Welcome to Authentication Hell

Event: RubyConf 2026
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Date:

Every morning, millions of people start their work day by entering passwords and answering push notifications to gain access to the tools they need for their job.

In this talk, I will answer the question that no one is asking: what would a video game be like if all the mechanics revolved around authentication.

Authentication Hell is a browser-based game built around one of the most hated aspects of our daily lives: re-authentication. Each time you take damage during the game you lose more than just your health, you will have to re-authenticate.

This talk will cover the development of the game using DragonRuby, how to implement popular authentication mechanisms like passkeys and one time passwords, and will include a demo of the game.

You can check out the game at authenticationhell.com.