Come to the conference; get a game

The OpenSSL Foundation recently published a game. It’s called Post Quantum Trails and it simulates the process of researching and developing a post-quantum cryptographic algorithm before Q-Day. But where can you get a copy?

Last month the Foundation management team got our sets in Dublin. Attendees at the Future Cryptography Conference 2026, organized by our co-publisher, Cybernetica, could claim a copy. The next opportunity is the OpenSSL Conference this October in Prague. Everyone who attends will receive a voucher to pick up the game in a room set aside for the Foundation.

Last year, Jelizaveta Vakarjuk, one of the game’s designers, showed off prototypes at the OpenSSL Conference. After her talk with Petr Muzikant, a security engineer at Cybernetica, the audience was invited to tables up front to play a few turns of the game. For a technology-heavy conference, it was a wonderful change of pace that helped people to connect with one another.

That’s an important part of why we published the game. To quote from the talk:

Adoption of new technology is not just about maths – it is about people, processes, and culture.—Jelizaveta Vakarjuk

This year the game designers will be available in the Foundation room to teach and demonstrate the game. We hope everyone will experience it at the conference and take a copy home to play with friends, family and colleagues who might not know much about cryptography and challenges of keeping up with technological changes.

• If you need some help with the cost of attending the conference, the Foundation has some scholarships remaining. Apply now!
• I recorded an unboxing video for the game. If you don’t know, this is a common trope for board games in which fans show off the game components.
• To learn more about post-quantum cryptography and the OpenSSL Library, see the Education section of our site.