How Levels Work

Every project you ship gets a level from 1 (easiest) to 4 (hardest). The level sets how much gold you earn per hour of work and which fruit (decorative tier badge) the project is assigned to. You pick it when you create the project, and you can change it later from the project page.

Levels don't gate anything. They're a shared language for reviewers and a way to make the reward curve fair: harder projects pay more gold per hour.

How gold per hour scales

Level	Label	Gold / hr
1	Beginner	40
2	Intermediate	45
3	Advanced	50
4	Expert	60

Hourly gold goes up as the level gets harder. The project streak multiplier at ship time is applied on top of this base rate.

How to pick

Software

L1 · Beginner Your first ship. A static site, a personal page, a small script. One file is fine. Example: dani's webpage by @skzdiaries , a personal site introducing herself, her favorite films and music, and her hobbies.
L2 · Intermediate One thing done well: a small game, a CLI tool, an interactive page. Focused and complete. Example: notaroomba.github.io by @notaroomba , an interactive personal portfolio on its own domain at notaroomba.dev.
L3 · Advanced Real technical depth: a polished game with complex mechanics, a web app with backend and database, a desktop tool that does something hard, or multiple systems working together. Offline is fine. Example: Specter by @ayessaaa , a small roguelike where your last run becomes a ghost that helps you finish the level.
L4 · Expert Hard systems stuff: an OS, a compiler, a game engine, serious AI/ML, or something that took you weeks to design. Example: Vert by @VERT-sh , a next-generation file converter that runs fully local in the browser using WebAssembly.

Hardware

L1 · Beginner Your first build. LEDs, simple circuits, LED matrix, basic soldering, a small macropad. Example: orpheuspad by @qcoral , a personal macropad built as a hackpad-format demo.
L2 · Intermediate A device you design and build yourself, like a handheld, sensor logger, devboard, or full-size keyboard. Example: Riptide by @SharKingStudios , a custom keyboard with infinite expansion modules running QMK firmware on an Orpheus Pico.
L3 · Advanced Multiple subsystems working together: a robot that senses and moves, a wearable with wireless, a device with custom firmware. Example: ember by @notaroomba , a custom hot plate controller powered by USB-C Power Delivery.
L4 · Expert Autonomous robots, custom SBCs, FPGA projects, satellite systems, complex mechanical builds. Example: icepi-cm0 by @cheyao , a low-cost single-board computer that boots Linux on an H3 CPU with 512 MiB of RAM and WiFi.

Hardware funding by level

Hardware projects can request a parts grant. The cap on that grant scales with the project's level:

Level 1 - Beginner

Your first build. LEDs, simple circuits, LED matrix, basic soldering, a small macropad.

Up to $100 funding

Guava

Level 2 - Intermediate

A device you design and build yourself, like a handheld, sensor logger, devboard, or full-size keyboard.

Up to $200 funding

Coconut

Level 3 - Advanced

Multiple subsystems working together: a robot that senses and moves, a wearable with wireless, a device with custom firmware.

Up to $400 funding

Watermelon

Level 4 - Expert

Autonomous robots, custom SBCs, FPGA projects, satellite systems, complex mechanical builds.

Up to $1000 funding

Avocado

L4 Expert projects can request up to $1000, but those requests get extra scrutiny from reviewers at design review time. If your build genuinely needs more than your level's cap, ask in #macondo-help on Slack before you submit. See Sourcing Parts and Shipping Your Design for how funding works end-to-end.

The fruit you get

Each level has its own fruit pool, split by software vs. hardware:

Level	Software fruit	Hardware fruit
L1 Beginner	Mango	Guava
L2 Intermediate	Pineapple	Coconut
L3 Advanced	Papaya	Watermelon
L4 Expert	Cocoa	Avocado

The fruit is a decorative tier badge: it tags the project on the farm and contributes to the lifetime fruit count on your currency guide, but the gold you actually receive in your balance is gold/hr × hours × streak multiplier, based on the rate table above.

Can I change my level?

Yes. Open the project page, hit Edit, pick a new level. You can change level any time before shipping. After you ship, a reviewer may still bump it up or down if they think the complexity doesn't match, and they'll tell you why.

What if I pick wrong?

Pick honestly. If you mark a "Hello World" site as L4 Expert, the reviewer will move it back down. If you're genuinely unsure, go one level lower than your gut says. You can always bump it up after the first review.