The Reserve

Start at 1 of 8 barrels → the player's key plays a false memory that names Bottle 1 → check Bottle 1 at a wine bottle room station (gives a seller record and an investigation sheet) → the sheet leads to three objects in the Drawing Room; the right one, checked with Bottle 1, names Bottle 2 → Bottles 1 + 2 at a wine bottle room station name a Library book → an insert in the book identifies Bottle 3 → all 3 bottles back on the original barrel → the real memory.

8 separate barrel games, intentionally NOT interconnected: no central computer decides anything during play, no station talks to another, and tags carry identity, never progress. Every station judges only the tags on its own readers against its own built-in answer table.

One full loop, from the patron's point of view, alongside what the hardware is actually checking at each stop. Useful for talking through the whole game with Brett in one pass.

1. Barrel — opening videoType A Sets their key on their barrel. A false memory plays, ending on a clue pointing to a specific wine bottle. Key_Player_N on any of the 3 readers → BrightSign plays that barrel's clue video
2. Wine bottle room station — Bottle 1Type B Finds Bottle 1, brings it with their key to any of the 3 stations. Correct: a seller record code; they take the investigation sheet with that code. key + Bottle 1 (same player) → audio clip; wrong → "not correct" clip + 10 s lockout
3. Drawing Room — Bottle 1 + objectType C The investigation sheet describes three objects hidden in the red Drawing Room. The player picks the one they think is right and sets its small blue tag on one pad, their bottle on the other. Correct: the station names Bottle 2. Bottle 1 + DroomObj_correct (same player) → clip; wrong object → clip + 10 s lockout (bottle can stay down)
4. Wine bottle room station — Bottles 1 + 2Type B Returns to any station with Bottle 1 and Bottle 2 together — Bottle 2 alone doesn't do anything. Bottle 1 + Bottle 2 (unordered) → clip naming a Library book
5. Library — physical clueNo electronics An insert in the named Library book identifies Bottle 3. No NFC, no station — just a printed clue.
6. Barrel — final validationType A Brings all 3 bottles home to their original barrel and sets them in the three holes. Bottle 1 + 2 + 3 (unordered) → real memory video; 3 tags with a wrong one → wrong-bottle video

Why one validator can serve all 8 stories

This is the part that isn't obvious watching a patron play — every wine bottle room station and every Drawing Room station runs the exact same firmware, for every story. No station is wired to "Game 4" specifically. Every tag says which player it belongs to (Winebottle_1 Player_4), the station holds the answers for all eight stories, and it plays that player's clip from that player's SD folder. Only the barrels are numbered: each barrel's build knows its own story.

Which physical bottle carries which tag is in the staff answer key, not on this page.

Interchangeable by design: any wine bottle room station ↔ any other, any Drawing Room station ↔ any other. Barrels share one firmware; only the barrel number differs per build.

All builds are stored in Understudy's firmware registry and flashed from there. Each type holds the answers for all eight stories; barrel builds differ only in their barrel number.

What changed recently

• Reader reliability (all stations): each reader's field turns on only while it is read, readers are retried at boot, and one misread can't cause a lockout. Readers read NTAG stickers and blue MIFARE Classic fobs (barrels 0.4.13, Drawing Room 0.8.0).
• Barrel wrong-bottle video plays only when all three pads hold a tag and one is wrong (0.4.10), because that video names the final bottle.
• Staff tags and button (barrels 0.4.8-0.4.12, validator 0.5.1, Drawing Room 0.8.2): see Game logic.
• ESP32 barrel port (0.5.0 / 0.5.1): same game; BrightSign driven over serial (PLAY / STRT / TRIG / FEND, the Séance method) so the station knows a clip really started and ended; readers at 400 kHz SPI; per-reader receiver gain (GAIN) and a read-rate meter (RANGE) over USB, because some readers fail with a tag too close.

Barrel (×8)

Wine bottle room station (×3)

Drawing Room station

Complete tech flow

Barrel:             key → false memory (names Bottle 1)
Wine bottle room:   key + Bottle 1 → seller record → investigation sheet
Drawing Room:       Bottle 1 + chosen object → names Bottle 2
Wine bottle room:   Bottle 1 + Bottle 2 → names a Library book
Library:            book insert (Bottle 3) — no electronics
Barrel:             Bottle 1 + 2 + 3 → real memory (or wrong-bottle video)

Each station has fixed reader positions (barrel 3, stations 2), all on one SPI bus with one chip-select wire per reader, no multiplexer. Mega barrels pulse three BrightSign GPIO inputs (clue / incorrect / final). The ESP32 port wires the BrightSign GPIO header as a serial port instead (pins 3 and 11, plus ground) and needs a new autorun.brs on the barrel card. ESP32 barrel pinout with a board diagram: barrel-esp32-wiring.html. Full pin tables are in each firmware's folder under platform/tools/.

Station roles

• Barrel: its own player's key on any reader → clue video. Three correct bottles (any order) → final video, then it re-arms once the bottles are lifted. All three pads holding tags with one wrong → wrong-bottle video. A stray single tag does nothing.
• Wine bottle room station: phase 1 = key + Bottle 1; phase 2 = Bottle 1 + Bottle 2. Plays that player's correct or "not correct" clip. Never checks Bottle 3.
• Drawing Room station: judges only when both pads hold a tag: Bottle 1 + an object. One correct object per story; the other two are wrong. The bottle can stay down while objects are swapped.
• Library: printed book inserts for Bottle 3 — no electronics.

10-second lockout

On a wrong answer: the "not correct" clip, no next clue, the station ignores tags for 10 s, then it is ready again. A wrong label has to read several times in a row first, so one misread can't lock it.

Staff tags (for checks and rescues)

Tag labels

Key_Player_N                     player's key
Winebottle_1 Player_N … _3       the three bottles (note the space before "Player")
DroomObj_correct Player_N        the right Drawing Room object
DroomObj_incorrect Player_N      both wrong objects

Barrel SD (one per barrel):  00_clue (false memory) · 01_standby ("BARREL N" loop)
                             02_incorrect (wrong bottle) · 03_final (real memory)
Station SD (same layout on every station card):
  21-28/001-004.mp3          wine bottle room: phase 1 correct / not, phase 2 correct / not
  31-38/001-002.mp3          Drawing Room: object correct / not

24 story videos (3 per barrel) are listed in content/barrel-video-manifest.md. The 48 station clips are transcribed in content/station-audio-script-2026-10-09-coachman.md; the current set is 2026-10-09-coachman (stories 1 and 3 now say "the Coachman's Guide to Roads", matching the printed book). Understudy writes both kinds of SD card.

Understudy doesn't run the game; it supports it:

• Tag station (tablet + USB NFC reader): pick an item, tap as many tags as needed; it writes the label, names each Drawing Room object, and counts copies per item.
• Firmware registry: the builds above, flashed to a station over USB.
• SD cards: makes barrel cards and station cards, or remakes any card as any barrel or station.

1. Barrels to the ESP32 + serial BrightSign firmware (0.5.x): first bench test, then tune each reader's gain. A 3D-printed reader holder with a set gap under each bottle hole is in design.
2. Key bottle labels for Brett: clear bottles labelled plainly "BARREL N" + the story name (not a puzzle).
3. A "blue tag = scan it" line for the investigation sheets or a card at the Drawing Room station (draft in content/blue-tags-sheet-draft.md).
4. Still missing from Brett: one investigation sheet's text and the Library insert texts.
5. Confirm every wine bottle room station carries the 2026-10-09-coachman card and current firmware.