diff --git a/2016/day11/main.go b/2016/day11/main.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3753400
--- /dev/null
+++ b/2016/day11/main.go
@@ -0,0 +1,284 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/alexchao26/advent-of-code-go/util"
+)
+
+func main() {
+	var part int
+	flag.IntVar(&part, "part", 1, "part 1 or 2")
+	flag.Parse()
+	fmt.Println("Running part", part)
+
+	ans := rtgHellDay(util.ReadFile("./input.txt"), part)
+	fmt.Println("Output:", ans)
+}
+
+func rtgHellDay(input string, part int) int {
+	currentState := newInitialState(input)
+
+	if part == 2 {
+		currentState.floors[0] = append(currentState.floors[0],
+			halves{isChip: false, material: "elerium"},
+			halves{isChip: true, material: "elerium"},
+			halves{isChip: false, material: "dilithium"},
+			halves{isChip: true, material: "dilithium"},
+		)
+	}
+
+	queue := []state{currentState}
+	prevStates := map[string]bool{}
+	for len(queue) > 0 {
+		front := queue[0]
+		queue = queue[1:]
+
+		if front.isDone() {
+			return front.steps
+		}
+
+		// do not visit previous states
+		// hashKey method does not differentiate material types because
+		// they are effectively the same
+		hash := front.hashKey()
+		if prevStates[hash] {
+			continue
+		}
+		prevStates[hash] = true
+
+		nextStates := front.getNextStates()
+		queue = append(queue, nextStates...)
+	}
+
+	return -1
+}
+
+// halves are either a chip or generator
+type halves struct {
+	isChip   bool // false if is generator
+	material string
+}
+
+// for easier debugging
+func (t halves) String() string {
+	tType := " generator"
+	if t.isChip {
+		tType = " microchip"
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprint(t.material, tType)
+}
+
+// state of the puzzle with a bunch of methods for getting next states, checking
+// validity of a state, if it represents a finish state...
+type state struct {
+	floors        [4][]halves
+	elevatorLevel int
+	steps         int
+}
+
+// parsing the input file, this probably would've been easier to do manually...
+func newInitialState(input string) state {
+	s := state{}
+
+	for lineIndex, line := range strings.Split(input, "\n") {
+		// The first floor contains a promethium generator and a promethium-compatible microchip.
+		parts := strings.Split(line, " ")
+		// trim commas and periods, this input is pretty inconsistent
+		for i, v := range parts {
+			parts[i] = strings.Trim(v, ",.")
+		}
+
+		// iterate through the words and if generator or microchip is found
+		// then parse the previous word for the material type
+		for i, word := range parts {
+			if word == "generator" {
+				material := parts[i-1]
+				s.floors[lineIndex] = append(s.floors[lineIndex], halves{
+					isChip:   false,
+					material: material,
+				})
+			} else if word == "microchip" {
+				// also parse off the "-compatible" portion
+				material := parts[i-1][:strings.Index(parts[i-1], "-comp")]
+				s.floors[lineIndex] = append(s.floors[lineIndex], halves{
+					isChip:   true,
+					material: material,
+				})
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return s
+}
+
+// for printability & debugging
+func (s state) String() string {
+	var sb strings.Builder
+	fmt.Fprintf(&sb, "Level %d x Steps %d\n", s.elevatorLevel, s.steps)
+	for i, f := range s.floors {
+		fmt.Fprintf(&sb, "  %d: %v\n", i, f)
+	}
+	return sb.String()
+}
+
+// Generates a hash for this state that is comparable, to not repeat states.
+// I spent over an hour figuring out that I left out the elevator level, which
+// is a key component of the state hash
+func (s state) hashKey() string {
+	// get the indices for each generator and chip
+	mapGenToIndex := map[string]int{}
+	mapChipToIndex := map[string]int{}
+	for flIndex, fl := range s.floors {
+		for _, half := range fl {
+			if half.isChip {
+				mapChipToIndex[half.material] = flIndex
+			} else {
+				mapGenToIndex[half.material] = flIndex
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	// then put that into slice form so it ignores the material types
+	// this is b/c the types don't really matter... e.g.
