Second place
₹25,000Cash + winner certificate
haX.baby presents · transmission #002 · 29–30 Nov 2026
404Hackathon
Page not found. Build the one people will never forget.
₹85,000in cash prizes
24hours on the clock
1–3builders per team
₹0to enter
1page to build
01 · Key details
The response headers.
HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found X-Format: Online, worldwide X-Team-Size: 1 to 3 members X-Build-Time: 24 hours X-Cost: Free (₹0.00, forever) X-Eligibility: Open to everyone, all skill levels X-Kickoff: 29 Nov 2026, 17:17 IST X-Submissions: 30 Nov 2026, 05:17 → 17:17 IST X-Prizes: ₹50,000 / ₹25,000 / ₹10,000 X-Origin: unknown Content-Type: text/uncanny; charset=utf-8
T-minus
The build begins in
..Days
..Hours
..Minutes
..Seconds
29 NOV 2026 / 17:17 IST
Twenty-four hours. The countdown is real. Times are IST (UTC+05:30). Nobody remembers who chose 17:17.
02 · The challenge
Build an error page.
Everyone has hit a 404. Almost nobody remembers one.
For 24 hours, you get one job: make the page people see when they are lost into the best part of their visit. Make it a game. A tiny story. A tool that guesses where they meant to go. A haunted museum of broken links. A page that apologises a little too much. A door that opens onto a different site every time.
It can be as strange as you like, as long as it still helps a lost visitor and answers a missing route with a real 404.
Hover the black bars. Some things are only redacted until you look.
Sealed until kickoff
The problem statement
The full brief is released on hax.baby at 29 November, 17:17 IST. Everyone opens the same envelope at the same second.
Get the reveal in DiscordCase file · your page must
- Be served when someone visits a route that doesn’t exist on your site
- Respond with HTTP status
404, not a200wearing a costume - Give lost visitors a way home, back, or to search
- Be live at a public URL with a public source repository
- Be made by your team after the problem statement is released
03 · Stages & timeline
The transmission log.
Uncaught PageNotFoundError: the best 404 on the internet does not exist yetregister() // until 29 Nov, 17:16 ISTCreate your haX.baby account and register, solo or as a team of up to three. Join WhatsApp and Discord so you hear the kickoff.
kickoff() // problem statement + hack startsThe problem statement is released on hax.baby and the 24-hour clock starts. Everyone gets the same brief at the same second.
build() // the long nightDesign it, break it, haunt it, ship it. Ask questions in Discord. Sleep is optional but recommended.
submit.open() // submission round opensThe submission form unlocks in your haX.baby dashboard. Any teammate can submit and keep updating your entry.
submit.close() // hard deadlineThe form locks. Late submissions return 410 Gone.
judge() → results() // published on hax.babyEvery eligible entry is opened, poked and deliberately mistyped. Winners and the hall of fame go up on this page.
04 · The bounty · ₹85,000
Recovered from the void.
First place · The unforgettable 404
₹50,000Cash + winner certificate + hall of fame
Third place
₹10,000Cash + winner certificate
Everyone who shipsA participation certificate for every valid submission.
Hall of fameWinning pages are featured on hax.baby, permanently linked from this one.
Prize details on Unstop 05 · Judging criteria · 100 points
Five anomaly reports.
Weirdness & originality
Is this a 404 nobody has seen before?
- A clear, memorable idea, not a template with a joke on it
- Surprises on the first visit and still on the third
- Commits to its own strange logic
Helpfulness while lost
Weird is great. Stranded is not.
- A visible way home, back, or to search
- Explains what went wrong in human words
- Actually returns an HTTP 404 status
Craft & code quality
Does it hold together under the hood?
- Clean, readable repository with a working README
- No console errors, no broken assets
- Works on a phone and a laptop
Delight & interaction
Do people want to stay on a page that doesn’t exist?
- Something to play with, find, or discover
- Motion, sound or copy with care and timing
- A moment people would screenshot
Accessibility & performance
Lost should never mean locked out.
- Keyboard and screen reader friendly
- Respects reduced motion and has readable contrast
- Loads fast on a slow connection
Required checks
Fail one and the entry isn’t ranked.
- A missing route on your live URL shows your page
- That response has a 404 status code
- Original work made during the window
- AI assistance is disclosed
Ties are broken by Weirdness, then Helpfulness. Judges will visit your live site, type a nonsense URL, and check the status code in their browser tools. They will also try very hard to get lost.
06 · Cursed side quests · optional
For the ones who go further.
Not required and not scored on their own. They are the kind of detail that tends to show up in Weirdness, Helpfulness and Delight.
- 01The guestbook of the lost
Let visitors leave a note for the next person who gets lost.
- 02It knows the way back
Guess what the visitor meant from the broken URL and offer it.
- 03Sound, with a mute
An ambient hum, a creak, a dial-up scream. Always with a visible mute.
- 04Works offline
Your 404 still shows up when the network is gone too.
- 05A secret for the curious
Something hidden for people who poke: a key, a code, a click.
- 06Lost in three languages
Help visitors who don’t read English find their way home.
07 · Deliverables
What to submit.
- The live URL of your site
- One broken link that lands on your 404, like
yoursite.com/this-does-not-exist - A public repository with a README that explains how to run it
- A short story of your idea and how you built it
- The AI tools you used, if any, and what for
- Optional: a 60-second screen recording
08 · House rules
Weird, not hostile.
- Teams of 1 to 3. One submission per team, and each person in one team.
- Any language, framework or library. Open-source assets are fine with credit.
- No reusing a finished project. Plan before, build during.
- Keep it kind. No content that is hateful, explicit, gory, or harmful to visitors.
- No malware, trackers, crypto miners, or pop-up traps.
- Judges’ decisions are final. Organizers may disqualify entries that break the rules.
09 · Questions found in the walls
Before you get lost.
Do I literally build only a 404 page?
Yes. The whole hackathon is one challenge: an error page. It can be a game, a story, a tool or an art piece, as long as it is the page someone sees when a route doesn’t exist. The problem statement released at kickoff sets the exact brief.
What stack can I use?
Anything that ends up on the web: plain HTML, a framework, WebGL, a server you wrote yourself. It must be live at a public URL when you submit.
Can I use AI tools?
Yes, with honesty. Say which tools you used and for what in your submission. Undisclosed AI-generated work can be disqualified.
I’ve never done a hackathon. Should I join?
Please do. One page in 24 hours is a very friendly scope, and Helpfulness, Craft and Accessibility reward care, not years of experience.
How do teams work?
Each teammate registers with their own haX.baby account. One person creates the team in their dashboard and shares the join code; up to two others join with it.
Can I start before kickoff?
You can plan, sketch and set up your tools. The code and design you submit must be made after the problem statement is released.
When and where do I submit?
In your haX.baby dashboard, between 30 November 05:17 IST and 17:17 IST. Any teammate can update your team’s entry until the deadline.
Do I get anything if I don’t win?
Every valid submission earns a participation certificate. The top three teams also get cash prizes and winner certificates.
How much does it cost?
Nothing. Registration and participation are free.
End of transmission
You were never here.
Go make something they never forget.
Register on haX.babypsst. select this line. the real hackathon starts when you mistype a URL on purpose. try one on hax.baby.