Playing A Game Cypher (2018) PC

I play different puzzle games for different reasons. Some, like a picross game, are relaxing ways to unwind. Some, like Portal 2 or Antichamber, are fun to learn and explore -- as a journey of understanding the designers' ideas. And some, like SpaceChem or TIS-100, humble me because they make me feel like a complete idiot.

Cypher is in that last category. It really makes me feel stupid. And I love it.

Surprising, at least to me, considering its developer is known for small and relatively-simple puzzlers like Hexcells. Cypher is a huge step up in terms of complexity: after spending a few hours with it, I legitimately believe that three-letter-agency cryptographers might respect these puzzles. Forget about my praise for Nonogram's in-game hints -- Cypher is praiseworthy because you need a pencil and paper to work these guys out.

And it's a step up in production quality, too. Strangely it still uses the default Unity taskbar icon... but the minimalist 3D world, and soft piano soundtrack, form a fantastically soothing library-like aesthetic around these hard-as-shit crypto puzzles.

Zach Barth and Jonathan Blow have a new peer in my esteem of puzzle-creators.

Progress: 039%

Rating: Good