An ESP32-powered interactive badge that turns DEF CON into a Cthulhu summoning ritual. Find other cultists, level up, and awaken The Ancient One.
Archived Project — Not For SaleBadges shipped the second week of July. US-only. No DEF CON pickup option.
- Acolyte: Your badge. Find other badges to level up and complete the story.
- Glyph: Found at villages, community spaces, vendor booths, and parties around the con.
- Elder God: Carried by the DEF CON elite; hunt them through the conference halls.
- Cthulhu: REDACTED
An animation shows your badge progress: 10 LEDs, 4 levels, and 6 side-quest challenges to complete the badge.
First boot prompts for your name (changeable anytime). One button: short press to scroll, long press to select.
A top scrolling bar shows your name, rank, and level, plus how many badges you still need to connect to finish the main quest.
The main quest, told across 13 chapters, each with its own story, screen, and LED animation. A pop-up shows which badges you need to level up. Short-press through chapters, read the auto-scrolling story, then long-press to lock in your favorite animation.
Link up with 3 other badges to complete the circuit. They beacon out and sacrifice every badge in range, who then propagate the signal.
A quick help/menu screen explaining badge mechanics.
Tracks every badge you’ve connected with.
Adjust how intensely the lights are seared into the retinas of the faithful.
For wearing the badge around your neck, the way it was intended.
10+ unlockable screen and LED patterns featuring some of your favorite characters.
An unlockable side quest: a new 6-chapter story with its own challenges and LED/screen animations.
Battle mode. Hunt down heretics and challenge them to an RNG fight to the death.
Like R’lyeh Arena, but with a R&M story arc. Hunt baby Cthulhu and unlock more bling.
Beacon out and exploit every badge in range.
Like Exploit. You get the idea…