• What is Terra?

  • #terra is a game (YSWS) where you code every week to grow your own virtual farm! for each week, you'll need to farm enough crops to be able to cover your rent (to keep your island), if you do that and keep your island by the end of the program, you get your own framework laptop!!

• What is the schedule?

  • Prep week 1: 9/28 - 10/4
  • Prep week 2: 10/5 - 10/11
  • Prep week 3: 10/12 - 10/18
  • Week 1: 10/19 - 10/25
  • Week 2: 10/26 - 11/1
  • Week 3: 11/2 - 11/8
  • Week 4: 11/9 - 11/15
  • Week 5: 11/16 - 11/22
  • Week 6: 11/23 - 11/29
  • Week 7: 11/30 - 12/6
  • Week 8: 12/7 - 12/13
  • Week 9: 12/14 - 12/20
  • Week 10: 12/21 - 12/27
  • Week 11: 12/28 - 1/3
  • Week 12: 1/4 - 1/10
  • All times are in EDT / EST (NY / US Eastern standard time)

• Is "double dipping" allowed?

  • No and is not allowed on most Hack Club programs, including Terra

• So, how does Terra actually work?

  • Each week, you'll begin by getting 10 base seeds from Ratticus. You'll need to plant these seeds and then grow them to pay for your "rent" that week (aka to stay in the game)
  • For each seed you plant, you'll need to give it one water, which you get by coding one hour. As you devlog, you'll collect water that you need to use to water your crops
  • At the end of the week (or whenever you're ready to submit), you can ship your project! Once it's gone through review to check that it's all good, the crops that you watered will be ready to harvest
  • Once you've harvested your crops, go to Ratticus to hand in your 10 base crops, and sell the rest to Heidi to earn some coins!
  • Each week, ALL OF YOUR WATER RESETS!!! so make sure to grow as many crops as you can each week!
  • Note that you'll have 1 day of wiggle room at the beginning of the following week so you can use up your remaining water and harvest your crops. Each week's water can still only be used on that week's crops.

• How do I get more seeds / dirt plots? What if I do over 10 hours in a week?

  • To get more seeds or dirt plots, just buy them from Heidi! You'll need them so that you can plant extra crops each week- the only way to get coins from the extra water you'll get is by getting more crops.
  • This does mean that on earlier weeks, it might not be possible to plant crops for all of your hours. This is why you should do some of the prep weeks- they'll allow you to build up your balance so you can get tons of crops for future weeks!

• What kinds of projects can be submitted?

  • Any kind of software projects are accepted- it can be a website, an app, a cli tool, etc.! Up to 30% of the time can be spent making art/assets.

• Can I make more than 1 project per week?

  • No, you can only make 1 project per week

• Can I make a hardware project?

  • We will not be accepting hardware projects, sorry
  • Firmware projects are allowed tho!

• Can I get something other than a Framework 12 laptop?

  • Yes! You can get a Framework 13, an iPad, or a Galaxy Tablet instead. Check out the upgrade tree in Ratticus's Cidery for more info!

• Can I skip an hour/week?

  • Actually, yes! With enough coins from the beta weeks & selling extra crops you can buy water from Heidi instead of coding. That way, if you plan it out, you can skip some hours or even a full week!

• What are some common reasons for project rejections?

  • Project is entirely AI or AI 'slop' (no human polish, or a single prompt)
  • You committed fraud (plagiarizing someone else's project, typing AI code as if its your own, inflating your hours using a program/script)
  • Your project doesn't work (You would be given ample chances to fix it, but if you eventually could not fix it or gave up, we can't accept it)
  • Your project is against Hack Club Code of Conduct like being discriminatory/hateful in some way

• Can I code on my phone?

  • Yes you can! Check out the thread below for some suggestions.
  • sodavid.r1: "Hellooo! I'm new to hackclub and this. How..."

• How do I track my coding time?

  • You can use Hackatime (installation guide) to track your coding time! In an editor like VSCode, it will automatically log how much time you spend coding. You can also use lapse to record drawing/art hours. For each hour logged, Ratticus will give you one water.

• What if Framework doesn’t ship to my country? (ex. India)

  • You’ll get a $700 USD grant to buy a laptop instead! It goes up with the upgrades you buy in the cidery. It’s sent through HCB and you can spend it in your local currency.
  • The grant can only be used on a laptop or tablet (no desktops or PC parts).

• Can I use AI to help me?

  • Yes! You can use AI to help you code, but you should still make the project unique and add your own touches to it! Time spent AI coding counts at a rate of 1/3 that of regular coding (ex.: if you spend 3 hours coding with AI, only 1 hour will be counted towards your weekly goal).
  • Projects that are mostly AI have to clear a higher quality bar in review. A single prompt or unpolished AI output will be rejected.

• Do I have to pay rent during prep weeks?

  • Nope! Prep weeks are optional so there’s no rent and you can’t lose your island. They’re for stacking up coins before Week 1 starts on 10/19. You still need to ship your project to harvest and sell your crops though!

• Do prep weeks count towards the 12 weeks?

  • No, the 12 weeks are Week 1 - Week 12. Prep weeks are bonus time to get a head start on coins.

• How do I get the prep week t-shirt?

  • Log 15 hours total across the prep weeks! Only prep week hours count towards it.

• When does each week start and end?

  • Every week runs Monday 12:00am to Sunday 11:59pm Eastern time. Only time tracked inside that week counts for that week’s project.
  • You have until the end of Monday to devlog and ship last week’s project and use your leftover water. Time coded after Sunday 11:59pm still counts for the new week, not the old one.

