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My 100th Video Was a Total Mystery Build Challenge

74

2025-06-20 | By Zach Hipps

Switches Pushbutton Microcontrollers Addressable LEDs Power Supplies

Okay, buckle up! This is a wild one. My community challenged me for my 100th video, and I have NO idea what I'm building! You read that right. For my 100th video here on Byte Sized Engineering, I decided to throw planning out the window and do something a little different. I just finished building this game, which I'm calling Pixel Ball, but when I started, let me tell you, I was staring at a pile of parts thinking, "What do I… what am I doing here? Like, what is this going to be? I am just not seeing the vision at all." That's because I asked you, the amazing Byte Sized Engineering community, to decide on a project for me. Let's rewind the clock a bit.

My 100th Video Was a Total Mystery Build Challenge

My 100th Video Was a Total Mystery Build Challenge

At the start of this project, I had no clues. A box just arrived on my doorstep, filled with parts I needed to use. Talk about putting an enormous amount of trust in my community members! Honestly, I was actually really excited. The last 99 videos were planned. This one, I threw caution to the wind.

My 100th Video Was a Total Mystery Build Challenge

So, how did this chaos come to be? I roped in my team members, Ian, and Jonathan. They started as Patreon members, and now they help with almost every video I produce on this channel. I connected them with my producer, Bob, and those three schemed behind my back. They ordered parts, shipped them to me, and basically set me up for… well, this. If I end up blowing myself up, you know who to blame!

Jonathan even sent me an email with a video to get started.

"Hey, Zach. It's your team member, Jonathan, here. Congrats on your 100th video! In honor of this milestone, your community has come together to challenge you to build something that we've come up with. Since we've been watching your videos, we feel like we know you. You love games, and you love making big things. We had an idea for a game that we want you to make. We've got a general idea of what it is, but we thought it'd be more fun for you to put it all together blindly. We've ordered a bunch of parts from DigiKey for you to get started, and you must use all of them. We also emailed a list of things that we think you'll have around your shop. Oh, and don't forget to put your Byte Sized Engineering spin on it. Congratulations and good luck!"

My 100th Video Was a Total Mystery Build Challenge

My 100th Video Was a Total Mystery Build Challenge

I have to use all of the parts... Okay, I do love games, and I was genuinely stoked to see what you all cooked up.

Time to crack open this mystery box. Alright, it’s from DigiKey. Let's just dump this out…

My 100th Video Was a Total Mystery Build Challenge

I was excited, and yeah, a little nervous. Then came the email with things I "should already have" or could grab locally:

  1. Two 10-foot pieces of EMT conduit: Definitely don't have that lying around. Hardware store trip!
  2. A door hinge: A door hinge?
  3. A 2x4 cut in half: Okay, I’ve got plenty of 2x4s.
  4. Labels: "Left," "Right," "Swap," and "Power Up": What is that going to do? I've got a label maker and a laser cutter, so I can make these.
  5. Small zip ties: Check.
  6. Miscellaneous wires: I have spools of them.
  7. Miscellaneous hardware (fasteners): Got ‘em.

My 100th Video Was a Total Mystery Build Challenge

My 100th Video Was a Total Mystery Build Challenge

Off to the store I went. I struck out at store number one. Store number two was much better, but the hinge… It just says one door hinge. What size? What style? Do I need one of these no-squeak ones? I just grabbed one. Hope it's right!

My 100th Video Was a Total Mystery Build Challenge

My 100th Video Was a Total Mystery Build Challenge

My 100th Video Was a Total Mystery Build Challenge

My 100th Video Was a Total Mystery Build Challenge

Back in the workshop, with all the pieces laid out, I was still majorly stumped. My first thought gravitated towards a reaction timing game. The button lights up, and you smack it, but are there two players? Do they compete or cooperate? The LED strips are individually addressable, so they could react to left/right buttons, but "Swap" and "Power Up", I just have no clue. Cameraman Pat and I brainstormed. Before getting too far, I had to sketch out some ideas. My top-down view involved the 2x4s on each side, spaced five feet apart, with the conduit (I assumed to be four pieces, so I cut the 10-footers in half) running between them like rails. Player one on one side, player two on the other. RGB strips along the conduit, with buttons mounted on the 2x4s or in a custom console. But what's the goal? Are players trying to light up LEDs to the other side? Is it like Connect Four, but standing up? Or a power-up game where you tap to build a progress bar on the LEDs, and "Swap" messes with your opponent? Maybe like those arcade roulette games where you time the light? This is my 100th video. I wanted fun and challenging. I was having fun, but definitely struggling! You already know what this is supposed to be. Me? Not so much.

I was at the point where I needed a lifeline. Time to call Ian and Jonathan.

My 100th Video Was a Total Mystery Build Challenge

(Video Call)

"I've spent an enormous amount of time wondering what the heck you guys had in mind," I told them. "There's, like, a door hinge. I'm like, this is definitely a red herring." "No, there's no red herrings," Jonathan said.

Great.

"Can I cut the conduit shorter? Cut the 2x4s?" "I would advise against it," Ian replied.

Helpful.

My theory: eight labels, eight buttons, a two-player game? "I cannot disclose this information," Jonathan deadpanned, though Ian’s face might have given something away. Good hunch, at least.

My 100th Video Was a Total Mystery Build Challenge

"The 'Swap' and 'Power Up' have really given me a lot of trepidation," I admitted. They were giving me frustratingly little information. That was the point, they said.

My next guess: "Maybe the two-by-fours are end-to-end, and they're hinged together in the middle. Like this could fold?" Ian started laughing. "I have no poker face," he confessed. "It's not right. But it's closer than your last idea." Jonathan added. "You didn't tell me what size of hinge! There are hundreds!"

Was I mimicking a real-world game? My mind went to reaction time, or energy banks for "Power Up," shown on an LED progress bar. "I like the idea of a progress bar," Jonathan offered. Was that a hint? "I cannot confirm or deny." Ian’s face, though! I swear he confirmed it.

My 100th Video Was a Total Mystery Build Challenge

I was getting desperate. "Honestly, I need to start building this thing... I need a little bit more help here." Then, the cryptic clue: "Think about the hinge and how it's the perfect color." The hinge… it was the same silver color as the conduit. "So, this is supposed to hinge the conduit, not the two-by-fours?" "This is your project," they chimed. A simple yes or no was apparently too much information; it would ruin the "epiphany moment."

"This is very obvious to you guys," I said, "but I am just not seeing the vision at all." If I put two five-foot conduit pieces together, that’s ten feet, same as the LED strip. "That math is jiving," Jonathan conceded.

"You have four pieces of conduit and only one hinge," Ian added. "Which means you have one point of contact." Guys, this was not as easy as it sounded. I still had no idea what they were talking about!

So, there I was, on the phone with the only two people who knew the secret, getting riddles instead of answers. I was running out of time, low on patience, and desperately in need of a breakthrough.

And that breakthrough? Evidently, the game mechanics are related to pinball! That clue was just enough to keep me moving in the right direction. That’s exactly what happens in episode two of this series, which drops next week! I’ll finish my chat with Ian and Jonathan, and finally, the vision of what I'm supposed to be building will snap into focus.

My 100th Video Was a Total Mystery Build Challenge

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