This WarGames-Inspired Clock Cracks Nuclear Missile Launch Codes

1983’s WarGames is one of the few good movies about hacking. That’s because it has a great plot, decent acting, and doesn’t take too many liberties when it comes to the actual hacking. David Lightman, the protagonist portrayed by Mathew Broderick, even does his hacking on a classic IMSAI 8080 computer. During the climax of the movie, the computer antagonist begins cracking the United States’ nuclear missile launch codes in order to initiate a “retaliatory” attack against the Soviet Union. Unexpected Maker has built a clock that was inspired by that sequence, and it looks fantastic.

In the movie, David Lightman is a hacker who is dialing numbers in Sunnyvale, CA from his IMSAI 8080 in the hopes of coming across an unreleased computer game. He inadvertently dials a computer called WOPR (War Operation Plan Response), which is located in the United States Air Force’s Cheyenne Mountain Complex. WOPR was originally programmed to predict the potential outcomes of nuclear war, but is now used to actually launch nuclear missiles without the need for human intervention. Lightman, thinking he has found a video game, decides to “play” as the Soviet Union. In doing so, he makes WOPR believe that the Soviet Union has actually launched nuclear missiles and that it needs to retaliate.

In the climatic final scene of the movie, WOPR is rolling through the digits of the nuclear missile launch codes in to crack them through brute force. Unexpected Maker’s clock has a mode that replicates that visual effect across six two-digit seven-segment displays. It can, of course, also show the time. It’s controlled by a TinyPICO ESP32 board, which was designed by Unexpected Maker himself. The seven-segment displays are from Adafruit, and have built-in controllers that make them easier to use. Sound effects are played through a TinyPICO audio shield. All of the components are soldered on a custom PCB, and housed within an enclosure made from 3D-printed and laser-cut parts. There are also provisions to add edge-lit acrylic pieces to indicate which level of DEFCON you’re at. The time is updated automatically via WiFi, so it will always be accurate.

WarGames fans wishing to recreate Unexpected Maker's project are in luck. You can now pick up a kit on Tindie.