Cypher

About

Cypher is a single-player puzzle game focused on cryptography, where players explore a museum and learn about the history of encryption, from simple substitution ciphers to the Enigma machine. With an outstanding soundtrack, players must decipher over 40 challenging puzzles using a pen and paper, expecting to spend around 7 hours to beat the game. This intellectual journey through the world of codes and ciphers offers a unique and engaging experience for puzzle enthusiasts.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

90%

Audience ScoreBased on 652 reviews

music46 positive mentions

story6 negative mentions

The game offers a unique and educational experience, introducing players to various cryptographic techniques and their history.
The minimalist design and soothing classical music create a calming atmosphere that enhances the puzzle-solving experience.
Puzzles are challenging and rewarding, providing a sense of accomplishment when solved, especially for those who enjoy mental challenges.

The game can be extremely difficult, often requiring outside research and prior knowledge of cryptography, which may frustrate casual players.
Hints are limited to one per puzzle and can be unhelpful, making it hard to progress without additional resources.
The lack of an in-game UI for solving puzzles means players must rely on pen and paper, which can be cumbersome and detracts from the gaming experience.

music
76 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
61%
35%
4%
The music in the game is predominantly calming classical pieces, including works by Beethoven, Chopin, and Debussy, which enhance the minimalist and museum-like atmosphere. While many players appreciate the soothing and immersive quality of the soundtrack, some note that the limited number of tracks can lead to repetitiveness. Overall, the music is praised for its ability to create a relaxing backdrop that complements the puzzle-solving experience.
- “I really like the minimalist design and feel that it fits perfectly with the excellent choice of calming classical music.”
- “The restful and reflective piano music of Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and others perfectly complements the overall museum ambience of the game while the wall displays in the virtual museum provide interesting historical notes and clues to some of the puzzles.”
- “This game is absolutely amazing, the graphics are so clean and nice and the music is soothing but the real amazing thing about this game is the puzzles.”
- “Unfortunately, the game does not have its own unique music.”
- “The background music list is very short; the music repeats too frequently.”
- “The only thing that I thought made the experience better was the relaxing classical music and being able to walk around if you're frustrated or need to look away for a bit.”
graphics
64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
76%
5%
The graphics of the game are characterized by a minimalistic and clean aesthetic, which complements its cryptographic themes and enhances the overall calming experience. Players appreciate the soothing music and the museum-like presentation of puzzles, although some find the simplicity may not appeal to everyone. Overall, the visuals are polished and well-executed, creating a serene environment for engaging with challenging puzzles.
- “Although the fact that this is a game does boost it from an aesthetic perspective - the presentation as pristine museum exhibits with classical piano melodies certainly lends itself to a certain mood.”
- “This game is absolutely amazing, the graphics are so clean and nice and the music is soothing but the real amazing thing about this game is the puzzles.”
- “Graphics are minimalistic, but it feels appropriate for the content.”
- “Cypher is highly polished graphically, but incredibly scant both in terms of information on cryptography and actual puzzles.”
- “It's a maxim of game design that visuals cannot make up for weak play.”
- “If you like cracking coded messages, then Cypher's minimalist graphics won't bother you one bit.”
gameplay
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
57%
10%
The gameplay in Cypher primarily revolves around solving cryptographic puzzles, which can be intellectually stimulating but often reduces to simply typing in solutions after researching them online. While the game effectively teaches the mechanics of various ciphers and offers a rich historical context, the lack of interactive gameplay elements may leave some players feeling that it is more of a puzzle collection than a fully engaging experience. Overall, enjoyment of the gameplay largely depends on one's interest in cryptography and willingness to engage with the puzzles.
- “Cypher is, both nominally and mechanically, a video game about cryptography.”
- “I really liked everything from the gameplay, the problems, the stuff that you learn, and even the music.”
- “Teaches you the different mechanics of deciphering codes super well.”
- “After the monoalphabetic cipher (the 2nd of the 6 subsets), gameplay was basically reduced to googling the decrypted text and typing it into the game.”
- “You just read the text, grab a notepad and type in the answer when you're done, even at the enigma and 'challenge' (read: random puzzles without introduction about their mechanics, except the devs text to just google it) puzzles.”
- “The three enigma puzzles are just the very, very simple examples of mechanics of the enigma machine itself.”
story
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
