DEF CON 33 Badge
An official DEF CON 33 non-electronic physical badge by Mar Williams, built around layered art, 3D image interactions, lenses, clue spotting around the con, and an Arts & Entertainment booth badge challenge.
DEF CON
DEF CON 33
The 2025 DEF CON edition whose official Mar Williams art badge returned to a non-electronic physical format with layered 3D/lens interactions and an Arts & Entertainment badge challenge.
Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada · United States · 2025
NilbinSec DC33 Hack 'Em Crack 'Em Robots
NilbinSec's Hack 'Em Crack 'Em Robots was a DEF CON 33 badgelife release announced in the DEF CON #Badge Life forum, sold as a limited full-size badge set through RENXCHANGE, and listed in the DC33 community schedule as a badge drop.
Lifecycle
Add-ons & Upgrades
DEF CON 33 Badge
source-backed
Non-electronic physical art format
Public creator material says DC33 was a non-electronic badge year, making optical interaction and material design the documented hack surface instead of firmware.
NilbinSec DC33 Hack 'Em Crack 'Em Robots
source-backed
Robot-fighting badge game
The product and forum sources describe a main badge that uses onboard controls and supports robot fights against other badges.
NilbinSec DC33 Hack 'Em Crack 'Em Robots
schedule-backed
Badgelife Community badge drop
The DC33 community schedule lists a Hack 'em Crack 'em Robots badge drop by 2PAC in the Badgelife Community area.
DEF CON 33 Badge
historical
Arts & Entertainment booth badge challenge
The creator announcement directed attendees to spot clues around the convention and visit the Arts & Entertainment booth to participate in the badge challenge.
NilbinSec DC33 Hack 'Em Crack 'Em Robots
source-backed
Red and blue fighter SAOs
The NilbinSec announcement and product page describe two included SAOs, red and blue fighters, with game data and hidden interactions carried through EEPROM.
DEF CON 33 Badge
historical
Layered-lens optical challenge
Mar Williams described the DC33 badge as interacting with 3D images and layered art around the con through different lenses and lens combinations.
DEF CON 33 Badge
documented
Cash-line paper badge fallback
DEF CON's August 7, 2025 news notice says attendees in the cash line were receiving paper badges because the main badge shipment was delayed.
Operational history
Issues & Camp Impact
DEF CON 33 Badge
note
DEF CON announced that cash-line attendees were temporarily receiving paper badges because the main badge shipment was delayed.
The record should not imply that every attendee received the final physical art badge immediately at registration; the temporary paper credential is part of the event artifact history.
The public sources document high-level Pico/OLED/button/SAO/EEPROM/game behavior, but this pass did not recover schematics, PCB files, BOM, firmware source, protocol documentation, production files, or a public repository.
Component and firmware claims remain limited to the public product and announcement text, with no invented electronics or implementation details.
DEF CON 33 Badge
note
No local DEF CON 33 badge photo has been added because the visible creator-post images and official media assets have not been paired with complete reuse rights, attribution, and processing notes.
The entry remains image-free rather than copying creator, official, attendee, or press photography without provenance.
No NilbinSec DC33 image is published because the forum and product-page images are not paired with a reusable image license, exact attribution, and processing provenance for local publication.
The record stays source-backed and image-free rather than copying product photos, forum images, social-media previews, or generated artwork.
DEF CON 33 Badge
note
Public sources document the non-electronic lens/layer concept, clue trail, badge-making talk, and black-badge collaborator note, but this pass does not inventory every physical lens, badge type, printed layer, clue, or final challenge solution.
The catalogue records verified badge lineage and interaction surfaces while leaving full artifact photography and challenge reconstruction for a later pass.
Hack 'Em Crack 'Em Robots is a NilbinSec badgelife release connected to DEF CON 33, not the official DEF CON 33 attendee badge.
The catalogue includes it as an unofficial community badge artifact while keeping the official Mar Williams DEF CON 33 badge as a separate record.
Resources
DEF CON 33 badge drop schedule
community schedule · DEF CON 33 schedule mirror source listing the Badge Drop - Hack 'em Crack 'em Robots session by 2PAC in the Badgelife Community area.
Mar Williams DEF CON 33 announcement
creator announcement · Creator source documenting DEFCON 33 badges as non-electronic, layered with 3D image and lens interactions, clue spotting, Arts & Entertainment booth participation, and black-badge collaborators.
DEF CON 33 event archive
event page · Official DEF CON archive source for August 7-10, 2025 dates, Las Vegas Convention Center venue, and post-con archive links.
NilbinSec Hack 'Em Crack 'Em Robots announcement
forum announcement · DEF CON #Badge Life forum source for NilbinSec's first full-size badge, SAO giveaway funding, included red and blue SAOs, EEPROM game-data behavior, DEF CON 33 release context, and pricing note.
DEF CON 33 badge media-server directory
official badge archive · Official media-server source proving a dedicated DEF CON 33 badge archive directory; audited as empty during this pass.
DEF CON 33 badge shipment delay notice
official news · Official DEF CON source documenting that cash-line attendees temporarily received paper badges on August 7, 2025 because of a badge shipment delay.
DEF CON 33 news archive
official news · Official DEF CON source for the DC33 event framing, registration context, and post-event news timeline.
Hack 'Em Crack 'Em Robots product page
product page · RENXCHANGE product source for the limited DEF CON 33 NilbinSec badge set, Raspberry Pi Pico, OLED, buttons, badge-to-badge fighting game, SAO roles, hidden interactions, and sales/shipping context.
Making the DEF CON 33 Badge
talk metadata · Official creator-talk page source for the badge-making talk title, presenter Mar, time, room, duration, and art/hacking framing.
Sources
DEF CON: Badge Shipment Delay
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official source for the August 7, 2025 shipment-delay notice stating that cash-line attendees were getting paper badges while DEF CON awaited the delayed physical badge shipment.
DEF CON: DEF CON 33 Hacking Conference
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official source for DEF CON 33 dates, venue, conference context, cash receipt link, contest results link, and media-server path.
DEF CON: DEF CON 33 Hacking Conference - News
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official source for DC33 public event timeline and post-event publication context.
DEF CON: Making the DEF CON 33 Badge
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official creator-talk source for Mar's badge-making talk, Saturday 10:00 timing, 45-minute duration, and framing around badge creation, art, hacking, and constraints.
DEF CON 33 schedule mirror / 2PAC: Badge Drop - Hack 'em Crack 'em Robots
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Schedule source placing the NilbinSec badge drop at DEF CON 33 in the Badgelife Community area.
DEF CON Forums / 2PAC: Introducing Hack 'Em Crack 'Em Robots!
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · First-hand badgelife announcement source for NilbinSec's DEF CON 33 full-size badge, prior SAO giveaway context, red/blue SAOs, EEPROM-backed game data, ready-to-play packaging, pricing, and social-media drop plan.
DEF CON Media Server: DEF CON 33 badge media directory
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official source for the dedicated DC33 badge directory and the current absence of listed badge files in that directory.
Mar Williams Art: DEF CON 33
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Creator source for non-electronic badge status, 3D/layered art and lens interactions, clue and Arts & Entertainment booth challenge context, and collaborator credits.
RENXCHANGE: Hack 'Em Crack 'Em Robots - Limited Badge Release for DEF CON 33 by NilbinSec
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Product-page source for the badge-set name, NilbinSec attribution, Raspberry Pi Pico/OLED/buttons hardware summary, robot-fighting badge-to-badge game behavior, SAO interaction, edition size, and sales/shipping caveats.