Play a new demo for cryptic logic-puzzle game Cipher Zero

Corey Hardt, 19 June 2023

A cryptic array of symbols, asking you to experiment, observe, and eventually come to understand... do I have your attention yet? Cipher Zero is a new puzzle game coming soon from developer Zapdot, a game of logic and learning that's minimal in both its aesthetics and its instructions. As part of the latest Steam Next Fest, the game has a new demo out today.

The trailer and Steam page for Cipher Zero both emphasize the mysterious, elegant vibe that the game is aiming for: "You find yourself in a defunct world. Puzzles scatter the landscape; their strange symbols inviting you to understand." Pleasant images of stylized scenery are broken up by visual glitches, replaced by dark puzzle-grids reminiscent of paper-puzzles such as Picross. Exact details of the rules or how the game plays are kept quite sparse.

This Steam release is a commercial upgrade to the original smaller web-game Cipher, made for a Ludum Dare game jam in 2019. Playing that prototype can give you a preview of what to expect from the demo and the upcoming full release of Cipher Zero. It represents one of my favorite niches of puzzle games: those that include "figuring out what I'm supposed to do" as the first layer of the challenge. You won't be told the rules to these logic puzzles; you need to feel them out yourself. (If you do get into the original Cipher, come discuss it on the Thinky Games Discord where it's currently being featured in our Thinky Games Club.)

Cipher Zero boasts an "immersive, chill soundtrack" and over 200 hand-crafted puzzles, a huge jump from the number found in the original jam version. I'm very excited to see what new twists the team has come up with: I love the feeling of being in the dark and slowly deciphering something cryptic.

Play the new demo on Steam starting today, June 19th, and keep en eye on the site for more news about Cipher Zero's pending release.