Lifecycle
Badge ecosystems keep moving after handout: apps, hexpansions, SAOs, antennas, cases, repair parts, firmware updates, and post-event hardware experiments.
The Registration FAQ documents room-block participant badges plus donor, sponsor, volunteer, speaker, student, local, and other badge-allocation paths, with separate on-site badge-type queues.
SourceThe first-hand writeup says 300 CactusCon PCB badges were made and given away at the HeatSync Labs booth.
SourceThe same retrospective source preserves the badge's Rickroll reference as part of its social memory.
SourceThe quick guide documents a photocell, potentiometer, MOSFET, resistors, battery holder, and four LEDs used to light the spider eyes based on darkness level.
SourceHackaday.io documents an exposed add-on header as part of the badge's expansion and badgelife compatibility surface.
SourceHackaday documents a five-pin add-on header carrying power, PWM, and I2C for the 2019 badge's expansion boards.
SourceThe event report notes GPIO breakout pads for attendee hacking and experimenting beyond the default badge behavior.
SourceThe documented board exposes I2C through SAO headers and includes an ST25DV04K NFC/I2C EEPROM for badge experiments.
SourceThe optional SAO connector follows the rough orientation of the standard for upright add-ons but leaves I2C pins unconnected, making it a power-only aesthetic expansion point.
SourceThe public repository documents a Raspberry Pi GPIO header, a SAO port, and a Grove-compatible connector as three expansion paths. It does not establish that any particular add-on was distributed or supported at 39C3.
SourceThe board documents two standard six-pin SAO connectors with I2C and GPIO access. A public launch announcement separately says a planned add-on board can expose three more keys or an I2C display; final add-on distribution remains unconfirmed.
SourceThe designer README describes optional SAO headers and says add-ons could be found at Open Sauce, while the attendee archive reports several basic LED SAO modules handed out at the event. This does not prove universal availability, exact module count, connector compliance, power compatibility, safe attachment, or final event configuration.
SourceThe current kit list includes a 2×3 SAO connector with wrong-way prevention. The archived assembly guide describes fitting the polarized six-pin header on the top PCB. Neither source publishes a final 2026 pinout, voltage, current budget, connector compatibility matrix, or tested accessory list.
SourceThe original PACMAN-themed badge firmware's native quiz-server CTF protocol was reversed by the community. The community repository is not an official RootedCON release.
SourceConnecting a terminal over USB exposed a text adventure about scavenging parts to rebuild a relay-based computer in a missile silo.
SourceA long press on the Ekoparty frame opens a menu with five idle animations matched by rear backlight patterns, backlight brightness, manual QR visibility, status-LED filters, a bilingual credits screen, intro replay, and a reset of these preferences only.
SourceThe official wrap-up describes the completed badge as a three-button keyboard with blinkies and a self-printed UV-resin artwork layer.
SourcePublic creator material says DC33 was a non-electronic badge year, making optical interaction and material design the documented hack surface instead of firmware.
SourceThe official call for badge designers stated that DC31 would return to a non-electronic physical badge after two consecutive electronic badge years.
SourceThe official about page documents eight achievement levels that unlocked LED patterns and CTF flags.
SourceHITB lists 'Are You Human Or Are You Hacker' under What's On the Badge for the special-edition Beijing badge.
SourceThe ARG and retrospective logs describe the Badge Enabled Non Directive Enigma Routine as a serial text-adventure challenge spanning hardware hacking, reverse engineering, cryptography, wireless capture, badge actions, and social collaboration.
SourceThe walkthrough documents Badge Enabled Non Directive Enigma Routine v2.0 as an embedded text-adventure challenge involving software exploitation, firmware clues, hardware interfaces, crypto, radio, and social steps.
SourceThe official PCB Badge guide documents a BadUSB activity path as part of the 2024 badge game surface.
SourceThe badge guide documents BadUSB behavior and script execution as part of the 2025 badge activity surface.
SourceRehrig describes the 0xC badge theme as Contra and the core functionality as a conference-wide laser-tag game.
SourceThe badge mini-games awarded special prizes to the top three daily scores and participation-prize eligibility when attendees crossed stated thresholds.
SourceThe public DEFCON 32 Badge Game repository contains GB Studio project files and graphical assets for the badge's LVCC-themed game.
SourceThe 2025 PCB Badge guide documents a Hacker Pet mode alongside score display and other badge activities.
SourceOne official Badge Challenges path asked attendees to catch all Hackermon and become Hackermon master, with a HITCON CMT 2018 ticket as the award.
SourceHugQuest v1.5 stores HUG tokens, supports mining and sending HUGs, tracks names, and displays token state through the SMART Response XE interface.
SourceThe hunt loop moves a hunter sprite, tracks laser direction from input pins, draws a Bender sprite, and increments score on hits.
SourceHITB lists an IR and 433 MHz packet-decoding game as a badge activity, tying the RF/IR hardware to explicit on-site play.
SourceThe 2019 badge post documents base-station laser-tag behavior and point collection plans.
SourceThe repository says signs with player codes were placed around the venue and preserves the signs plus Morse-code guide material. It establishes the source-described game context, not an event-wide participation result, challenge completion record, prize outcome, or current playable service.
SourceThe official badge page documents ten badge flags hidden across trivia, reverse engineering, and badge interfaces, submitted through FLAGBOT.
SourceThe second official Badge Challenges path was Master of Snake, also tied to a HITCON CMT 2018 ticket prize.
SourceThe README describes a Stroop-effect color game where positive or negative shock reinforcement can be configured before play.
SourceA Tactility app that scans NFC tags with the Ci522 reader and fetches a timed Cyber Trivia question from a server for each tag, with network and invalid-tag error handling; the setup site also links a Cyber Trivia challenge.
SourceThe wagon loop draws wagon and mountain sprites, prints the current banner, and increments a displayed score in miles.
SourceThe conference badge game used Wi-Fi beacons scattered around Plexpod Westport for attendee discovery and exploration.
SourceStock firmware challenged attendees to navigate an 8x8x8 maze using the three potentiometers for Z, X, and Y movement.
SourceThe firmware and server trees preserve snake and tetris apps, score-token generation, online scoreboard tables, and bPodUpdater/server packaging.
SourceThe listing describes a 13-chapter Ritual with story, screen, and LED animations; six side-quest challenges; and Bling, The Corrupt Ritual, R'lyeh Arena, Another Adventure, Exploit, and Rick Roll unlockable modes. No firmware archive or full game-rule source is published.
SourceStaff at 14 sponsor booths stamp the badge using the attendee's registered phone number; the badge responds with LEDs, buzzer, and vibration, and collecting all 14 stamps enters the prize draw.
SourceOfficial preview material documents IR, LCD, LED, audio, and input surfaces intended for badge applications and games.
SourceBadge.Team now describes a BornPets virtual pet inspired by Tamagotchi and mini-games as the active badge software path, with top-level screens available in public usage docs.
SourceHackRVA documented Badge Monsters and Maze as 2019 badge activities.
Source