• What carries over from week to week?

  • Your coins and dirt plots stay forever! Water, unplanted seeds, and crops all reset each week, so use them up before the week ends.
  • Unwatered crops die at the end of Monday. If only some of your crops were watered, you can still harvest those

• How do I ship?

  • Go to Ratticus and click ship on your project!

• How do I devlog?

  • Talk to Ratticus and pick your project! When you devlog, you'll get 1 water for every hour spent.

• How often should I devlog?

  • We recommend a max of 1-3 hours per devlog. Your time adds up across devlogs, so you don’t need to devlog exactly every hour. More devlogs also make reviews faster and help you in voting!

• Can I ship with less than 10 hours?

  • Yes! You can also ship more than once in a week to harvest crops you watered after your first ship. Just remember that during the main weeks you need 10 watered crops to pay rent.
  • Also, it's usually recommended that you only ship once at the end of the week to avoid higher review times!

• Does my project have to be finished to ship?

  • Nope, but it does have to work! Anyone should be able to try it, and it should do what you say it does.

• What do I put for the demo link?

  • A demo link is required on all Hack Club YSWS programs. For websites, link the deployed site. For CLIs, games, apps, etc., a GitHub release with a build works great!
  • For firmware or code that controls hardware, add a demo video of it working.
  • Your repo has to be public. GitHub, Codeberg, Gitea, and Forgejo are all fine.
  • You don’t need builds for every OS. Voters can look at your repo, readme, and screenshots.

• Can I keep working on the same project across multiple weeks?

  • Yes! Each week, create a new project in Terra and mark it as an update of last week’s (there’s an option for it when you create the project). Each week still needs 10 hours of new work and a working version shipped.

• Can I use a project I started before Terra or made for another YSWS?

  • Yes, as an update! Only time you code during the Terra week counts, and you can’t devlog the same hours on another program (that’s double dipping).
  • School projects can’t be submitted.

• How much do crops sell for?

  • Around 25-30 coins each, depending on the crop. A full price list is coming soon!
  • Your 10 rent crops give you a base of 20 coins total, so most of your coins come from the extra hours you put in.

• How much does water cost if I want to skip hours?

  • 50 coins for your first one each week, then +5 for every extra one you buy that week, up to 75. The price resets every week.
  • Water only covers future hours, so plan ahead!

• Where’s the shop / upgrade tree?

  • Heidi the raccoon (back left of the map) has the shop. The upgrade tree is in the Cidery behind Ratticus.

• What specs does the laptop come with?

  • The base prize is a prebuilt Framework 12 with 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. You can buy RAM, storage, and Framework 13 upgrades in the Cidery.

• Can I pay extra to get a better laptop?

  • Yes! Buy the laptop you want yourself and we’ll reimburse the value of your prize.
  • You need approval from an organizer before doing this!

• How does the laptop grant work?

  • The grant starts at $700 USD and grows with the upgrades you buy. It’s sent through HCB and can be spent in your local currency.
  • It can only be used on a laptop or tablet (no desktops or PC parts).
  • The grant is only available if Framework doesn't ship to your country.

• Will I have to pay customs?

  • Frameworks ship from Framework’s EU warehouse, so you shouldn’t be charged customs. For other prizes like the iPad, we cover shipping but not local customs fees.
  • You will likely have to pay customs for other smaller prizes. (Blåhaj, etc)

• How long do reviews take?

  • We aim for 3-4 days! Do keep in mind there might be some extra delays depending on the volume of submitted projects, sorry! :<

• Do I need to verify my identity?

  • You can start coding and logging hours before you’re verified, but you need to be verified and have your address + name linked in Hack Club Auth before you can ship.

• How old do I have to be?

  • You need to be 18 or under for the whole program. If you turn 19 before Terra ends on 1/10, you aren’t eligible, sorry
  • The only exception is if you can get enough coins to skip the last hours by purchasing water from Heidi.

• I’ve never coded before, can I still join?

  • Yes!! No experience needed The tutorial with Ratticus walks you through making your first project.
  • Games (Godot, Pygame) and websites are great first projects, and the Stardance missions guides are a good place to start.

• Is it too late to join?

  • Nope! Prep weeks are optional, so you can start any time before Week 1 starts on 10/19. Once the main weeks start, missing a week means losing your island.

• How do I log time spent on art/assets?

  • Use Lapse! It feeds into a Hackatime project that you link like normal. Lapse is only for art and assets, not coding, and art is capped at 30% of your time.

• What time doesn’t count?

  • Research, reading docs, planning, and following a tutorial step by step don’t count. Building your own stuff on top of a tutorial does!
  • Writing docs for your project is fine in small amounts (under about an hour).

• Can I use assets I didn’t make?

  • Yes, if you have the artist’s permission, they’re public domain, or you bought a license. Credit them in your project!
  • AI-generated assets are highly discouraged!

• What editor/language should I use?

  • Anything that works with Hackatime! VS Code, Godot, etc. are all fine.

• Can I delete a project?

  • Not right now. If you don’t want it to count, just don’t ship it. If you linked the wrong repo, ask in #terra-help!

• How do referrals work?

  • Talk to Poobert! You get rewarded once the person you referred pays rent for the first time (prep weeks don’t count).

• Can I work on a project with another person?

  • Yeah!
  • You can each commit to the same github respository, however:
    • You must have separate Terra accounts
    • Track your hackatime coding on separate accounts and projects, too
    • When you ship the project, specify what part of the project is yours and what is theirs

from Terra Slack Q&A
Last Updated: 10/11/2026