DEF CON 26 · United States · 2018

DEF CON 26 Badge

Tymkrs electronic text-adventure badge

A Tymkrs / Toymakers official DEF CON 26 electronic badge with a PIC32MM0256GPM controller, reverse-mounted LEDs, capacitive controls, four-AA battery stack, USB serial interface, badge-to-badge connector, add-on header, and a retro text-adventure badge challenge.

DEF CON United States Electronic Badge PIC32 Text Adventure Badge Challenge SAO USB Serial Tymkrs North America

EventDEF CON 26

SeriesDEF CON

LocationCaesars Palace and Flamingo, Las Vegas, Nevada

CountryUnited States

Image Provenance

Asset: optimized WebP from Wikimedia Commons documentary photo
Status: licensed original photo
Source: HackerCon Badges.jpg
License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
Attribution: Sephiroth storm, Wikimedia Commons
Notes: Original 3252x2720 Wikimedia Commons photo downloaded from File:HackerCon Badges.jpg and preserved in Public/images/source. The published WebP delivery asset is auto-oriented, metadata-stripped, resized to 1600x1338, and otherwise kept as the real CC BY-SA 4.0 documentary photo. The image shows the DEF CON 26 lanyard and official badge among other hacker-conference badges; this is not generated content or a placeholder. The published badge.gallery delivery file is an optimized WebP generated from the rights-cleared local derivative/source with metadata stripped, WebP quality 82, and a maximum side cap of 1600 pixels when the source is larger; upstream source URL, license, and attribution remain unchanged.

People

Authors & Credits

curated firmware-update documentation

number6

DEF CON forum post author who curated badge media links, firmware-update steps, version-check notes, and flashing-station documentation.

Source

event and official badge archive publisher

DEF CON Communications

DEF CON's archive points to the official badge firmware update, writeup, and related media-server materials.

Source

official badge creators

Tymkrs / The Toymakers

Hackaday identifies The Toymakers/Tymkrs as the creators shown on the board and in firmware for the official DEF CON 26 badge.

Source

official badge field reporter and solving-project contributor

Mike Szczys

Author of the Hackaday first-look report and listed participant in the Hackaday.io DEF CON 26 badge-solving project.

Source

Why It Mattered

It marks DEF CON's official return to a large electronic puzzle badge after DEF CON 25's simple identity artifact, while also pulling post-DC25 badgelife norms into the official badge through connector-based interactivity and an add-on header.

Hardware

Hackaday documented a roughly eight-by-three-inch badge, 30 through-board LEDs, a PIC32MM0256GPM with USB connectivity, PIC12F mystery component, badge-to-badge connector, capacitive touch controls, and four AA batteries. Later curated notes document PICkit firmware flashing against the PIC32MM0256GPM048 target.

Software & Apps

The badge exposed a USB serial text adventure, role-dependent content, badge-to-badge unlocks such as Human-to-Human and Human-to-Goon interactions, and official media-server firmware update material. Curated community notes document version 0/1/2 firmware state checks and MPLAB X IPE flashing paths.

Lore

The 1983-themed badge turned the PCB face into a map and progress display. Hackaday.io solving logs captured live collaboration around badge state, role-specific terminal text, hidden interactions, magnets, shorting tests, and multi-badge puzzle progression.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

badge-to-badge interaction historical

Badge-to-badge unlock connector

The bottom connector enabled inter-badge progress, with public notes documenting Human-to-Human and Human-to-Goon interactions that changed movement or game state.

Compatibility: DEF CON 26 Badge

Source

firmware behavior historical

USB serial text adventure

The badge enumerated over USB and exposed an interactive retro text adventure whose ASCII-art map mirrored the physical PCB face.

Compatibility: DEF CON 26 Badge

Source

firmware workflow archived

PICkit firmware update path

DEF CON's media-server update and forum-curated notes documented flashing the PIC32MM0256GPM048 with MPLAB X IPE and PICkit 3 or 4 to reach newer firmware versions.

Compatibility: DEF CON 26 Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

firmware-version caveat note

Public sources document firmware update paths and version checks, but this pass does not mirror or audit every media-server artifact, hex file, writeup, or internal game branch.

The catalogue records the verified hardware and update workflow while leaving complete firmware archaeology for a later artifact-level pass.

Confidence: source-backed but incomplete
Status: needs deeper artifact inventory
Timeframe: current DEF CON 26 pass
Source note: DEF CON 26 archive firmware notice, Hackaday.io solving project, and DEF CON forum curated content.

image provenance note

The DEF CON 26 image uses Sephiroth storm's Wikimedia Commons documentary photo `HackerCon Badges.jpg` under CC BY-SA 4.0.

The entry now has a real rights-cleared documentary photo without copying article media, Hackaday.io photos, screenshots, generated art, or placeholders.

Confidence: Wikimedia Commons license metadata and visible DEF CON 26 lanyard
Status: licensed original replacement applied
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: Wikimedia Commons File:HackerCon Badges.jpg and badge.gallery image policy.

Resources

DEF CON 26 Badge curated content curated technical notes · DEF CON forum curation of media-server badge files, firmware-update instructions, PICkit/MPLAB flashing workflow, firmware-version checks, and community repair context. DEF CON 26 InfoconDB record event metadata · InfoconDB source for August 9-12, 2018 Caesars Palace event metadata and the Welcome To DEF CON & Badge Maker Talk schedule entry. DEF CON 26 Official Badge Hacking solving project · Hackaday.io solving project documenting live puzzle collaboration, badge state, role-specific serial content, badge-to-badge unlocks, and hardware interaction discoveries. DEF CON 26 event archive event page · Official DEF CON archive source for 2018 event context, Caesars Palace and Flamingo venue split, badge firmware update notice, writeup link, and media-server material. First Look At DEF CON 26 Official Badge field report · Contemporary Hackaday source documenting official-badge status, Tymkrs/Toymakers attribution, PIC32MM hardware, LEDs, USB serial text adventure, badge-to-badge connector, and add-on header.

Sources

DEF CON: DEF CON 26 Hacking Conference Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official event archive source for DEF CON 26 context, venue split, firmware update/writeup notice, and media-server badge-material references. DEF CON Forums: DEF CON 26 Badge, Curated Content Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Curated technical source for media-server badge artifacts, firmware update process, PIC32MM0256GPM048 flashing, version checks, and repair/upgrade context. Hackaday: First Look At DEF CON 26 Official Badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Contemporary source for official electronic badge status, Tymkrs/Toymakers credit, PIC32MM hardware, LED layout, USB serial game, badge-to-badge connector, and add-on header. Hackaday.io: DEF CON 26 Official Badge Hacking Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Collaborative solving source for badge state, role-specific serial text, Human-to-Human and Human-to-Goon unlocks, magnet and shorting observations, and puzzle workflow. InfoconDB: DEF CON 26 (2018) Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Event metadata source for dates, venue, admission context, and Welcome To DEF CON & Badge Maker Talk listing. Wikimedia Commons: HackerCon Badges.jpg Retrieved 2026-05-15 · CC BY-SA 4.0 documentary source image by Sephiroth storm showing the DEF CON 26 lanyard and official badge among other hacker-conference badges; used for image provenance, not as a hardware-spec source.