Hackabury

We are a student-led society focused on building things fast and learning by doing. 

We help to run Hackabury, CCCU's yearly Hackathon and GameJam that bring together programmers, designers, artists, and problem-solvers to turn ideas into working projects under real constraints. 

A hackathon is an event where small teams build a working piece of software or hardware from scratch. You start with an idea or a problem statement, form a team, and spend the event designing, coding, testing, and presenting a prototype. The focus is speed, problem-solving, and learning by doing, not polished products.

A game jam is similar in structure but narrower in scope. Teams create a playable game within a short timeframe, usually based on a surprise theme revealed at the start. Programmers, artists, designers, and musicians collaborate to produce something complete enough to play by the end. The emphasis is creativity, rapid iteration, and experimentation rather than technical perfection.

Hackabury emphasises collaboration, technical depth, and experimentation. Whether that’s creating a playable game in a weekend, or prototyping software from scratch, the event is aimed at anyone! The goal is simple: make, break, and improve through hands-on creation. You don’t need prior experience, just willingness to learn and contribute.

Hackabury is intentionally a low stress and fun event, with lots of help from academics and volunteers throughout the 24 hours. If you help organise Hackabury, you may also have the opportunity to attend other hackathons and game jams across the UK!