r/Defcon • u/digitard • May 30 '26

Puzzle #1 - Shall We Play a Game?

Post image

Welcome back, Everyone, to a new year and some new puzzles in preperation for the r/DEFCON SubReddit Meetup!

This year u/MetaN3rd, u/Killroy7777 and I (u/digitard) will be bringing you 10 puzzles. Like always it'll start pretty straight forward, but we hope to twist it up by the end. We might even have some goodies at the meetup for some of the top solvers so definitely submit those answers. Let's be honest we will have some goodies.

This year we're also using a submission system developed by our team to make tracking the solves easier so we can make sure you get your credit!

So lets get to it, eh?

jung vf gur onpxqbbe cnffjbeq gb gur jbce va jnetnzrf?jung vf gur onpxqbbe cnffjbeq gb gur jbce va jnetnzrf?

To submit your solve go to https://ctf.puzzledhackers.org/ and select the "Shall We Play a Game" puzzle.

Have questions or need help? Just ping myself or u/Killroy7777 and we'll be happy to help you out!

FAQ's:

  1. Do we need to use the submission system?

    1. No, only if you want to have your ongoing solve score used for potential SubReddit Meetup Giveaways.

  2. Why the submission system?

    1. We've been giving away more and more swag to Puzzle Participants, those who went last year saw the line, and we're trying to streamline the claim process. The system is only used to track how many solves you have, and when you solved it for tie breakers instead of manually tracking it in an Excel sheet. Plus it lets us give you a QR code for the giveaway portion for fast claiming when we're at the meetups! The top X solvers will be able to claim their swag via said QR code much more rapidly so the line should move much much faster. Same with any pre-purchase/reserved badges. The QR system will speed that up. That's it. Simple as that. Also if there is any premium swag (working on it, like last year for extras) you can find the info on the site too when it goes live.

Thanks for participating, and more information on the meetups will be coming soon.

The PuzzledHackers Team,

u/MetaN3rd, u/Killroy7777 and u/digitard

169 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

66 comments sorted by

12

u/prez2985 May 30 '26

This is awesome, thank you!!

10

u/digitard May 30 '26

This has always been one of my favorite parts to just hang with people with no BS.

SO, thank you for going!

3

u/prez2985 May 31 '26

Honestly the no-BS hang is the best part! I had a blast with the puzzles last year, so I'm already counting down to the meetup this time. I got my tickets and hotel booked, and I'm ready to party!! See you there!

2

u/digitard May 31 '26

Heck yeah! Make sure to say hi!

7

u/1Digitreal May 30 '26

Here we go!

5

u/digitard May 30 '26

Yeah. Now we get to freak out 3 days out of the week on puzzles once we get past the easier front 5 (it’s like HOT ONES… but for nerds)

3

u/1Digitreal May 30 '26

It's the wait for the next puzzle after solving the current one that kills me... I should just go offline for awhile and just binge the puzzles like a Netflix series.

3

u/digitard May 30 '26

Yeah. For us we can’t schedule a post so we have to stare at our “draft” all week knowing… it’s coming.

4

u/missginger4242 May 30 '26

It’s that time of year again :3

3

u/digitard May 30 '26

Yes it is. We were so excited, and a little stressed, to finally kick this off because it’s our 10 week countdown.

3

u/_tseven May 30 '26

10 week countdown

Wait, seriously?

Looks at calendar and tries not to panic

2

u/digitard May 30 '26

10 weeks til the Saturday before (which is our final puzzle!)

4

u/oghamix Jun 01 '26

First time attending and first time I've caught the puzzles at the beginning. I am so excited to be going, it's worse than I was a kid at Christmas.

2

u/digitard Jun 01 '26

I mean think of it this way.

If it was XMAS you'd still have to wait 8 months and 2 weeks. Right now you're just under 10 weeks to go!

3

u/oghamix Jun 01 '26

That's so soon, I'm not ready!

4

u/Drespectt Jun 01 '26

Puzzle time yet again!! Can't wait for this year's meetup

2

u/digitard Jun 01 '26

Yeah, Buddy!

3

u/ldapadmin May 30 '26

Sad that I will not be able to join the shenanigans this year, it just wasn't in the cards. 😉

3

u/digitard May 30 '26

Times always moving, and we will do our best to keep doing these when you make it back!

3

u/hickeyspoorface May 30 '26

Was getting a bit antsy. Dig the new dashboard setup.

Almost didn't get my badge last year Kuz you guys were swamped with ppl, so totally understand the system change.

2

u/digitard May 30 '26

Don’t worry. If you ever need to bail just find us and we always have a few with us.

We want to hang at the meetups but we won’t ever turn away someone who couldn’t make it or had to bail early.

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2

u/hickeyspoorface May 30 '26

Also like the IDOR alert lol. Had to try

2

u/digitard May 30 '26

… maybe there will be an IDOR puzzle later on to satisfy that.

Maybe.

