winners

Vanilla Web Hackathon 2025 Winners

Scoring System

Maximum Score: 5.0 points

25%

Creativity & Originality

Innovation and unique approach to problem-solving

30%

Technical Mastery

Code quality, architecture, and implementation excellence

15%

User Experience & Accessibility

Intuitive design and inclusive user interface

10%

Documentation

Clear project explanation and technical details

20%

Performance & Efficiency

Optimized code and fast loading times

1ST PLACE

ZAVA

CYBER GUARDIAN

Final Score: 4.36/5.00

$1000

Judge Comment (Natalia Trankova): "Cyber Guardian is a thoughtful security-focused app with clear educational and protective goals. The UI is approachable, and the code shows good structure - kudos! Accessibility and clarity for non-technical users are well handled. Adding more real-time threat simulation would elevate it further. Great work on a timely and relevant project!"

Key Strengths

Security Focus

Clear educational and protective goals with practical cybersecurity applications

Approachable UI

User-friendly interface that makes complex security concepts accessible

Quality Code

Well-structured codebase demonstrating technical excellence and best practices

2ND PLACE

ASCII GUYS

ASCII DUNGEON ADVENTURE

Final Score: 4.28/5.00

$300

Judge Comment (Rodion Bezruk): "The game is written without JavaScript, using pure HTML with dynamic choices - an original text game with ASCII art and sounds; the size is minimal, and it runs instantly atmospheric, but difficult for visually impaired users. The description is short."

Positive Aspects

Branching Storyline

Dynamic narrative paths with meaningful player choices

Atmospheric Sounds

Immersive audio design enhancing the gaming experience

ASCII Graphics

Creative visual storytelling through text-based art

Minimal Size

Lightweight implementation with no external dependencies

Key Strengths

Lightweight Implementation

Runs instantly with minimal resources and no external dependencies

Creative Accessibility Tradeoffs

Unique approach even if it requires additional optional accessibility layers

3RD PLACE

THETERMINUSPROJECT

Final Score: 4.25/5.00

$200

Judge Comment (Natalia Trankova): "A very-very solid project - Terminus delivers a polished experience within vanilla constraints. Though accessibility could be improved, this is a strong and technically reliable project with great UI & congrats on the execution!"

Key Strengths

Polished user experience
Strong technical reliability
Great UI design
Excellent vanilla constraints adherence

Community Voting Announcement

We're excited to announce an additional $300 prize that will be awarded through community voting on LinkedIn!

Stay tuned for the voting link to support your favorite project!

Total Prize Distribution

1ST PLACE

$1000

ZAVA

2ND PLACE

$300

ASCII Guys

3RD PLACE

$200

TheTerminusProject

COMMUNITY VOTE

$300

To Be Determined

Total Prize Pool: $1800 

Congratulations to All Participants!

Thank you for making this hackathon an incredible success.

Your innovative approaches have demonstrated immense potential and creativity!

See you at the next hackathon!