this is a substitution cipher, it should be pretty straightforward (for those that know how to solve them).

Count me out of that group... I wasted over three hours trying to solve it (and refamiliarize myself with Excel in the process [<- spoiler]). :(

I actually am fairly versed in the process, and can't seem to solve this.

Part of the issue is I'm unclear whether the last word has 3 repeats of the same character or if one of them is slightly different, meaning a different symbol altogether.

Without context it is very hard to guess.

Not even sure if it starts with a verb (which, int he revised example, would be very limiting as it would essentially be ABBC which very few verbs can get to).

Part of the issue is I'm unclear whether the last word has 3 repeats of the same character or if one of them is slightly different, meaning a different symbol altogether.

Yes, I agree that that was confusing. It's two separate characters.

For distinguishing the characters better, you might want to evolve these symbols by a few hundred more years, alternating between (a) choosing the most distinctive visual feature of each letter and exaggerating it by about 125% and (b) ending each brushstroke in the direction of the following stroke (or next letter). Sometimes the (b) stroke will then become the most distinctive visual feature and be the stroke exaggerated in (a).

(Also, the typical writing medium will influence how it evolves. From letters like the R and N, I'm assuming this civilization typically writes using a brush/pen/quill on something like paper, rather than with a stylus in wax or clay, or a chisel in wood or stone.)

Count me out of that group... I wasted over three hours trying to solve it (and refamiliarize myself with Excel in the process [<- spoiler]). :(

I actually am fairly versed in the process, and can't seem to solve this.

Ouch! That's troubling! 0_0

Part of the issue is I'm unclear whether the last word has 3 repeats of the same character or if one of them is slightly different, meaning a different symbol altogether.
Without context it is very hard to guess.
Not even sure if it starts with a verb (which, int he revised example, would be very limiting as it would essentially be ABBC which very few verbs can get to).

Yes, I agree that that was confusing. It's two separate characters.

Indeed, the character set is perhaps not the best. :/

For what it's worth, it's not intended to be the final character set--it's just a set that I made for testing purposes. I did misstep in having two characters be so similar, you are right--I have it in mind to make a point of avoiding this for the final set of glyphs! ^^;

But... Have any of you tried the interactive version that I posted on the previous page? It should at least reduce the problem of distinguishing characters, as it highlights all spaces that match the glyph associated with the currently-selected space.

In case you missed it, the interactive version should be available here: Link

It's a Win32 application, if I recall correctly. Just unzip to whatever location you prefer and run "wordpuzzle.exe".

For distinguishing the characters better, you might want to evolve these symbols by a few hundred more years, alternating between (a) choosing the most distinctive visual feature of each letter and exaggerating it by about 125% and (b) ending each brushstroke in the direction of the following stroke (or next letter). Sometimes the (b) stroke will then become the most distinctive visual feature and be the stroke exaggerated in (a).

(Also, the typical writing medium will influence how it evolves. From letters like the R and N, I'm assuming this civilization typically writes using a brush/pen/quill on something like paper, rather than with a stylus in wax or clay, or a chisel in wood or stone.)

Honestly, as one may infer from the above, I didn't put that much thought into this set of glyphs--it's just a set that I made for testing purposes. Thank you for the advice, however! ^_^

Part of the issue is I'm unclear whether the last word has 3 repeats of the same character or if one of them is slightly different, meaning a different symbol altogether.

Yes, I agree that that was confusing. It's two separate characters.

That was actually enough for me to be unable to complete the puzzle altogether.

Thanks for confirming these are different, it does change a lot ;)

I had originally started with some of the smaller words, but cross-referenced this particular area looking for "what two letters in english can there really be" and that put me off trail...

Of course, I didn't use the OP's tool for solving this, I used another visual representation solver, but the erroneous assumption made it impossible to solve.

I enjoy creating and solving puzzles myself. A couple things to point out. In the original puzzle you use 17 unique characters for 33 total characters. That's more than half the alphabet and more than half the characters are unique. I wonder how many common words you used. Allowing a player to build easily off of a word like 'The' or 'to' are useful. Making sure that most letters appear at least once or more in other words also helps. Leave unique or uncommon letters to a few instances. I recommend giving at least one letter as a clue. No clues could leave players searching for hours frustrated.

I hear there are books on decryption problems like this that explain tips for how to do it ...

Are you suggesting that I find such a book as a resource for what hints to give to players, or how to teach them the puzzle?

You could help us out with clues about the sentence, or maybe a word that's already known (allowing you to fill in some of the letters throughout the problem, giving you a starting point to solve the rest).

