Yrggp Szikyurp Afreer

When I was a kid, my mom had a subscription to Games Magazine. Every month when a new issue arrived (because back then it was a monthly thing and not the bimonthly publication it is now) I would first look for a fake ad. After that I'd work on solving the cryptograms.
 
I loved cryptograms so much, one birthday my mom used those colorful hard sugar decorative letters and put a cryptogram on my birthday cake.  The puzzle was a simple one really. Once solved it would say “Happy Birthday Joanna” or something like that.  But at the time, my over emotional childish ways caused me to panic while trying to solve the puzzle in public.  I was convinced I couldn’t do it and cried from embarrassment and failure.
 
Um, okay. Maybe that's not the happiest birthday memory, but looking back I laugh.  And I like to believe I've gotten far better at struggling with something in public than when I was an 11-year-old.
 
My love of cryptograms went hand in hand with a love of coded messages. I remember writing notes on paper in lemon juice, leaving messages on steamy windows, reading about hobo codes and Navajo code talkers. Can you imagine my delight when I found a stash of Braille books in my great-grandmother's house? It's a wonder I didn't teach myself Morse code and flag semaphore.  I know I thought about both.
 
I hadn't solved cryptograms in a while. These days my puzzle solving time is spent on colorful and animated iPhone apps. But when a friend suggested he run a short email role-playing game featuring word puzzles, I figured I'd enjoy it.
 
Oh my God, I loved it. 
 
All told, there were three different word puzzles, each one progressively harder to solve.  The first puzzle went pretty quickly, it was a nice warm up.  The other two were far more fiddly.  
 
For the past two weeks, I've been spending a little time here and there puzzling things out.  I've written out the alphabet multiple times, playing with letter patterns, and rereading clues.  Now and again, I'd email my progress to The Chief, who'd in turn reply with additional clues and suggestions. It's been great fun during my train commute in the morning and afternoon.  Additionally, the friend sending the puzzles my way was fantastic with providing positive feedback throughout the process.  His asides pointing out particularly clever steps of logic were great for my puzzle solving ego. 
 
This afternoon the final puzzle was completed and the city of Baltimore saved.  Immediately, I was sad the game was over.  What would I do on my commute home?
 
But my entertainment wasn't the only goal of the game.  My friend is looking for ways to incorporate word puzzles into face-to-face role-playing games.  Our playing the email version was a play test of a sort.
 
Having players solve puzzles in face-to-face games is tricky.  I was once in a game where the players had to solve one of those sliding picture puzzles in a game.  It was a lock of some sort, when solved a door would open and the player characters would stop drowning.  There was a lot of player agitation at the game table at the time and when we failed to solve the puzzle there was more grouchiness.  No character drowned, but the party was separated and characters were hurt.  A couple players were a little put off by the experience but we continued the game and had a good time.  Come to think of it, that whole scenario was filled with puzzle solving and remains one of my favorites. 
 
If I were integrating word puzzles into a face-to-face game I’d probably only do so in a multi-session game with players with whom I’m familiar.  As a player, I'd want to feel comfortable enough with the gm and other players to be able to say when I'm stuck.  I think I’d be more likely to have frustration among strangers.  I'd hate to have a replay of my 11th birthday. :)
 
As for multi-session, tension of having a time limit is awesome, for example: "Baltimore is going to blow up on Friday if we don't figure out the contents of this coded message."  Having time to work up to Friday is necessary.  I think that’s where that puzzle dungeon fell a little flat.  The puzzles were great, but there was a lot of “solve this right now or you can’t go any further.”  It was super stressful and frustrating at times.  Being able to step away from the puzzle to role-play other scenes, or to wait until the next session, makes for a great mental break.
 
I'm a fan of fiddly bits at the game table.  I love maps, handouts and note taking.  I've played a lot of games while lounging around in comfy chairs in a living room, but I prefer having space to scribble.  For the email game, I ended up making myself a sheet of 5x5 grids for code key testing.  (Go ahead and say it, because I do all the time.  I am such a dork.  LOL)  Of course, I'd like to see that sort of thing available in a puzzle-centric game.
 
Of course, with this all fresh in my head, I'm tempted to put puzzles in games.  Or maybe I'll just wait for another round of coded email.