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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Elli Furedy and the Alleycat team use a handheld programmable device to turn a cyberpunk bounty hunt into a quick, face-to-face game: players improvise the story, while their Portable Data Nodes handle the countdown, determine the winner, and report scores. The design shows how a small amount of hardware-backed structure can make a large group game easier to join without scripting every moment.
How the cyberpunk bounty hunt works
At a five-day live-action role-play event in the Mojave desert, bounty hunters search for players cast as bounties. Participants carry color-coded Portable Data Nodes (PDNs), compact electronic devices that signal their roles. When a hunter connects a Node to a bounty’s, a countdown starts. After the screen displays “Go,” the first player to press the button wins the quick-draw, according to Hackaday’s 2025 account.
The basic contest is deliberately brief. The game gives players a reason to approach one another, then leaves room for them to invent how their characters behave. A hunter has to deliver a “Declaration of Intent to Seize,” for example, but chooses a personal catchphrase rather than reciting a scripted line.
Rules in the device, improvisation in the players
A simple interaction makes room for role-play
Hackaday describes the team’s approach as keeping the core mechanic straightforward while letting players put their own spin on the experience. That division matters in a live-action game: the device provides a recognizable moment of tension, but people supply the voice, character, and social context.
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The required declaration works as a prompt rather than dialogue to memorize. It gives players a shared cue for the encounter while leaving the performance open-ended. This is a useful pattern for an immersive game or conference badge: define what must happen for play to proceed, and leave the expressive choices to participants.
Automated adjudication avoids a referee bottleneck
The Nodes decide who wins and loses, use anti-button-mashing provisions, and send scores over Wi-Fi to a central scoreboard, Hackaday reports. The result is that participants do not need to stop each encounter to consult a rulebook or track tokens by hand. The device handles the repeatable ruling; players can focus on the interaction around it.
That choice does not eliminate all game design work. It relocates a defined part of it into the hardware: players still perform the encounter, but the system resolves the quick-draw consistently. Hackaday reports 374 players and 3,838 matches across the five-day event; those are the publication’s totals, not figures independently audited against a match database.
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Fictional styling helps technology belong in the world
The PDN includes an ornamental LED feature Furedy calls “the doodad.” Hackaday says it is visual styling rather than a functional game component. That distinction is part of the design: not every illuminated element needs to carry a rule if it helps the object feel like equipment from the game’s cyberpunk setting.
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The same report notes that the onboarding video uses cyberpunk-styled closed captions. The captions were initially intended for people who do not hear well and also became an aesthetic feature. This is one reported design choice, not a full accessibility evaluation of the game or its hardware.
What the Portable Data Node contains
Alleycat’s published PDN specifications describe a compact programmable device built around an ESP32-S3. The listed components and capabilities are the project team’s specifications, not independent test results.
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| Feature | Published specification |
|---|---|
| Processor platform | ESP32-S3 |
| Memory | 8 MB RAM |
| Display | 128 × 64 OLED |
| Controls and feedback | Two user-interface buttons, vibration motor, and 19 individually addressable LEDs |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi and Bluetooth; a 3.5 mm audio jack for serial communication |
| Power and connection | 2,000 mAh rechargeable battery; USB-C for charging and data transfer |
Hackaday describes the Nodes as using OLED screens and haptic motors, with Wi-Fi for reporting scores and an audio-jack serial protocol for connecting one Node to another. The project page specifies an ESP32-S3, while Hackaday refers more generally to an ESP32. The listed specifications do not establish battery endurance, radio range, outdoor readability, or network reliability.
From a quick-draw game to a programmable platform
Alleycat says the PDN was first developed for a quick-draw game at Neotropolis. The team describes it as an interactive AR controller as well as a game device, with serial, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth connectivity. Its custom operating system is intended to support dynamically loaded applications, so the concept reaches beyond one bounty-hunt mechanic.
Alleycat characterizes the PDN as open source and says its GitHub hosts hardware, software, and build logs through the Open Sauce Directory. The project page establishes those broad categories, but not the precise repository contents or terms for reusing each part.
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An independent Supercon attendee report from Make describes electronic and 3D-printed hunter and prey devices whose LED colors distinguish roles, making the devices universal. Make characterizes the activity as a mass icebreaker and reports that the team had run it at multiple events. That is Make’s account; the Neotropolis origin is Alleycat’s own description.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the design is about connection, not just scores
The game’s stated purpose is to break the ice and connect people in real space. Alleycat summarizes the goal on its project page: “The goal is to use technology as a tool for community building and shared experiences.” That aim shapes the role of the hardware: it gives people a reason to meet and a clear shared action, rather than asking them to spend the event interacting only with a screen.
For designers of large-group games, the approach can be assessed along a few practical dimensions:
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- Improvisation: Which rules need to be fixed for play to work, and which character choices can remain open?
- Adjudication: Can a device resolve repeatable outcomes, or does each encounter require a human referee?
- Onboarding: Can a newcomer understand the basic interaction quickly enough to join in?
- Access: How do instructions and feedback accommodate different sensory needs? Captions are one element, not a complete accessibility plan.
- Social focus: Does the technology support face-to-face interaction, or compete with it?
These questions are a way to think through the design choices visible in the game, not a published comparative evaluation of event games.
Who Elli Furedy is on the team
Alleycat’s team page identifies Elli Furedy as responsible for Development & Engineering and describes her as an Android developer, hardware hacker, and founder of Fail Factory, a boutique manufacturing space. The same page names Andrea Furedy as Game Director and describes her interest in accessibility and inclusivity. Their roles are distinct; the biographies are supplied by the organization.
Furedy’s talk is titled “Sandbox Systems: Hardware for Emergent Games.” The 2025 Supercon event report refers to it as “Hardware for Emergent Games.” Hackaday’s summary of the talk emphasizes the combination that defines this project: rules and technology designed to support play, rather than take it over.
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