Candy Cane Conundrum
Station Build Specifications

Total Stations: 8

Shared Components (all stations):

• Giant illuminated candy cane tube with controllable LEDs
• LCD display (20×4)
• Arduino Mega 2560 controller
• Button panel (3, 4, or 5 buttons)
• Power supply
• Passive buzzer

3-Button Panel (Intro + Easy)

Stations: 3 total (1 Intro + 2 Easy)

Requirements:

• 3 physical push buttons with LED backlighting
• Each button labeled with color name
• LED colors: RED, GREEN, BLUE
• Tactile feedback when pressed
• Buttons must light up individually
• Durable for 30 shows of repeated pressing

4-Button Panel (Medium)

Stations: 3 total

Requirements:

• 4 physical push buttons with LED backlighting
• Each button labeled with color name
• LED colors: RED, GREEN, BLUE, YELLOW
• Tactile feedback when pressed
• Buttons must light up individually
• Durable for 30 shows of repeated pressing

5-Button Panel (Hard)

Stations: 2 total

Requirements:

• 5 physical push buttons with LED backlighting
• Each button labeled with color name
• LED colors: RED, GREEN, BLUE, YELLOW, SILVER (white)
• Tactile feedback when pressed
• Buttons must light up individually
• Durable for 30 shows of repeated pressing

Dimensions (all panels):

• Button size: 2-3 inches diameter
• Panel layout: Single horizontal row
• Button spacing: 1-2 inches between buttons

INTRO - Whack-a-Mole

• No Phase 1 riddle - straight to gameplay
• Single button lights up → player presses it
• Next button lights up → repeat
• Gets slightly faster over time
• No memory required - pure reaction
• Score = total successful hits before miss

EASY - Standard Simon

• Phase 1: Easy riddle → solution: GREEN → BLUE → RED
• Phase 2: Classic cumulative Simon
• Round 1: 1 button → repeat
• Round 2: previous + 1 new → repeat both
• Slow, forgiving tempo
• Score = highest round reached

MEDIUM - Count Simon

• Phase 1: Medium riddle → solution: RED → YELLOW → WHITE → BLUE
• Phase 2: Button flashes X times, press X times
• Cumulative (remember all previous buttons + counts)
• Example: GREEN ×2, then RED ×3, then BLUE ×1...
• Score = highest round reached

HARD - Rhythm Simon

• Phase 1: Hard riddle → solution: BLUE → RED → SILVER → GREEN → YELLOW
• Phase 2: Must match button order AND timing
• Wrong rhythm = fail (even if order correct)
• Tolerance window tightens as rounds increase
• Score = highest round reached

All Stations Need:

• Arduino Mega 2560
• DMX shield for candy cane tube control
• Sufficient I/O pins for:
  • 3-button: 3 button inputs + 3 button LEDs + DMX + LCD + buzzer
  • 4-button: 4 button inputs + 4 button LEDs + DMX + LCD + buzzer
  • 5-button: 5 button inputs + 5 button LEDs + DMX + LCD + buzzer

Memory Requirements:

• Intro: Minimal (no sequence storage)
• Easy: Store growing sequence (standard Simon)
• Medium: Store sequence + counts per button
• Hard: Store sequence + timing gaps

Power Supply:

• 5V 3-5A supply per station
• Adequate for button LEDs, LCD, buzzer, candy cane tube

Available: 8 of each color = 40 buttons total

Usage:

3-button stations already built: 3 total

• Reprogram 1 as Intro (whack-a-mole mode)
• Keep 2 as Easy (standard Simon mode)

4-button stations to build: 3 total (Medium - Count Simon)

5-button stations to build: 2 total (Hard - Rhythm Simon)

All stations:

• All buttons register presses correctly
• All button LEDs light up individually
• LCD displays text correctly
• Candy cane tube shows green (success) and red (failure)
• Buzzer plays tones
• Auto-reset after game ends

Per-tier testing:

• Intro: Buttons light randomly, timeout works, speed increases
• Easy: Phase 1 validation, Simon sequence grows correctly
• Medium: Flash counts display correctly, count validation works
• Hard: Timing gaps vary, rhythm tolerance validation works