Neon District’s AI help desk, helping solvers lose sleep since September 7th, 2018.

Head to https://neondistrict.io/helpdesk and get your solve on!!

Minor Spoiler Alert!! While it appears this puzzle is progressing rapidly, you can stop reading now if you would prefer to let other solvers get an even bigger head start. You’re more than welcome to fall behind, scouring Neon District’s socials, trying work your own way through things from the start. 👅

News of Neon District’s latest puzzle is here to sooth the souls of the desperate Degens actively trawling ND’s social channels.

ND announces their new AI help desk with a built in puzzle.

On Friday September 7th, Neon District published two consecutive tweets on their twitter account. The first was an introduction to the new AI help desk. The second went out around an hour later, as the team announced a new puzzle embedded in the “helpful” AI.

COG1347–1 is an AI help desk, accessed via Neon District’s website. It is designed to communicate with users, implementing elements of machine learning. Interactive experiences with the apparently bipolar bot can be hilarious, exciting, frustrating, and even spooky, all in the space of minutes.

It appears to have 5 “system errors” initially present, and after the tweets coming from Neon District, one can assume these errors exist for the purpose of the puzzle. Identifying the 5 system errors and resolving them, or decrypting the information associated with them, could play a big part in solving the puzzle or the first section of what could be a multilevel challenge.

While it remains unclear exactly what the prize will be, at the time of writing, if past puzzles are anything to go by, it’s likely to be something highly coveted. Seasoned Solvers, Degen Dabblers, and Puzzle-Virgins alike are all invited to head over to https://neondistrict.io/helpdesk and try to beat the bot!

Further reading on the lead-up to COG1347–1

An eclectic group of solvers, art geeks, and gamers visit Neon District’s social channels regularly, hoping for some puzzle-punishment or a glimpse at any new art and gameplay from the upcoming RPG. Recently, a treat was released including all of the above.

The Neon District Cinematic Trailer.

On August 24th, Neon District’s cinematic trailer was released. Solvers immediately went to work trying to obtain any relevant information they could from the video, suspecting there may be some form of puzzle or trailhead incorporated into it.

With the Blockade Games crew behind Neon District consisting of notorious puzzle artists and creators, YT, Diego Rodriguez, and Ben Heidorn, of course there was going to be more to the video than first meets the eye.

On August 29th, with no public findings presented by solvers from the trailer after 5 days of its release, Neon District tweeted a small segment of the video as a hint that some important information was contained therein.

Neon District drops a hint, highlighting the binary in their Trailer.

Within two hours of the hint being released, the team at ARG Solving Station (ARGSS) posted their findings on Ethereum’s subreddit, showing that they had decrypted the binary and identified how it could be used; “Taking another look at it, we discovered that the dark green binary had data in it.” ARGSS then tweeted a screenshot showing the results received when loading the code extracted from the binary into the Neon District Terminal Window. (The Neon District Terminal Window contains a separate unsolved ND puzzle, leading to an unclaimed 15 ETH prize. To start:⬆️️️⬆️️️⬇️⬇️⬅️➡️⬅️➡️BA)

Information extracted from the binary, by ARGSS, leads solvers to a new clue.

With the information returned by the Terminal Window, ARGSS pointed out the likelihood of a new Neon District puzzle on the way, possibly set to arrive on 9/7/2018. And as suspected, just in time for solvers to cancel any plans for the weekend ahead, the team at Neon District revealed COG1347–1. (COG1347–1 was brought to life by ND’s creative minds; YT, Diego Rodriguez, Ben Heidorn and Daniel Goode)

More from Blockade Games & Neon District

Writer’s note.

I can only get this “helpful” AI to quote cartoons to me, so far!

Its seems like my puzzle solving skills are doomed to be sub-par.

Sure, I’ve made its yellow eyes change colors, amber, red and green.

Oh, and then there’s the pair of strange errors and scary GIFs I’ve seen.

But it’s probably time for me to F#ck off now… I need help, I mean. 😅

I must be one of those “Degen Dabblers”. Yep, the worst there’s ever been!

I nearly wet my pants when I saw this one!

Boohoo!

Chris Tannahill — Writer @ Blockade Games