Help
Which devices work how
- A computer (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Open the file you downloaded in your web browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari). You can make and play puzzles without the internet.
- An Android phone or tablet
- Open the file from your Downloads with Chrome. It works offline, just like on a computer.
- An iPhone or iPad
- Apple doesn't let saved puzzle files run on iPhones and iPads, so they use this website instead. To make a puzzle, go to the address in the "Read me first" guide that came with your download and enter your unlock code. To play a puzzle, just tap its link.
How to send a puzzle
When you seal a puzzle you can send it in two ways.
- As a file
- Send the sealed file by email, a messaging app or a USB stick. It opens on computers and Android phones, with no internet needed.
- As a link
- Tap "Copy play link" and paste it into a message. The link opens on any phone or computer, iPhones included. It needs the internet only to load the page. Puzzles with photos can only be sent as a file: photos make a link far too long.
Cipher Forge handouts are printed or saved as PDFs. For players with phones, "Copy decoder link" sends them the on-screen decoder.
Privacy
Your puzzle never reaches our server. In a play link, the puzzle travels after the # sign, and web browsers never send that part to a website. The page loads, then everything happens on the phone.
The answers and the message are locked inside the puzzle, and only the right answers open them.
No tracking, no adverts, no account. This site sets a cookie only when you enter an unlock code, to remember that you did.
Your Daily Cipher streak is kept on your own device.
How to get updates
When your file is online, it checks this website for a newer version. It asks for one small list and sends nothing about you. If there is a new version, a small notice says "A new version is available". Tap it, enter your unlock code, and the new version downloads as a new file next to the old one. Nothing is overwritten, and puzzles you already sent keep working.
Offline, the file simply works as before.
Your unlock code
Your unlock code is printed in the "Read me first" guide that came with your download. You need it to make puzzles on this website (on an iPhone, say) and to download updates. Keep it to yourself.