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Same brief. Same deadline.Two teams, seven days, and you decide who stays.

Round 3. Seven days. One brief.

Voting openSeason 1 · Round 3 · Bracket BThe brief

A tracker for borrowed books and tools

Voting closes in Sun 25 Oct, 09:00 UTC

The Devs wrote their app’s code.

Devs

Off By One

Captain Ben AdeyemiHandicapNone this round

Their appWho Has It

A shared list for the whole flat, with photos and due dates.

Ben Adeyemi, captain
Open app Source code

The Vibe Coders had AI write theirs.

Vibe Coders

Vibe Check

Handicap48 hours less to buildCaptain Zoe Laurent

Their appBoomerang

Lend anything with one tap. It comes back, like a boomerang.

Zoe Laurent, captain
Open app Source code

Now you decide.

Try both apps, then vote for the one you’d rather use. One vote per round, plus a line of feedback if you like. It takes about two minutes.

Hit a Vote burst up there to pick. On a keyboard, press D or V.

The result?

Next issue!

14 judges have voted so far. The count stays sealed until voting closes on Sun 25 Oct, 09:00 UTC.

Clash of Code #3
Credits

Prize pool
$365
Judges so far
14 and you?
Sponsors
2
Season score
Devs 2–2 Vibe Coders

Meanwhile, in Bracket A…

Also live: Bracket A

Devs

Null Pointers

ShelfieSnap the cover, pick a friend, done. Reminds them after two weeks.

HandicapPhone first: it must work well at 360px wide

Vibe Coders

Prompt Pilots

LendLoopYour stuff, who has it, and a polite nudge when it is overdue.

HandicapNone this round

Judge Bracket A too

Live duel · Round 2 · Bracket B

The Showdown

One of them is about to be written out.

Chloe Dubois

Off By One · Devs

1try left

Best scoreHidden until the duel closes

Duels won so far: 1*

Tap Rush

Tap the targets for 20 seconds. Three tries each, and the best score counts.

Duel closes in Sun 25 Oct, 17:00 UTC

Kira Novak

Vibe Check · Vibe Coders

2tries left

Best scoreHidden until the duel closes

Her first duel

ClassifiedBoth best scores stay sealed until the duel closes. The loser leaves their team.

*Chloe beat Omar Haddad 15,020 to 14,880 in Round 1. See issue #1. —Ed.

Open the duel

How every issue goes

One round, four panels. Then it repeats.

  1. 1Same brief

    Both teams get the same brief and the same deadline: seven days to build.

  2. 2You judge

    Open both apps, cast one vote and leave a line of feedback. The count stays hidden until voting closes.

    ← You are hereNow · Round 3

  3. 3Duel

    Each captain picks a player from the other team. Both play the same game. Best of three tries wins.

  4. 4Out

    The duel loser leaves the team. The team that lost the vote gets a handicap next round.

…and then it repeats,until a team can’t field two players or the rounds run out.Read the full rules

Previously in Clash of Code

Season 1 back issues. Every round is an issue, both brackets on the cover, and every result is final.

  1. #1

    Round 1 · complete

    A tool for splitting bills with friends

    Null Pointers win 62%!

    Vibe Check stun Off By One!

    A · Null Pointers 62%38%

    B · Off By One 45%Vibe Check 55%

    Duels: Jules out-taps Tom, 12,100 to 10,400. Chloe edges Omar by 140.

  2. #2

    Round 2 · one duel still on

    A one-page planner for a dinner party

    Prompt Pilots squeak it 53%!

    Off By One strike back 59%!

    A · Null Pointers 47%Prompt Pilots 53%

    B · Off By One 59%41%

    Duels: Priya knocks out Jules, 13,900 to 13,600. Chloe vs Kira: see this issue.

  3. #3

    Round 3 · voting open

    A tracker for borrowed books and tools

    You
    decide!

    A · Null PointersPrompt Pilots

    B · Off By OneVibe Check

    Sealed until Sun 25 Oct, 09:00 UTC. You’re reading it.

  4. #4

    Round 4 · announced

    Coming Mon 26 OctThe brief drops at 09:00 UTC. Nobody sees it before then, not even the teams.

