Build with Us
Alleycat Hardware
Devices we design, fabricate, and ship for play in the real world.
The Alleycat stack starts with physical devices. The Portable Data Node is the player handheld: serial connection, wireless access, LEDs, haptics, and a live link to Mission Control. Fixed Data Nodes are unmanned so players can plug in, train, and hit co-op minigames without another human behind the desk.
Around that core we build booth and field infrastructure: live scoreboards, PCB membership cards, and field installs that are part of the fiction.
Active device library
Hardware we deploy, maintain, and document for current Alleycat events and open source builds.
Portable Data Node
Open SourcePlayer handheld for Quickdraw, field play, and Mission Control
The Portable Data Node is what every player carries at an Alleycat event. In our bounty hunting game players jack two PDNs together for Quickdraw: countdown, **…
Fixed Data Node
Open SourceVenue nodes for training, minigames, and co-op play
A Fixed Data Node is an unmanned box installed at the venue. Players with a PDN plug in to run training, solo drills, co-op minigames, and lore beats without st…
ID Cards
PCB membership cards from booth intake
In the code for Quickdraw today, we issue every player a four digit PIN to activate their PDN for play. We chose to hand something out to every player that woul…
Scoreboard
Open SourceField scoreboard for team standings
Quickdraw runs all over the Neotropolis theme zone, so players need a shared read on who is ahead. Since Neo 2025, logged Quickdraw matches upload from the fiel…
Decommissioned device library
Retired generations kept for history, dispatches, and naming context. Not built or issued in the field today.
Proto-PDN
First digital PDN for Neo 2023 (retired)
**Decommissioned after Neo 2023.** The Proto-PDN was our first microcontroller Portable Data Node. The team nicknamed the enclosure **The Shoe**: Arduino Pro Mi…
Data Crypt
Analog bounty pack for Neo 2022 (retired)
**Decommissioned after Neo 2022.** The Data Crypt was Alleycat's first player device: fully analog, no microcontroller, built in about eight weeks before our fi…