We are thrilled to partner with Alibaba Cloud for a new DEV challenge.
Running through April 13 April 27, the Alibaba Cloud Web Game Challenge invites you experience the power of Alibaba Cloud services and push the boundaries of browser-based gaming.
There is one prompt for this challenge but three opportunities to win from our $3,000 prize pool!
We hope you give it a try.
Multiple Submissions Welcome!
We encourage you to explore different game formats and mechanics to increase your chances of winning! Each unique submission will be judged independently, so you can even iterate on a previous submission by changing the format or features to create a new entry. For example, you can submit a single-player and multi-player version of a game as two separate submissions.
The more innovative approaches you try, the better your odds of winning!
Prizes
We'll be selecting three winners for our one prompt, and each winner will receive:
- $1,000 USD
- 6-month DEV++ Membership
- Exclusive DEV Badge
All Participants with a valid submission will receive a completion badge on their DEV profile.
Need Help?
Get to know Alibaba Cloud by utilizing their resources, we recommend starting with:
- Elastic Compute Service (ECS) for hosting
- ApsaraDB for RDS for databases
- Object Storage Service (OSS) for asset storage
- Content Delivery Network (CDN) for optimizing asset delivery
- Serverless App Engine (SAE) or Function Compute for lightweight backend needs
Additional resources:
- Developers Docs
- OpenAPI Explorer
- Platform for AI (perfect for integrating AI into your robot game!)
Regional Availability
We want to be transparent that Alibaba Cloud services have regional availability limitations and are not directly accessible in some regions, including India and Australia.
For participants in these regions:
- You may consider using global cloud access solutions to participate (such as secure remote access tools).
- You remain eligible for all prizes, and we are committed to fulfilling prizes worldwide.
- International collaboration teams with members in supported regions are welcome.
- If you're unable to access Alibaba Cloud services, we invite you to explore our other ongoing challenges, which are designed to be globally accessible.
Important Dates
- April 2: Alibaba Cloud Challenge begins!
-
April 13April 27: Submissions due at 11:59 PM PDT - April 24: Winners Announced
We can't wait to see what robot-themed games you build! Questions about the challenge? Ask them below.
Good luck and happy coding!
Top comments (47)
I love this! Challenge accepted @jess @ben 💯
Good luck!
I’d like to kindly suggest extending the deadline for the Alibaba challenge. With several submissions still incomplete and overall participation appearing low, a short extension could greatly improve the quality and number of entries. This would help ensure a more well-rounded selection of winners and motivate more developers to take part. Thank you for considering this!
@uzondu9 we agree!
Deadline Extended for the Alibaba Cloud Web Game Challenge!
dev.to staff for The DEV Team ・ Apr 11
Hey DEV Community 👋,
I’m participating in the Alibaba Cloud Web Game Challenge and hit a roadblock while setting up my infrastructure. Here’s the situation:
1️⃣ Goal : Deploy a Node.js/WebSocket server for a robot battle game using Alibaba’s ECS t5 Free Tier (1C1G).
2️⃣ Issue : Getting the error “Sorry you are not eligible for this campaign” despite being a new user.
3️⃣ Steps Taken :
Submitted a support ticket to Alibaba Cloud (no response yet 😕).
Tried different regions (Singapore/US West) – same error.
Verified my account is fully verified.
Question for the Community :
Has anyone faced this issue? Any workarounds to access ECS or alternatives like PolarDB/ApsaraDB?
For those in restricted regions (India/Australia), how did you bypass the geo-limitations?
Can I use Function Compute or SAE instead for a lightweight backend?
The challenge deadline is April 13, and I’m stuck on step 1. Any guidance would save my project! 🙏
Technical Context :
Game Stack: Phaser.js (frontend) + Node.js (backend).
Need: Persistent server for matchmaking + real-time battles.
Hello, dear friend,
I am from the web operation team of Alibaba Cloud. Srry that we just saw your message. Can you please provide your UID and issue ticket (If you have ) to us? I will get an assistance for you as soon as possible.
Hi @poppy_wang ,
I am also facing this issue and have raised a ticket with the team. Also, In my case I want to use ApsaraDB for RDS and there it is again asking me to submit the ticket in case of free trial.
Ticket number - 006521R4TD.
Please let me know if you need any other details from my side. Thanks
Customer solution team will respond your question as soon as possible, if issue is not solved please send me your UID for check.
Please let me know your UID, and I will have the web team to track its issue.
I have a small concept in mind for multiple player FPS(first person shooter) game.
Simple and playable. But I don’t have too much time or skills to completely build it myself.
I can work on certain parts of the design and architecture. As long as we are developing and designing modularly I can vibe code.
If anyone’s interested in collaborating let me know. Let’s have fun 🥂
Good luck everyone!
Welcome the deadline extending. The first one is unrealistict short.
I hardly have any idea about game dev, but this is the perfect time to vibe code something. I'm excited.
🙌
This is going to be a fun one!
I tried to purchase a free tier of the
ecs.t5-lc1m1.smalland the order says that it is more than $100Also, I tried to get a resource plan for the CDN and the amount to pay it says that it is $4.00
I did use the link specified to create my account, but I couldn't complete the whole sign process at the moment so I continued later, I don't know if that affected the free tier somehow, or if it is because I got a 50% coupon (which in the screenshots there I didn't use it).
I don't know if that is what it should happen and then automatically that amount gets discounted to $0.00, but there isn't any clear indication about it, and I find it confusing, also I already clicked on the button that say “Free Trial”, but no different results so far.
Hopefully there will be more clearance about it in the next few days so I can have enough time to create my entry.
Hi ! Friend, Here is the responce I got from IT support from the Web Team.
Each user only has one chance of free trail for one product.
First, you must enter through the free trial page. Then, check if there are any interception prompts.
If there’s no interception and they land directly on the purchase page, it is likely not first-time buyers.
Also, Users who have added PayPal as a payment method, been intercepted by risk control, or have not completed their information are not eligible to participate in the free trial.
Hello, thanks for reaching out to me.
I did open a support ticket, and yes, the payment method I added was PayPal and I think that's why the in the order the discounted price didn't appear, but even though I tried to add a physical debit card (yes, with more than $1.00 available) I had an error, so, I don't know why, I don't know if it had to do anything with the bank I'm using, or I don't know.
I don't know if this issue will be fixed, I already mention this to support, maybe they still will help me with this. In any case, thanks.
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