Cosmic Carnage
Hosted on UnstopFetched 10 days ago
Wednesday, January 14, 2026
to Friday, February 20, 2026
•
1 month long
Artificial IntelligenceMachine LearningGame DevelopmentStudentProgramming
Student only
This hackathons is only open to students. Double check the event page for more information as this may mean only those from a particular university/country are eligible.
Event Type
online
148
Participants
₹20,000
Prize Pool
13
Est. Projects
Organizers
Event Details:
Event Name: Cosmic Carnage
Date: 15 February
Prize Pool: INR 20,000
Prize Distribution:
1st Rank: INR 10,000
2nd Rank: INR 6,000
3rd Rank: INR 4,000
Description:
Pragyan 2026, scheduled from 19th to 22nd February 2026, is the annual international techno-managerial festival of NIT Tiruchirappalli. It is among the few student-run festivals certified with ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 20121:2012, attracting over 15,000 participants from 100+ colleges each year. The fest features 7 diverse clusters and 40+ events spanning technology, management, robotics, analytics, design, quizzing, finance, innovation, and beyond — making it a dynamic platform for competition, collaboration, and creativity.
Welcome to Cosmic Carnage, an immersive experience where the complexities of Reinforcement Learning (RL) are distilled into the fast-paced world of arcade gaming. This event bridges the gap between high-level AI theory and practical application, allowing participants to explore and understand Deep Reinforcement Learning models through a playable space shooter.
As participants navigate through the stars, they will observe how intelligent agents learn, adapt, and master their environment. Whether you are a seasoned researcher or a gaming enthusiast, Cosmic Carnage invites you to decode the mechanics of machine intelligence while defending the galaxy.
Format:
The event will be launched on the Pragyan’26 website. Total number of levels: 20. Duration: 24 hours. The first five levels act as tutorials. Subsequent levels incorporate a life count that decreases upon each loss. The life count regenerates after a brief period.
Rules:
This is a solo event; team participation is not allowed. Participants have exactly 24 hours to experiment, train models, and climb the leaderboard. Any attempt to tamper with the game engine, exploit bugs, or manipulate server behavior will result in immediate disqualification. Participants may refer to AI-related documentation. Collaboration, sharing hyperparameter setups, or sharing trained models is strictly prohibited. Players may replay levels once lives regenerate; however, previous failures will impact final scoring. Event volunteers will monitor gameplay, logs, and leaderboard activity.
Judging Criteria:
Participants will be ranked based on their net score on the leaderboard. Scoring considerations include: Scores accumulated at the conclusion of each level. Level-wise score calculation based on performance. Time taken — faster completion yields higher scores. Total number of losses (life count lost) acts as a negative metric. The decision of the organisers shall be final and binding.
Final Evaluation (Score-Based):
Top 3 participants ranked on the leaderboard will be awarded.
FAQs:
Q: How do I participate? A: Register through the Pragyan’26 website and access the event on the event day.
Q: Can I collaborate with others or share models? A: No. This is a strictly individual event. Sharing hyperparameters or trained models is not allowed.
Q: What resources am I allowed to use? A: You may refer to AI and RL documentation, but external collaboration is prohibited.
Q: What happens if I exploit a bug or tamper with the system? A: Immediate disqualification.
Q: How are winners decided? A: The top 3 participants on the leaderboard at the end of 24 hours will be declared winners.
Contact Information:
Shivam: 6394349701
Raghav: 8807654687
Aditya: 9049059415
Trilokesh: 9488263775