Encode

Want to be a spy when you grow up? Already grown up and looking to capture the thrill of spy shenanigans without the dangers of espionage? Encode is for you! Craft an encoded alphabet, write your secret message, and intercept messages from other spies to tell a story together!

A storytelling game, Encode offers variant rules and alternative play options to fit this game into your life. Check out all the options and find your favorite way to play!

When you're finished with your codes, I'd love to see your code and hear about your mission to save the world! Tell me all about it in the comments or @OpenStoryGames (Twitter).

This game includes a full-cover 8-page PDF plus cover, an 8-page print-friendly PDF with clear margins, Print-and-Play cards for all 26 glyphs, Alphabet Sheets for easy cipher tracking, and Message Grids to help line up letters, words, and glyphs.

Fun for All Ages!

Playtested by adults and kids, Encode is loved by all! With supplemental materials like the Alphabet Sheets and Message Grids, there plenty of ways to simplify things for kids while keeping the game interesting for their grownups. 

Kids call it exciting! Adults love the challenge of using as few clues as possible. What will you do with it?

Don't have a deck of cards? Use the Print-and-Play cards to make your own glyph decks. It's recommended you print these on cardstock or other durable paper.

Building Skills

• Fine-motor and handwriting. In addition to hand-writing a message in plaintext, players work on fine-motor skills to reproduce the symbols in their encoded alphabet.
• Work from a List. Using the alphabet that you generate, each player must encode their message by locating and copying the proper symbol for each letter in their message.
• Problem Solving and Deduction. There are clues along the way, but players must each solve the message they intercepted without having a full alphabet. Since every player's alphabet is generated uniquely, you'll have to piece the code together from scratch.
• Phonics and Spelling. Knowing how words fit together can help solve these puzzles! Clues to help young players might include a list of common blends/digraphs and a reminder that every word must have at least one vowel.
• Story Creation. Using the decoded messages as prompts, the players get to tell their own story. Many writing prompts tell the writer what their story should be about. Secret messages filled with code words mean these prompts could be about anything!

Overall:

Fun challenge of ciphers and decryption — @faNebula (Twitter)

Playing with Kids & Building Skills:

I found myself asking questions like: "Does this word already have a vowel?" "You have "_oo" so what words rhyme with "oo"? I started thinking about potential future applications, maybe drawing a connection to Morse code or shorthand symbols.  —PK, parent playtester

Using Encode within TTRPGs:

I want to use this as a mini-game in one of my dnd campaigns. —Endhy Pino