64%
27%
The game's story aspect is largely criticized, with many users noting that it lacks a substantial narrative, focusing instead on solving ciphers. While some players appreciate the challenge and intelligence of the gameplay, they agree that the absence of a story makes it feel incomplete, suggesting it may be better suited for those specifically interested in cryptography rather than traditional gaming experiences.
- “I never thought there was an advanced section, and I sure as hell didn't expect there to be some story and data about every single type of cypher presented in the game.”
- “If you need action or a story, well... buy this game anyway and see if there's more to life than FPS.”
- “I think it would be better on sale, and all you do is solve ciphers, so there is not much story or anything else to it.”
- “But unless your mission in life is to marry cryptography, have its baby, and then name that baby fijz 0110 and dare people to figure out what its name is, then you are going to waste your money here.”
- “You often find games costing upwards of fifty dollars dedicated to giving an experience, a story, or simply a competitive environment.”
humor
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is polarizing; while some players find it hilarious, others feel that it is too sophisticated or abstract to be funny. Overall, opinions vary significantly, with a notable portion of players appreciating the comedic elements.
- “Hilarious game”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, especially for those lacking programming skills, as it can require significant effort to solve challenges like substitution ciphers. However, the inclusion of relaxing classical music enhances the experience, making the grinding feel more enjoyable and sophisticated. Overall, while grinding is necessary, it can be a mixed experience depending on the player's background and approach.
- “I wrote some code to help me solve the substitution ciphers faster and had an okay time, but solving those without programming knowledge seems like it would be extremely tedious.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “Oh, plus, there's relaxing classical music which offers a sort of lubrication to those grinding gears in your brain and adds to the already very classy feel of the setting.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a strong emotional connection to the game, highlighting its ability to evoke feelings of joy and accomplishment through its puzzles. However, some mention the presence of sensitive subject matter that can lead to sadness, indicating a complex emotional experience overall. Despite these mixed feelings, the game's charm and engaging challenges leave a lasting positive impression.
- “This game is amazing! I'm in love with it, and all the puzzles made me feel so smart even though I am actually really dumb.”
- “<3 If only there wasn't some sensitive subject matter that made me feel sad. I mean, there wasn't, but that's okay... but still, wow!”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
25%
25%
The atmosphere of the game is characterized by a minimalistic and surreal dreamlike quality, enhanced by pleasant music. It effectively creates an other-worldly experience that resonates with fans of similar projects, although familiarity with cryptograms may enhance the experience for some players.
- “I love the minimalistic and surreal dreamlike atmosphere, and the music is very nice.”
- “If you don't regularly do the cryptograms in the papers, you may still like Cypher because it creates that other-worldly atmosphere so many of us love (like we did with Rodinia Project).”
- “But, if you don't regularly do the cryptograms in the papers, you may still like Cypher because it creates that other-worldly atmosphere so many of us love (like we did with Rodinia Project).”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is well-optimized, running smoothly without any reported bugs or logical errors in the puzzle design, contributing to a seamless gameplay experience.
- “The game runs smoothly, and I haven't run into any bugs or found any logical errors or mistakes with the puzzle design.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
Users generally express a concern regarding the game's replayability, noting a perceived lack of incentives or content that would encourage them to play through the game multiple times.
- “There is a seeming lack of replayability.”
- “The game suffers from a seeming lack of replayability.”
- “I found a seeming lack of replayability in the overall experience.”

Buy Cypher

Cypher
$4.99
See offer on Steam

8h Median play time

6h Average play time

3-9h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs

Videos

89%25.4kreviews

Baba Is You

2019

Casual Puzzle

+11

82%2.2kreviews

Human Resource Machine

2015

Casual Simulation

+13

84%7.3kreviews

WitCup 12

2023

Puzzle

92%1.1kreviews

TEST TEST TEST

2024

Action

73%291reviews

First Class Escape: The Train of Thought

2021

Action

90%9.6kreviews

Antichamber

2013

Simulation

97%4.7kreviews

TIS-100

2015

Simulation

77%957reviews

Type:Rider

2013

Casual Action Adventure

+11

60%389reviews

Doors

2016

Arcade Puzzle

85%1.3kreviews

Missing Translation

2015

Casual Puzzle

Cypher

Platforms

About

Buy Cypher

Cypher

Videos

Games Like Cypher

Baba Is You

Human Resource Machine

WitCup 12

TEST TEST TEST

First Class Escape: The Train of Thought

Antichamber

TIS-100

Type:Rider

Doors

Missing Translation