Pseudowar
Pseudowar at SuperComp 2026: a paper-based logic and design contest for 1st to 4th semester teams of two. Spot the flaw, design it, defend it.
A paper-based logic and design contest for 1st to 4th semester students: spot the flaws in a company's flowcharts and pseudocode, design a feature from a brief, then defend it at the whiteboard when the judges change the requirements.
Programming · Team of 1–2 · 02:00 PM–05:00 PM · 3 hrs · Rs 1,000 entry · Rs 15K prize
How it works
- Round 1 · Spot the Flaw (40 min): Eight short cases, each a different company with one flowchart or block of pseudocode hiding one planted flaw: 3 easy, 3 medium and 2 hard, 75 points in all. For each, write the flaw, what it breaks and the fix. The top 10 teams go through.
- Round 2 · Design It (50 min): A one-to-two-page brief for a new company and one feature to build. Hand in a flowchart, pseudocode for the core logic, the data to store as tables and the edge cases, and flag the four gaps planted in the requirements. The top 3 go through.
- Round 3 · Defend It (About 40 min): A half-page brief for a third company and ten minutes to plan. Then four minutes to explain your design at the whiteboard, and five to change it live when the judges add a twist.
Setup
- Teams of two, 1st to 4th semester students only
- Paper and whiteboard only: no PCs, laptops or phones
- One A4 cheat sheet per team, both sides, checked at the door
- Pens, pencils, rulers and A3 and A4 sheets are provided
Judging
- Round 1 is marked from a key and only decides who qualifies.
- The final ranking is Round 2 at 40% plus Round 3 at 60%, both marked by industry judges.
- Planted gaps aren't traps: flag one and state a sensible assumption, and you get the points.
- Ties go to the Round 3 score, then the twist score.
Register for Pseudowar · Rulebook · All Programming tracks
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