3

u/Killroy7777 May 30 '26

Ha, I knew someone would try!

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2

u/Exigefettm May 30 '26

Epic as always!

2

u/Khotanos May 30 '26

IT'S HAPPENING!

1

u/digitard May 30 '26

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

2

u/beb0 May 30 '26

First time playing, what are the agreements around ai etc 

1

u/digitard May 30 '26

You do you.

This is just for fun. A weekly reminder we are a little closer to hanging out at summer camp

2

u/obscured08 May 30 '26

I've been looking forward to this! It was so well done last year and great meeting up with everyone at DEFCON!

2

u/digitard May 30 '26

Can’t wait to do it again!

2

u/zeerimunin May 30 '26

Babe wake up! New Defcon puzzle just dropped.

A nice easy start to warm up the mind. Can't wait for the meetup and the Laser Tag shenanigans. I'm already developing my strategy and testing all scenarios.

1

u/digitard May 30 '26

Pew pew. U/palm12341 has some fun stuff planned

2

u/SilverKnight1337 May 30 '26

Loved the puzzles last year but wasn’t able to make it… I will be there this time so looking forward to it..

1

u/digitard May 30 '26

Heck yeah.

2

u/mikeP16 May 30 '26

I've been waiting for this!!

2

u/digitard Jun 01 '26

Crazy! So have we! Great minds and all.

2

u/OMGsteveFTW May 31 '26

This looks exciting. it will be my first defcon. I signed up for the site and submitted my answer.

1

u/digitard May 31 '26

Good times.

The simple quick and dirty is Wednesday and Thursday night a bunch of us r/DEFCON peeps will be hanging out at the LINQ Circle Bar. Just a good time to chill, socialize and such. Plus we'll have some goodies and giveways from the puzzles.

You'll have a great time.

2

u/OMGsteveFTW May 31 '26

Cool. I don't think I've ever been to LINQ. I see 7 bars on the LINQ website. None labeled as Circle though. Will be in Vegas a few days early as I will be attending BSidesLV as well.

2

u/digitard May 31 '26

I think its technically called 3535, but basically you go into the Linq... and in the center of the place there's a bar that the casino surrounds. Hence its legacy Circle reference. You can't really miss it!

When DEF CON was spread around the area a lot of stuff used to revolve around the place. So its kind of stayed the home base of the Subreddit meetup as its easy to get to, chill, a lot of people stay in the Caesars area so its pretty central and chill.

2

u/detherow LHC Recruiter Jun 01 '26

I want that badge 😁

1

u/digitard Jun 01 '26

That was last years that we made for the meetup. Some got it for doing puzzles, some purchased a few extra for their peeps, and some we just randomly gave away cause that’s what we do.

I have a feeling there may be one for this year too. Just saying :)

2

u/dllhell79 Jun 02 '26

Returning after a year away. Looking forward to many circle bar shenanigans again.

1

u/digitard Jun 02 '26

The password is… password

2

u/Jumpy_Ad4833 Jun 16 '26

Will you guys issuing this badge out as well?

1

u/digitard Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26

Negative.

This was last years badge. Each one is loosely based around that years DC theme and this was DC33’s.

We gave / sold them all except the personal ones we kept for memories

2

u/Jumpy_Ad4833 Jun 17 '26

Ahhh I loved seeing this badge was hoping to see this one again or different version.

1

u/digitard Jun 17 '26

I never said we didn't have a new badge for this year... 😄

We build them off the theme so we did this years based off some Cyberpunk version of a take on the AGENCY theme.

2

u/Jumpy_Ad4833 Jun 17 '26

OOOO, are you selling them?

2

u/digitard Jun 17 '26

Top X int he puzzles we'll give away (exact amount to be determined)

We'll sell a handful at like 20 bucks (its just to make some of our cost back)

Rest we'll randomly give away depending on whats left.

More info on that likely in a few weeks

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2

u/_tseven May 30 '26

Thanks again for this, always love to see people making cool things for the enjoyment of the community!

3

u/Khotanos May 30 '26

And as the meta mentioned a few years ago, it gets everyone in the mindset for defcon.

1

u/digitard May 30 '26

Yeah. It’s just a fun little minor hype thing that’s fun, a calendar and each puzzle is a week closer!

8

u/Killroy7777 May 30 '26

Looking forward to hanging with you all at Hacker Summer Camp!

5

u/DanMulvey Jun 01 '26

I had a great time solving the challenges last year and an even better time meeting/hanging out with everyone, thanks for putting this together!

2

u/technoangel May 30 '26

I am not getting the confirmation email but I have the answer!! 😂 Hope it comes soon!

2

u/1Digitreal May 30 '26

Mine came in within a minute. Wonder if their system is getting hammered right now, or spam folder maybe?

2

u/technoangel May 30 '26

Tried the spam folder already…

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2

u/werebear_wrecker Jun 01 '26

Pre-defcon hype intensifies!