Season 1 so far · tale of the tape

DevsThe code writers

2Round wins2

2Duels won1

9Still standing, of 108

Vibe CodersThe prompt writers

The cast

Starring Bracket B. Every player’s GitHub, X and portfolio links are public, so you can check who really writes code.

DevsOff By One

5 of 5 standing

  • Ben Adeyemi Captain

    Staff engineer. Has opinions about your database indexes.

    @benGitHub verified

  • Chloe Dubois In the showdown

    Indie hacker with four side projects and one finished.

    @chloeGitHub verified

  • Diego Alvarez

    Game dev by night, payments dev by day.

    @diegoGitHub verified

  • Hana Sato

    Accessibility nerd. Will tab through your app.

    @hanaGitHub verified

  • Felix Brandt

    DevOps. Says “it works on my machine” ironically.

    @felix

Vibe CodersVibe Check

4 of 5 standing

  • Zoe Laurent Captain

    Content creator. Builds tools for her audience with AI.

    @zoe

  • Kira Novak In the showdown

    UX researcher who stopped waiting for engineers.

    @kira

  • Luca Rossi

    Teacher. Makes classroom apps with AI on weekends.

    @luca

  • Ivy Chen

    Ops manager, automation addict, prompt whisperer.

    @ivy

  • Omar Haddad, out in round 1

    Shop owner. His stock tracker started as a prompt.

    @omar

Also starring · Bracket A

Null Pointers · Devs
Ada Okafor (captain), Priya Nair, Sam Whitlock, Lena Fischer, Tom Reyes written out in #1

Prompt Pilots · Vibe Coders
Grace Mbeki (captain), Ravi Shah, Mia Costa, Noah Kim, Jules Martin written out in #2

Meet all 20 players

The loot

The winning team takes all of it, split evenly. Anyone can add to it.

Prize pool$365

Started by the organiser, topped up by sponsors and by people who just like a good fight. Payout is manual, at the end of the season.

Yes! Put me in the pot.

Amount

Paid securely with Stripe. Minimum $5. No need to allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery.

This issue is brought to you by

$150Headline sponsorKettlekettle.example.com $50SponsorPixel Forgepixelforge.example.com Your ad here?Give $25 or more and your name, link and logo go in front of every judge, every round.

Supporters

  • The organiser$100
  • Marta$20
  • Someone kind$15
  • Dev Dad$10
  • Jo Park$10
  • Kofi$5
  • Sofia$5

Letters page

The judges decide every round. Here’s what they wrote in, with replies from the editor.

Dear Clash of Code,Feedback from past rounds

From the bus home

I judge every round on the bus home.

Jo Park judge

Two minutes a round. Jo has proven it. —Ed.

Re: Round 2

Loaded fast on my phone and I got it straight away.

Pearl Walsh 50 pts

Most of you judge on a phone. The teams have noticed. —Ed.

Re: Round 1

This one actually solved the problem in the brief.

Jamal Ratke 50 pts

The brief is the boss. Always. —Ed.

Re: Round 2

The other one looked nicer but this one worked.

Aryanna Sauer 50 pts

Pretty gets a look. Working gets the vote. —Ed.

Re: Round 1

Clear buttons and plain words. My mum could use it.

Nikolas Hackett 50 pts

Say hi to your mum. Tell her Round 3 is open. —Ed.

Re: Round 2

Felt like a real product, not a demo.

Richmond DuBuque 50 pts

That’s the whole game. —Ed.

Whose side are you on?

You write the code.

You write code for a living, or close to it. Show what experience is worth.

Join the Devs!

AI writes the code.

You build by prompting AI tools. Show what you can ship without writing the code yourself.

Join the Vibe Coders!

Free to join · apply now to play next season

Not building? Judge the apps.

Open two apps, pick the one you’d rather use, say why in a line. It takes about two minutes, and you earn judge points every round.

Judge Round 3

Every player gets their own cover

Get picked for a team and you land on the cover of your own issue, with your name, your handle and your side. Made to share.

Clash of CodeS1
Clash of Code presents

Grace Mbeki

She ships apps by describing them to AI!

@graceCaptain · Prompt Pilots

Next issue!

Round 4 drops Mon 26 Oct, 09:00 UTC.Nobody sees it before then, not even the teams. And by Sunday evening, one of Chloe or Kira is written out.

Remind me