Show HN: 1D-Pong Game at 39C3

Show HN lit up with a tiny sensation: a one‑dimensional Pong played on a single glowing strip at the 39th Chaos Communication Congress (39C3)—a big hacker meet‑up. It’s just two buttons and a line of lights, but the crowd didn’t roll their eyes; they fell in love. Nostalgia poured in as slcryputer shouted out road‑trip classic Zap by Calico, calling it “Surprisingly fun for how simple it is.” Mechanics nerds swooned over the twist—hit early, the ball speeds up—with freenerd praising the “speed‑up‑the‑further‑back‑you‑hit” sauce.

Then the thread turned into a museum tour. rahimnathwani dropped the Exploratorium’s minimalist legend Line Wobbler and its open‑source clone TWANG, while hxorr flexed a 24‑hour one‑dimensional roguelike sprint—proof that simple can be seriously fun. The strongest opinions? Pure delight at how much game you can pack into one line, and the humble‑brag vibe of “I’ve been into 1D games forever.”

The humor was in the premise: Pong, but make it a light strip. Folks swapped references, plotted weekend builds, and celebrated the “press‑at‑the‑perfect‑moment” rhythm. With dynamic difficulty, flashy attract‑mode animations, and easy DIY parts, this tiny GitHub repo punched way above its pixel weight—and won bragging rights at 39C3.