Cipher Safe
A code breaking game: read bolts and rings, then deduce the vault code.
About this game
Cipher Safe is a free code breaking game in your browser. Read gold bolts and hollow rings to deduce the secret code before your guesses run out. Twenty vaults add more dials, a lying clue from vault 11 and a Daily Safe with a streak.
Cipher Safe is a code breaking game about patient deduction. Each vault hides a secret combination, and every dial in it holds one symbol. You set your own dials, press OPEN SAFE, and the lock answers with a row of clues. A gold bolt means one of your symbols is right and sits on the right dial. A hollow ring means the symbol is in the code but on a different dial. The row never tells you which dial a clue belongs to, so each answer is a small puzzle of its own.
You only have a limited number of guesses, so every attempt counts. A good guess tests an idea and shrinks the list of possible codes. A bold guess risks a wasted turn for a chance at a quick win. Repeating an earlier guess is blocked with an "Already tried" message, so you never lose a turn by accident. A built-in notebook lets you strike symbols out as ruled out, and you can tap an earlier row to copy that guess back onto the dials.
The campaign has 20 vaults. The first one has three dials and four symbols, and the later ones grow to six dials and up to eight symbols. Some vaults allow the same symbol on more than one dial. The symbols come in three sets, Shapes, Digits and Glyphs, and each symbol is told apart by its form as well as its colour. From vault 11, one clue in the round is a lie. It is never the first clue and never the clue on a winning guess, and it is off by exactly one step. You can flag clues you doubt, and after the round the result screen shows which clue lied, or tells you there was no lie this time.
Each win earns up to three stars and a score that rewards finishing with guesses to spare, and winning a vault unlocks the next. A new Daily Safe is available every day, built from the UTC date so everyone gets the same puzzle, and it gets harder as the week goes on. Solve it on consecutive days to build a streak. If you get stuck, an optional hint can reveal and lock one dial when it is offered, though it lowers your score and caps your stars at two.
There is no timer, a round usually takes one to five minutes, and your progress is saved in your browser. Cipher Safe runs in the browser with nothing to download and no account to create, with mouse, keyboard or touch. It plays best in landscape on a phone.
How to play
- Press Play to start Vault 1, or choose Daily Safe for today's puzzle.
- Pick a dial, then place a symbol on it from the palette. Fill every dial with a symbol.
- Press OPEN SAFE. The lock answers with gold bolts (right symbol, right dial) and hollow rings (right symbol, wrong dial). Empty slots show a dim dot.
- Compare the clue with your earlier rows. Strike out symbols you have ruled out and flag any clue you suspect is wrong.
- Change your dials and try again until every dial is correct, or you run out of guesses.
- Open the safe to earn stars and unlock the next vault. If the vault jams, the code is shown and you can try again with a new code.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse | Touch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place symbol on selected dial | 1 to 9 (symbol index in the palette) | click palette symbol | tap palette symbol |
| Select dial | Left / Right (or Tab / Shift+Tab) | click dial | tap dial |
| Cycle selected dial | Up / Down | wheel over dial; click selected dial = next | swipe up / down on dial; tap selected dial = next |
| Clear selected dial | Backspace / Delete | right click dial | long press dial |
| Clear all | C | Clear button | Clear button |
| Open the safe (submit) | Enter / Space | OPEN SAFE button | OPEN SAFE button |
| Load a past guess | - | click symbols of a history row | tap symbols of a history row |
| Flag a clue as suspect | F (flags the latest clue; Shift+F the one above, and so on) | click LED area of a row | tap LED area of a row |
| Strike a palette symbol | X (toggles the symbol of the selected dial) | right click palette symbol | long press palette symbol |
| Reveal a dial (if offered) | H | Reveal button | Reveal button |
| Pause / resume | Esc or P | pause button | pause button |
| Mute | M | speaker button | speaker button |
| Result screen | Enter = primary button, Esc = menu | buttons | buttons |
Tips
- Treat your first guesses as questions, not attempts. Use symbols you have not tried to learn which ones are in the code at all.
- Before you press OPEN SAFE, check that your guess agrees with every clue you trust. A guess that contradicts the evidence wastes a turn.
- Strike out symbols as soon as a clue rules them out. A shorter palette makes the next guess easier.
- In liar vaults, look for a clue that clashes with the rest. Flag it and test your idea against the other clues without it.
- Typing the symbol numbers on the keyboard moves from dial to dial automatically, which makes testing ideas fast.
- Replay an earlier vault to improve your stars. Three stars need you to finish within the par shown for that vault.
Frequently asked questions
- What is Cipher Safe?
- It is a code breaking game where you guess a hidden combination of symbols and use the bolt and ring clues to work out the answer before you run out of guesses.
- What do the gold bolts and hollow rings mean?
- A gold bolt means a symbol is correct and on the correct dial. A hollow ring means the symbol is in the code but on a different dial. The clue row does not say which dial each one refers to.
- Can a clue really be false?
- Yes, from vault 11 on. Exactly one clue in the round is a lie. It is never the first clue or the winning guess, and it is wrong by only one step, so you can flag clues you doubt and check them against the others.
- How does the Daily Safe work?
- Each day has one puzzle, the same for everyone, based on the UTC date. You can try it as many times as you like, and solving it on consecutive days builds your streak.
- What happens if I run out of guesses?
- The vault jams and the code is revealed. Nothing is lost except that round, and in the campaign you can try again with a new code.
- Do I need to download anything, and does it work on a phone?
- No download or account is needed, and your progress is saved in your browser. It works with touch on a phone and is easiest to read when the phone is held sideways.