For the second year running, we headed over to Canterbury Christ Church University for their brilliant annual hackathon, Hackabury. We absolutely love sponsoring this event. There is something incredibly inspiring about watching the next generation of tech talent tackle real-world problems and this year, we set them a big one. Our challenge? Design a game about saving and do it within the 24 hours of the challenge.
Out of an amazing 32 submissions at the tournament, a massive 11 teams chose to take on our brief. We were completely blown away by the sheer quality, thought, and effort poured into every single one of them. To be honest, we were only supposed to pick one winner. But just like last year, two projects shone so brightly that we simply had to award both a first and second prize!
Sponsoring Hackabury gives us a wonderful, direct link with local learners. Instead of just talking at young people about financial literacy, our sponsorship gives them a creative playground to explore these ideas on their own terms.
Stepping into Our Shoes: The Client Brief
What we loved most was seeing the learners step into the shoes of professional developers handling a real client brief. They couldn’t just build a flashy game; they had to dive deep into what Wave Community Bank is all about, understand our members, and make sure their ideas aligned with our ethical values.
To make their games work, the students had to get to grips with some pretty heavy financial concepts:
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How Credit Unions Work: They had to understand how a co-operative functions—specifically, how pooling community savings allows us to provide affordable loans to people who need them.
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The Saving Habit: They had to design gameplay that mirrored the real-life rewards of regular saving and hitting personal goals.
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Real-World Financial Resilience: Teams programmed logic that contrasted high-cost debt with responsible borrowing, teaching players about interest and making smart financial choices.
Celebrating Our Winners
The creativity on display within the intense 24-hour Hackabury time limit was nothing short of brilliant. Our top two selections did an incredible job of turning financial education into something genuinely fun.
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Pensions of the Caribbean (First Place): Incredibly, this winning team was made up entirely of first-year students! Realising that many people find finance a bit dry, they decided to teach vital life skills through a pirate adventure. Players guide Captain Splash Me Cash (Goldtooth Briggs)—a pirate who has spent years finding treasure but never learned to save—aboard The Jolly Fortune. Whilst they used some AI tools during the hack, the team completely hand-drew and designed the main pirate character from scratch during the 24 hours. By completing quests and choosing whether to spend or save gold, players learn about pensions, interest, and long-term planning that helps the whole community.
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Super Savers Deluxe: Shop Around (Second Place): Inspired by the colourful, wacky style of Supermarket Sweep, this game focused heavily on how our Wave Rewards app supports everyday saving. The team told us they were inspired by Wave’s mission to make hitting financial goals easier for those who struggle. In a wonderfully creative twist, the entire game was completely hand-drawn by the team and then put together to form a brilliant video showcase. The gameplay challenges players to make smart choices whilst shopping, comparing features of food and services to ensure true value for money.
An Honourable Mention
A huge shoutout also goes to the team behind Glorp’s Saving Adventure, who took home the fantastic Hackiest Hack award! This game follows a little alien named Glorp who is trying to save up for his holiday. It is a binary-choice game filled with highly realistic, everyday scenarios. Players have to choose lower-cost options for Glorp—like cheaper days out or creative ways to entertain yourself—showing how small changes can help your pocket and support your community.
By forcing themselves to understand the nuts and bolts of client briefs, player decision-making, and credit unions, these students didn’t just build fantastic games—they gained practical business and financial knowledge that will serve them long after graduation.
We are absolutely delighted to have supported Canterbury Christ Church University’s talent at Hackabury again, and we want to send a massive congratulations to our winners and everyone who took part. You blew us away!
