Cypher (2018)

Developer: Matthew Brown
Platforms: Windows
Genres: Indie
Rating: 4.5 of 5, 942 player ratings
Typical playtime: about 3.5 hours
Where to get it: Steam

The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

You walk through a quiet museum, solving increasingly tricky cipher puzzles with pen and paper in hand.

puzzlechallengingeducationalfirst-personslowcerebralminimalistacademic

What players say

Players say Cypher is more of a cryptography textbook than a game, rewarding those willing to solve puzzles with pen and paper. Many find the difficulty spiky, with some puzzles solved quickly and others demanding hours due to obscure logic, and players are split on whether the hints help at all.

Screenshots

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More by Matthew Brown

This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.