Hmm... I'm now considering implementing a difficulty setting for these "minigame puzzles" (as opposed to puzzles integrated into the levels); in this case the "easy" or "normal" level might include hints as in the interactive test-program mentioned just above. I already have such a setting for combat, so it would make some sense, I think.

Basically like Orymus said, knowing about different types of Ciphers makes these things a lot easier. When you don't know how Ciphers work, it seems almost impossible. This kind of puzzle was in Fez, with a rosetta stone that said "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog", which is a sentence that has it's own wikipedia page because it's used for these kinds of puzzles. Even then, I don't think the rosetta stone was meant to be understood by most players. It was meant to be solved by a few players, who would then post the answer on the internet as the community attempted to solve incredibly difficult problems.

If you want the puzzles to be solved by average players, you could probably design them in a way to teach us the techniques like you mentioned. The easy and normal options sound good too!

Here are my thoughts:

. I love the visual graphics. The "environment" is awesome and cool. Great for kids/teens/young adults even.

. Unforutantely, unless this puzzle is part of an experienced word solving puzzle book, I think the puzzle is way too hard for this to be enjoyable. Games have to be easy with high reward to be enjoyable. If the games are hard to solve, they have to be provide even higher reward.

. I wouldn't provide hints via revealing some of the letters. That defeats the purpose of a puzzle. You're making them feel like there is no challenge. It's like cheating. (If this is for a 7 year old, then it would be ok.)

Instead, make the puzzle easier by using words that use a trick to solve the puzzle. For example, for the small letter words, use common words that they can figure out fairly easily. Stuff like this will make it very enjoyable.

. This puzzle appears to be solvable by spending a lot of time and work. And that's not fun. It's gotta be solvable by using mental tricks.

In the original puzzle you use 17 unique characters for 33 total characters.

Indeed--but you should see that rectified in the second puzzle, and in the interactive puzzle.

I wonder how many common words you used.

In the first-posted puzzle, I think that all of them are common to one degree or another, with perhaps one exception--and that's hardly an esoteric word, as far as I'm aware.

Allowing a player to build easily off of a word like 'The' or 'to' are useful. Making sure that most letters appear at least once or more in other words also helps. Leave unique or uncommon letters to a few instances.

Indeed! I'm already doing that, I believe--most of the puzzles posted thus far include two- or three- letter words of that sort, as far as I recall.

Leave unique or uncommon letters to a few instances.

Hmm... That might be something to watch for--thank you!

I recommend giving at least one letter as a clue. No clues could leave players searching for hours frustrated.

That's already addressed in the interactive version previously posted, I believe.

Basically like Orymus said, knowing about different types of Ciphers makes these things a lot easier. When you don't know how Ciphers work, it seems almost impossible. This kind of puzzle was in Fez, with a rosetta stone that said "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog", which is a sentence that has it's own wikipedia page because it's used for these kinds of puzzles. Even then, I don't think the rosetta stone was meant to be understood by most players. It was meant to be solved by a few players, who would then post the answer on the internet as the community attempted to solve incredibly difficult problems.

... I really don't want to rely on people leaving the game and going to the internet to figure out how to address the puzzles. :/

If you want the puzzles to be solved by average players, you could probably design them in a way to teach us the techniques like you mentioned. The easy and normal options sound good too!

Good good! ^_^

Here are my thoughts:

Thank you for them! I appreciate the response. ^_^

. I love the visual graphics. The "environment" is awesome and cool. Great for kids/teens/young adults even.

As I think that I said in the first post, the isn't intended to represent the puzzle's final in-game appearance. I'm also not specifically aiming for a young audience. ^^;

. Unforutantely, unless this puzzle is part of an experienced word solving puzzle book ...

... This isn't for a book at all. It's intended for a video game. If you look a few posts up, you should find an interactive version of the puzzle that should better show how it's intended to play, I believe.

. I wouldn't provide hints via revealing some of the letters. That defeats the purpose of a puzzle. You're making them feel like there is no challenge. It's like cheating. (If this is for a 7 year old, then it would be ok.)

Instead, make the puzzle easier by using words that use a trick to solve the puzzle. For example, for the small letter words, use common words that they can figure out fairly easily. Stuff like this will make it very enjoyable.

Um... Do you have any specific suggestions for such words? I'm already including short words like "the" and "it"--what other types of word might I include?

. This puzzle appears to be solvable by spending a lot of time and work. And that's not fun. It's gotta be solvable by using mental tricks.

Fair enough--but what mental tricks, and how do I convey them to my players? :/