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Kings in the Making: Architects of the Arcade

Name: Kings in the Making: Architects of the Arcade
Start: 2026-10-03T09:00:00-0700
End: 2026-10-03T13:00:00-0700
Location: MetWest High School - Dolores Huerta Campus

KIKingmakers of Oakland - Programs Team

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dateOct 3, 2026

locationMetWest High School - Dolores Huerta Campus

priceFree

formatIn-Person

organiserKingmakers of Oakland - Programs Team

about this event

Kings in the Making: Architects of the Arcade By Kingmakers of Oakland - Programs Team

Overview: An intergenerational game-design hackathon bridging Ancestral Intelligence, retro gaming, and AI. Join us for Kings in the Making: Architects of the Arcade, an intergenerational game-design hackathon celebrating Black youth digital agency as part of Oakland Tech Week. Young creators (ages 5–18) will team up with community mentors to design, build, and publish retro 8-bit video games from scratch—all in a single morning.

What to Expect:

Analogue-to-AI Pipeline: Youth turn physical paper drawings and story blueprints into playable digital games using generative AI (Gemini, Suno) and no-code tools (Microsoft MakeCode Arcade).

Intergenerational Tribes: K–12 youth, high school leads, and Opportunity Age mentors work side-by-side on collaborative build squads.

Interactive Arcade Showcase: Test-play student creations during our live gallery exhibition and judging ceremony from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.

Food & Community: Grab-and-go lunch provided for participants and attendees.

Schedule: 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM: Arrival, Breakfast & Hackathon Kickoff; 10:00 AM – 10:55 AM: Intergenerational Game Build Sprints; 10:55 AM – 11:30 AM: Testing, Code Polish & Station Setup; 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM: Lunch, Live Arcade Showcase & Awards Ceremony.

Free and open to the community.

schedule

Sat 3 Oct9:00 AM - 1:00 PM PT