Bank or Plank wins Verse8 and YGG Play’s BuidlHack 2026 hackathon
Verse8 and YGG Play’s Casual Degen hackathon as part of the BuidlHack 2026 event has concluded, with 3D multiplayer board game Bank or Plank announced the winner.
Created using Verse8’s online AI game-making platform, it’s a pirate-themed digital board game where players roll a dice, attempting to gather and bank their gold before a bad turn of events, or the 5-minute time limit, causes them to lose everything.
Creator Wabbs commented that the first iteration “came together in just two coding sessions of a few hours each”. He then spent about two weeks polishing it.
“Where Verse8 really shines for me is procedural generation,” he said. “I focused on modular ships, prompting the system to create parts that mix and match, affecting both the visuals and the stats. Watching the ships evolve as they level up was much easier to implement here than in a traditional engine.”
Across the week of the hackathon, 120 teams submitted playable titles.
In-person team demoed their games on 14th April, with the hackathon concluding with a final showcase on 18th April.
Here, teams pitched to judges including Verse8 CEO Kevin Lee, YGG co-founder Gabby Dizon and Solarium Fund director JC Kim.
Idle action game Dungeon Raising took second place and was developed and pitched in person in Seoul during Builder Day, while Gas Wars, Black Hole Survivor, and Attack on Idol were joint third-place winners, each demonstrating lightweight, repeatable gameplay with embedded onchain mechanics.
The selected teams will receive a share of the $5,000 prize pool and ongoing support through Verse8’s creator ecosystem, with standout projects considered for publishing via YGG Play.
“BuidlHack was designed to test how quickly viable games can be created when traditional bottlenecks are removed,” said Kevin Lee.
“What we saw in Seoul was a step change in velocity. Teams are testing multiple concepts in parallel and refining them in real time. The speed and creativity on display here fundamentally change how games can be made and scaled.”