+	// 0: LithGen, LithChip      0: PluGen, PluChip
+	// 1: PluGen             ==  1: LithGen
+	// 2: PluChip                2: LithChip
+	var genChipPairs [][2]int
+	for material := range mapGenToIndex {
+		genChipPairs = append(genChipPairs, [2]int{
+			mapGenToIndex[material], mapChipToIndex[material],
+		})
+	}
+	// sort it
+	sort.Slice(genChipPairs, func(i, j int) bool {
+		if genChipPairs[i][0] != genChipPairs[j][0] {
+			return genChipPairs[i][0] < genChipPairs[j][0]
+		}
+		return genChipPairs[i][1] < genChipPairs[j][1]
+	})
+
+	// fmt.Sprint is my best friend for making hashes
+	return fmt.Sprint(s.elevatorLevel, genChipPairs)
+}
+
+func (s state) isValid() bool {
+	// check every level, I lost another hour here because I was only checking
+	// the active level, but moving some halves off a level could make an old
+	// level invalid
+	for i := range s.floors {
+		// make a hashmap of all the generators on this level
+		gensSeen := map[string]bool{}
+		for _, half := range s.floors[i] {
+			if !half.isChip {
+				gensSeen[half.material] = true
+			}
+		}
+		// if there are no gens on this level, it's safe
+		if len(gensSeen) == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		// there are generators, so if there is any chip that is not protected
+		// then it is an invalid level & thus an invalid state
+		for _, half := range s.floors[i] {
+			if half.isChip && !gensSeen[half.material] {
+				return false
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	// all chips protected, return true
+	return true
+}
+
+// is this the final state?
+func (s state) isDone() bool {
+	var lenSum int
+	for _, fl := range s.floors[:3] {
+		lenSum += len(fl)
+	}
+	return lenSum == 0
+}
+
+// get perms of INDICES that can be moved off of this level in the next perm
+// one or two things can be moved, this generates all perms of one or two
+// indices on the elevator's floor
+func (s state) getMovablePermIndices() [][]int {
+	var permsToMove [][]int
+
+	currentLevel := s.floors[s.elevatorLevel]
+	// get pairs first
+	for i := 0; i < len(currentLevel); i++ {
+		for j := i + 1; j < len(currentLevel); j++ {
+			permsToMove = append(permsToMove, []int{i, j})
+		}
+	}
+	// then get singles
+	for i := range currentLevel {
+		permsToMove = append(permsToMove, []int{i})
+	}
+	return permsToMove
+}
+
+// make a deep clone
+func (s state) clone() state {
+	cl := state{
+		elevatorLevel: s.elevatorLevel,
+		steps:         s.steps,
+	}
+	// slices are effectively reference types in go... they need to be cloned...
+	for i, fl := range s.floors {
+		cl.floors[i] = append([]halves{}, fl...)
+	}
+	return cl
+}
+
+// get all valid next states that can be reached from this state
+func (s state) getNextStates() []state {
+	var futureStates []state
+
+	// all combinations of indices that can be moved from this level
+	movablePermIndices := s.getMovablePermIndices()
+
+	// get diffs that the elevator can move in, i.e. don't let it move up from
+	// the top level, or down from level 0
+	var eleDiffs []int
+	if s.elevatorLevel < len(s.floors)-1 {
+		eleDiffs = append(eleDiffs, 1)
+	}
+	if s.elevatorLevel > 0 {
+		eleDiffs = append(eleDiffs, -1)
+	}
+
+	for _, eleDiff := range eleDiffs {
+		// for any elevator direction, iterate over moveable perms and make a
+		// clone that's modified with those halves moved to the target floor
+		for _, permIndices := range movablePermIndices {
+			cl := s.clone()
+			cl.elevatorLevel += eleDiff
+			cl.steps++ // increment steps
+			oldLevel := s.elevatorLevel
+			newLevel := cl.elevatorLevel
+
+			// move halves to the clone's active level
+			for _, index := range permIndices {
+				cl.floors[newLevel] = append(cl.floors[newLevel], cl.floors[oldLevel][index])
+			}
+			// remove halves from the current state's level (in the clone)
+			// this code is gross...
+			for in := len(permIndices) - 1; in >= 0; in-- {
+				cl.floors[oldLevel][permIndices[in]] = cl.floors[oldLevel][len(cl.floors[oldLevel])-1]
+				cl.floors[oldLevel] = cl.floors[oldLevel][:len(cl.floors[oldLevel])-1]
+			}
+			// add to final states if its valid
+			if cl.isValid() {
+				futureStates = append(futureStates, cl)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return futureStates
+}
diff --git a/2016/day11/main_test.go b/2016/day11/main_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..52a1072
--- /dev/null
+++ b/2016/day11/main_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/alexchao26/advent-of-code-go/util"
+)
+
+var example = `The first floor contains a hydrogen-compatible microchip and a lithium-compatible microchip.
+The second floor contains a hydrogen generator.
+The third floor contains a lithium generator.
+The fourth floor contains nothing relevant.`
+
+func Test_rtgHellDay(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name  string
+		input string
+		part  int
+		want  int
+	}{
+		{"part1 example", example, 1, 11},
+		{"part1 actual", util.ReadFile("input.txt"), 1, 33},
+		{"part2 actual", util.ReadFile("input.txt"), 2, 57},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if got := rtgHellDay(tt.input, tt.part); got != tt.want {
+				t.Errorf("rtgHellDay() = %v, want %v", got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}