Hacktoberfest 2026: Help Build a Tamagotchi That Lives in VS Code

Every October, thousands of developers go hunting for an open-source project to contribute to. Most of them land in repos with 400-page setup guides, a Docker compose file that doesn't compose, and a maintainer who reviews PRs sometime around Christmas.

This is not that repo.

DevGotchi is a free, open-source VS Code extension that turns your editor into a cyberpunk RPG. A little developer avatar lives in your side panel. It has stats — Focus, Motivation, Energy, Health — that decay in real time while you code. You earn XP and Coffee Beans for saves, commits, and bug fixes. Lint errors become a boss fight whose HP equals your actual error count. Let your health hit zero and you hit burnout : the UI glitches red and locks you out until you take a break.

It's silly. It's also weirdly effective at making me fix lint errors.…