Play the game here!

Best played in a separate window. Requires a keyboard - sorry mobile users!

Byte: The Objective

In Byte, the goal is to generate every 8-bit number by flipping switches, one switch at a time.

Here's the catch: you can't generate the same number twice, so you'll have to be systematic with how you count!

(Hint: look up Grey Code)

There's a practice mode that will not end the game if you generate the same number. But the challenge mode is where it all counts!

Backstory

A few months ago the Repl.it team went to an escape the room as part of a team bonding activity. We were in the final room and each of us were spread among different puzzles.

One of the puzzles was a locked box with 8 switches. With not much time left and no clues to help us with the numbers, I did the only thing I could think of - brute force the crap out of the box. I got lucky, and it worked after a few dozen flips.

When we were debriefing afterwards, @turbio claimed he could get through all 256 combinations in a few minutes. I challenged him to do so, he accepted, and it was off to the races. Recently, @turbio and @basicer re-created the lockbox, and showed that it was indeed possible to get all the combinations within a few minutes. I believe at this time of writing @turbio's record is about 2 minutes.

Because physical programming is not my forte and @phoopio and I wanted to add more features, we made this sweet web-based game to simulate the box (sorry @turbio!)

Credits and Acknowledgements

@kognise for water.css
@turbio and @basicer for inspiration
@phoopio for finding patterns within grey code