After less than three months, IndieGames returns to Tauron Arena for another big event. Our last visit during Ryucon was full of attractions, from various cosplay and music performances to video games and even sports events. This time, a more technical challenge awaited us in the heart of Kraków, namely surviving a 24-hour coding marathon. Here is our report from the first day of HackYeah 2025, Europe’s largest on-site hackathon.
We arrived at the venue well before the start of hackathon, so we had plenty of time to explore every nook and cranny of each of the prepared zones. And there were quite a few of them – we started with the main hall, where the teams were stationed. That’s where the work on the projects took place and the keynote speeches were given. Nearby was the Mentors Village full of IT experts ready to help participants refine their ideas.
We also visited the She Hacks zone, a place created by women for women who want to make their mark in the world of technology. In addition, attendees could enjoy the chillout area and the partner zone, which offered a variety of competitions and interesting activities.
Kicking Off the Event
We managed to arrive in time for the official start of the event. After a brief welcome to the attendees and presentation of the hackathon plan, Colonel Jarosław Wacko took the floor on the main stage. His speech focused on issues related to national cybersecurity – he presented initiatives such as CTF, Locked Shields, and CyberLegion, among others.
After this part of the program, it was time for team building. It was a great opportunity for us to see up close how the teams put together their lineups, develop strategies, and assign responsibilities. Shortly thereafter, details of this year’s tasks were announced – participants competed in 10 separate categories devoted to various technological issues. There were four options to choose from among the open tasks: biohacking, defense, travel, and gamedev. As for partnership tasks, projects could be submitted in six categories: Krakow Digital Volunteer Center, ProcessBot, Journey Radar, Retirement Simulator, LifeRun, and #Prompt2Code2.
Meanwhile, as the teams bravely battled the unforgiving code, we headed off to attend lectures from the conference portion of the event. First, we attended a presentation by Mateusz Kobryn, who is a VR trainer at VR Coaching Academy. His lecture explored how Virtual Reality can support HR training through immersive simulations that build empathy, communication, and inclusion for neurodiverse employees. We also got a chance to try out a VR-based self-regulation exercise designed to enhance focus, manage stress, and strengthen emotional well-being. In short: a round of Beat Saber.
The next lecture stressed us out a little, because it presented the disadvantages and downsides of chronic stress. Katarzyna Jurczak, a product manager at Apptio, explained what happens inside our brains when stress becomes a long-term condition, and how does it reshape the way we think, remember and focus. It turns out that we can learn from zebras – after stressful situations, it’s good to simply rest and digest (although instead of lying on the grass, you can, for example, set up a hammock.)
Wrapping Up Day One
The last item on our conference agenda was a meeting devoted to the hackathon itself. In his presentation titled “Hackathon: Enter the Cheat Codes,” Mateusz Wiatrzyk shared tips on how to move faster, think clearer, and build smarter. As a judge at last year’s HackYeah, he knew how to gain an unfair advantage while the rest of the teams are still reading the docs. Although we did not have the opportunity to test this knowledge in practice, And although we haven’t had a chance to test this knowledge in practice, we will definitely use it in the further development of IndieGames.
After this lecture, it was time for my favorite part of the whole event: pizza time! Each participant was able to recharge their batteries with a delicious lunch – I can confirm that standing in the long queue was worth it.
This was also the last event for us on that day. The teams had until 8 p.m. to submit their project drafts – it was the last stop before a night full of challenges and extremely hard work. Although the idea of staying up until the next day was tempting, we decided to leave the event and return the following day. We couldn’t wait to see the final outcome of such a large-scale event, which is why our hackathon adventure continued right from the first event on Sunday. But we left what happened there for the second part of our report.
