THOTCON 0x9 Badge
A key that mines ThotCoin
THOTCON asked for a badge shaped like a key, then for a WarGames theme on top. It has Space Invaders, a currency called ThotCoin, and a game of Pokémon the whole conference played at once.
Specs
- Event
- THOTCON 0x9, Chicago, May 5–6, 2018
- Chip
- ESP8266
- Screen
- Small monochrome display
- Controls
- Three buttons
- Network
- Wi-Fi
- Firmware
- Arduino, open source
The game
The badge boots with scrolling Morse code, binary, and a QR code. Then it lands on a menu laid out like a tic-tac-toe board, which is where the WarGames theme comes in. The squares change as you finish games and buy things.
The currency is ThotCoin. You earn it in a mining game, and you can bet it for a chance to double it. The store sells better pickaxes, which mine faster. The big purchase is Wi-Fi, which lets the badge download more games.
One of those was our take on Twitch Plays Pokémon. A game of Pokémon ran at the conference, and everyone steered it at once from the three buttons on their badges. Space Invaders is on there too.
How it was built
We built it with students from the DePaul Consulting Group. The design students turned the key into a portrait layout, with the screen at the widest part and a cut-out at the top for the lanyard, where a key ring would go. The buttons sit right under the screen to keep your palm away from the cuts of the key.
We soldered sixteen prototypes by hand before the production run.
Who made it
- Jay Margalus and Rudy Ristich, with students from the DePaul Consulting Group.
- Project write-up by Lily Fisher.
Original write-ups and code
- ThotCon 0x9 Badge Development by Lily Fisher, on Hackaday.io
- Firmware on GitHub