ZABAL Gamez
Build for a real community - don't win a weekend and disappear. Free to join. Any harness.
ZABAL Gamez is The ZAO's 3-month Build-A-Thon - a build event for the ecosystem, not a video-game contest. Ship something that matters, gets used, and keeps paying you, with a ZAO mentor as your teammate. June workshops, July open build, August Finals.
Pick one door - the July build can be a weekend. Every finisher gets paid and a Hats NFT.
I'll build
Share that you're shipping in July
I'll lead a workshop
Share that you're teaching in June
What is it?
Three months. Different doors open in different months. You can step in any of them.
Workshops
Recorded sessions on tools, context, and the ZAO ecosystem. Watch live or anytime. Free.
Open Build Month
Anyone can build a project for the ZAO ecosystem using any tool. Ship in public, get noticed.
Finals
8 builders picked from July ship together with ZAO mentors. Live reveal stream. Prize pool + collectibles.
What you walk away with
Not a weekend you win and forget. The payoff keeps going after the Finals.
A shipped product that gets used
You build on live ZAO rails for a 100+ member community that actually needs the tools. Real users, not a demo that dies Monday.
Income that keeps flowing
Finishers keep the repo and the 1% WaveWarZ trade cut that keeps paying after August. The $500 USDC pool is the floor, not the ceiling.
Proof you can show
A Hats Protocol role NFT for everyone who ships, your work amplified in /zabal, and a public track record in the ecosystem.
A crew, not a leaderboard
A ZAO mentor as your teammate and a community you stay part of. You join something - you don't just place in it.
Questions, answered
The honest answers to what people actually ask before joining.
Do I need to be a developer?
No. Any harness counts - vibe-coding, no-code, design, writing, community work. The June workshops bring you up to speed on the tools and the ecosystem before July starts.
How much time does this take?
As little or as much as you want. The July build can be a single weekend. Workshops are recorded, so you watch live or anytime. Pick one door - you don't have to do all three.
What if I don't finish?
You keep everything you built and learned. Finishing unlocks the pay and the Hats NFT, but there's no penalty for starting and no cost to trying.
Is it really free?
Yes. No entry fee, no token you have to buy, no catch. Free to join and free workshops, open to anyone.
How is this different from a weekend hackathon?
You build for a real 100+ member community that needs the tools, on live rails, with a ZAO mentor as your teammate - and you keep the repo plus the trade cut after the Finals. It doesn't disappear when the weekend ends.
Who is behind ZABAL Gamez?
The ZAO - a Farcaster-native community that has run weekly Respect sessions for 90+ weeks straight since August 2024. Builders from the ecosystem won the Snap category at FarHack 2026.
Three doors. Open as many as you want.
Learn the tools. Build the work. Watch it unfold.
These aren't picks - they're commitments. Most folks do all three. Workshops in June. Build in July. Finals in August. Each card below is one path. Claim yours by casting publicly - or claim all three with the green button at the bottom.
Workshop Attendee
July: follow other builds, maybe contribute
August: watch the Finals
Soak up the context. Workshops are free, recorded, live in the Magnetiq library. Open to anyone.
Builder
July: ship publicly, get amplified
August: mentor pick = Finals spot
Make something. Any harness. Top 8 share USDC, Top 16 get $ZABAL, every Finisher gets the Hats NFT.
Watcher
July: follow July builds on /zabal
August: Finals reveal stream + trade on Base
Follow along. Tune the streams. Trade Finals outcomes on Base if you want. Zero pressure.
Doing all three
Workshops in June. Build in July. Watch the Finals in August. Most folks end up here - claim it once + we save you all three.
June workshop schedule
Free, livestreamed, and recorded. Leads lock exact dates through May - RSVP on Lu.ma to get notified.
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Workshop calendar
Browse + RSVP via Lu.ma. Sessions get added as workshop leads lock dates.
Go deeper - get the collectible
The Zabal connector NFT lives on the Magnetiq portal. Mint it to unlock the ZAO brand-education library - deep-dive memento pages per brand (ZAO, ZAO OS, $ZABAL, WaveWarZ, ZAO Festivals, ZAO Music, COC Concertz, Respect) with video shorts narrated by Zaal. The games run on this site. Magnetiq is where you learn the ecosystem.
Magnetiq portal + Zabal connector
Drops with Workshop #001 by Tyler Stambaugh. Mint the connector, watch the brand mementos, earn one badge per ZAO brand you explore.
Sign up for the season
One form. Pick "Mentor", "Workshop Lead", "Builder", or "Just keep me posted." Takes 60 seconds.
Want everything - format details, prize structure, judging, ecosystem, FAQ, the whole long-form pitch?
Read all the details at /info ->