack, created entirely in 24 hours!

View on Showcase

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Voice Acting: Zungi-s (CodeDay Phoenix)

By Asher H Nixon, B.D., Faye, and K.C.

Zombie Game where a zombie mushroom starts the apocalypse.

We are delighted to honor this remarkable team with the “Best Voice Acting” award, recognizing their exceptional talent in creating authentic and compelling character voices in a short amount of time. Their achievement is a testament to their dedication and creativity.

View on Showcase

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Writing: Missing..? – A short game about loss and denial (CodeDay Seattle)

By Aadi

Chris has been missing for a month. His best friend, Max, is determined to find him, even when everyone else has taken him for dead. Will Max find him? Or will Chris be hidden in the dark forever?

We are thrilled to award “Missing” with our highest recognition for its outstanding storytelling and captivating hand-drawn characters. This thought-provoking visual novel skillfully explores themes of denial and loss through its multiple endings, leaving a lasting impact on its audience.

View on Showcase

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Community Choice: DALL-E Prompt Guessing Game (CodeDay Seattle)

By Theo, Tom, Zach H.

The user gets a randomly-generated DALL-E image and has to guess what prompt words made that image.

We asked you to vote on which project you liked best, and topping the list this season was this super creative use of AI.

View on Showcase

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Special Recognition

We’re also recognizing three more projects with World Champion Awards:

• Word Hunter, by Jack at CodeDay San Diego, for creating a fun new take on word games.
• LUMINOUS, by Danson, Kenedy Matete, Rachael Mumbi, and Musa M at CodeDay CodeDay Nairobi for a really unique and ambitious hardware project.
• AppleBot, by Exo Flier, Praneel K, J.F., and Srikar P. at CodeDay San Diego, for creating a fun and interesting take on a text adventure through the lens of ChatGPT.