Pictograms, dingbats, old-school emojis: they've had a few names - let's look at Rebus puzzles! What is a Rebus puzzle? Originating with heraldry and writers wanting to draw pictures instead of spelling out every word, today a rebus can make a fun little extra in an escape room. We have two main types: pictures for words, and words for words.…

Hello friends, this edition we are swapping back to something simple - substitution ciphers. A while back we looked at Symbol Based Ciphers specifically, but this time we look further what we can do with a whole range of ciphers in this style. What Is A Substitution Cipher? This is anything that is a straight and simple swap of one…

Hello escapers! This edition is going to focus on hiding messages in plain (and not so plain) sight! Basic, Easy, Tiny Acrostics Here is the most basic acrostic to hide a code in: That's our acrostic, reading straight down, just the first letter of each word. You could also have a telestitch, which is the last letter of each word:…

A true legend among codes, Morse may be both the most easily identifiable and easily disguisable codes around. This system of dots and dashes - or dits and dahs depending on your outlook - remains one of the most reliable and well-known systems of encoding information. Morse History Facts Morse code has played an incredible role in shaping the world…

Let's mix up the Code Column for this edition and go big. Look out mobile users! This is a step up from the more basic substitution ciphers we've looked at over the past year. Blaise de Vigenère developed this table (or square) using alternate alphabets to create coordinates for shifting letters into a code, one which needed insider knowledge to…

This edition we are looking at another type of grille, following on from our earlier article on the grilles developed by Richelieu and Cardano. Our variant this time was made by an Austrian cavalry officer back in 1880: Edouard Fleissner von Wostrowitz. Fortunately for us, this one has become known more simply as the 'turning grille'. Why? Get your paper…

At first this might seem a simple cipher, but taramnntigsiteogetidohniltl (14/13). Our rail fence system is one of the earliest methods of transposition, based on placing letters in a series of levels, or, imagining that they have been written up and down the rails on a fence. Let's have a look at a few quotes from this guy as examples…

Who's This Square? Old mate Polybius was a Greek born about 200BC, but the method he made famous has influenced more sophisticated systems to this day. Originally, old mate Polybius had intended this code to be used in conveying messages long distance by moving a flaming torch up and down in sequence, with the message passed from tower to distant…

Our next project is the Bacon Code. It's an older code, but it definitely still checks out. This episode's man with the plan is philosopher, statesman and "father of empiricism", Sir Francis Bacon. While most of our ciphers and codes (Morse, Pigpen, etc) are fairly secure, they are pretty obvious as being secret messages. Steganography seeks to hide the fact…

We're back to a substitution cipher in this edition, but one with a special twist. All my 1990s Microsoft Word users might see echoes of the Wingdings font (which isn't a bad place to start if you want inspiration for your own symbol creation), but this one goes back a lot further than that. The cipher system we are looking…

Grille A grille, also known as a cutout, is a great way to hide your message away in text that you know will be seen no matter what. We aren't going to try and hide this text, only our intended message. Prepare for arts and crafty codes! Our old French mate Cardinal Richelieu, is credited with coming up with method…

Here's a code that will put a spot of colour into your Escape Room experience! The Colour Dot cipher is a way to substitute letters of the alphabet for splashes of colour, via numbers used in easy sums that are then swapped out. It might not be a code that you have encountered before, but it is definitely one that…

For code makers and puzzle designers, sometimes it is not enough to use a single cipher. This isn’t even because today’s technologies can easily spot what kind of cipher is being used at any given time. It is also because many individual ciphers are so well-known and recognisable that even the average escape room player can instantly identify them. (You…

For a lot of casual code breaking enthusiasts, most ciphers are pretty recognisable. They often still use letters and a particular format (such as letter substitution). In fact, even something like a pigpen cipher can be easily identified once you know how the basic corners, squares and dots of its messages are actually made. But today, there are plenty of…