Hacker Badge 2018

What it is Role Stack Outcome
Project description โ€” โ€” โ€”
Category
Games

What it is

Game Development

This badge was done in collaboration with a student consulting group that I direct, as well as my friend Rudy Ristich. The driving design concept behind this badge was a play on another collaborative game (then popular) called Twitch Plays Pokemon which had thousands of players vying for control of the popular Ash Ketchum character. I co-developed the firmware and game experience that allowed conference attendees to collaboratively play Pokemon through the badge they received at the event. In addition to this functionality, players mined a fictional version of Bitcoin that we invented for the event, and spent their digital currency to purchase various upgrades and unlock puzzles.

Students from my consulting group conceived of, designed, and then programmed games onto the badge. In addition to managing the design team, I played a critical role in the manufacturing of the badge and managed the production run.

Launch website ยป

Areas investigated:

  • Game design
  • Game programming
  • Internet of Things
  • Hardware design

Build Log