• Whether you're a developer, designer, AI tinkerer, product thinker, or a bold beginner, you're welcome here. AI-assisted development means anyone can contribute, yes, even if you're not a full-time coder. Come with your team (1–3 people) or we’ll help match you.

• Wednesday, September 24 @ 12:00pm – Surprise challenge revealed & competition begins
• Thursday, September 25 – Finalists present their builds live at RALLY
• Prize Announcement – Right after the showdown
  

• Competition Format
  
  • Teams will receive 1 of 4 themed challenge prompts at kickoff (you won’t know which until the clock starts).
  • 18 hours to build a working solution.
  • All code must be written from scratch,no drag-and-drop tools, no pre-built templates, no copy-paste clones. This is about original work, built under pressure, from the ground up.
    
    You can use AI tools like ChatGPT, Cursor, or Copilot to help you write and debug code faster. That’s part of the fun. But you don’t have to,if you want to go full manual mode and write every line yourself, go for it. If you can keep up, we’ll be impressed.
    
    Just make sure you disclose how you used AI in your project. Transparency matters. Whether you prompt it, tweak it, or out-code it, we want to see what you brought to the table. We will have judges present during the competition to enforce the rules.
• Team Guidelines
  
  • 1–3 people per team
  • Max 12 teams accepted (36 people total)
  • Must attend in person in Indianapolis
  • Final product must be live and accessible (web or mobile app, API, etc.)
• Possible Mystery Challenge Themes
  
  • AI for Daily Life – Build something useful, delightful, or absurdly helpful using AI to solve a personal or everyday problem.
  • Gamify Learning – Turn education into a game. Make it addictive, make it weird, make it stick.
  • Community Impact – Tech that brings people together or makes real-world life better for a neighborhood or niche group.
  • Sustainability & Planet Hacks – Build something that nudges behavior or awareness toward a better planet.
• Judging Criteria
  
  • A panel of devs, founders, and designers will evaluate your creation based on:
    
    • Innovation & Creativity – Is it bold? Weird? Unexpected?
    • Functionality – Does it actually work?
    • Code Quality – Clean, well-documented, and maintainable
    • Execution – Looks polished, feels finished
    • Presentation – Can you tell the story and show it off with flair?
• Final Demo & Winner Reveal
  
  • Top 3 teams will pitch live during Rally’s big day. This is your Shark Tank-meets-hackathon moment.

Note: The competition format, judging, and rules may be updated at the discretion of RALLY organizers and sponsors.