Cipher Post

By Partech Systems

Every letter stands for another. Work out which.

Crack the code on a vintage postcard and read the saying underneath.

Play now

A postcard delivered, its new stamp cancelled with a postmark above the decoded saying "Better late than never"

Cipher Post in the Airmail look, a cream postcard from Suva with red and blue chevrons, half decoded, above a letter wheel

Why it’s different

What makes Cipher Post different

Turn the wheel

Press a code letter and slide to spin the letter wheel, then let go. Or tap a letter and tap the wheel. A keyboard works too.

Count the letters

The strip under the card shows how often each code letter turns up. E, T and A are the usual suspects.

A postcard a day

Everyone gets the same daily postcard, gentle on Monday and trickier by the weekend. Missed one? The last two weeks wait in the album.

Fill the album

Each card you crack earns a stamp. 96 more postcards on eight sheets, from Inland to Round the world.

See it

A closer look

Cipher Post in the Telegram look, decoded letters on pasted paper strips on a sepia slip

Cipher Post in the Night mail look, cream and mint letters on a navy card with coral and gold chevrons

Cipher Post title screen, an airmail envelope with a stamp and a line of code letters

How it plays

Cipher Post is a cryptogram on a vintage postcard. Somebody has written out a well-worn saying and swapped every letter for a different one. Your job is to swap them back.

A few letters come decoded to get you started. From there it's detective work: the strip under the card counts each code letter, a lone letter is nearly always A or I, and a three-letter word ending in a known E is a good bet for THE. Press a letter and slide to turn the wheel; every place that letter appears on the card fills in at once.

A new postcard arrives every day, the same one for everyone. The stamp album holds 96 more on eight sheets, plus the last fortnight of daily postcards in case you missed one. Each card you crack earns its own stamp, postmarked from the town it was sent from. Stuck? Pick a letter and reveal it.

Tips

How to play well

Start with the counts
The strip under the card puts the commonest code letters first. Try E, T and A on those before anything else.
No letter is itself
A code letter never stands for itself, so a Q on the card is never really Q. That rules out one option for every letter.
Guess freely
Putting a letter that's already used elsewhere simply moves it across. Start over clears your own guesses but keeps the free and revealed letters.
Reveal the busiest letter
Reveal decodes the letter you have selected and fills it in everywhere it appears. Pick a common code letter you're unsure of to get the most from it.
When it won't read right
Once every letter is filled in, the game tells you if something is wrong, but not where. Clear the letters you were least sure of and look again.

Questions

Asked and answered

Is Cipher Post free? Are there ads?

Yes, it's free. There are no banner ads. From your tenth delivered postcard an ad may appear between postcards, at most once every ten and never within five minutes of the last one. Reveal plays an ad you choose to watch, though your first postcard comes with three free reveals.

Is there a new puzzle every day?

Yes. A new postcard arrives each day, going by your device's date, and it's the same for everyone. Monday's card starts with five letters decoded, and by the weekend it's down to two. The album keeps the last 14 days in case you miss one.

How do I open more of the stamp album?

Collect 8 stamps on a sheet to open the next one. Later sheets give you fewer free letters to start with.

Where is my progress saved?

On your phone, or in your browser if you play on the web. Unfinished cards are saved too, so you can leave one and come back later. There's no account, so progress doesn't carry between devices.

Is the browser version different from the Android app?

The postcards and album are the same. In the browser, ads come from Google's H5 Games Ads and no usage statistics are sent. If no ad is available when you tap Reveal, you get the letter anyway. A keyboard works for typing letters.

How do I change the look or turn the sound off?

Open Settings from the title screen. Choose Airmail, Telegram or Night mail, and turn Sound on or off. The app also has a Vibration switch.