Cryptology Nottingham: Cypherdyne v1.5

I believe the ‘v1.5’ in the name is because Cypherdyne underwent a significant revision a few years back, revamping many elements though not quite to the extent of making it a wholly new game. Even so, it’s one of Cryptology‘s older and more traditional rooms. The setting is a job interview with the titular corporation – which turns out to involve plenty of puzzle solving with some unusually lethal stakes.

Being a modern day office setting, for the most part the decor is fairly plain. However, it’s punctuated throughout with small touches of humour and satire aimed at the corporate world; and as with all their games, our host went the extra mile in setting the scene up front.

In one or two places Cypherdyne uses a style of lateral thinking puzzle that’s rare in escape rooms, and which may be divisive: some may dislike it, others find it pleasantly different.

I thought the strongest moment of Cypherdyne was its conclusion, which is both the most visually dramatic and also involved my favourite of the puzzles. Be warned that it’s possible to fail the game even if you have plenty of time left: I thought that was a good way to raise the pressure, with no risk of players feeling that they missed out on content since it occurs right at the end.

Where Cryptology Nottingham’s best known games are designed for larger groups, Cypherdyne works well played as a pair – with more people you may plough through it too quickly, or be left bottlenecked in places. With many excellent games in Nottingham competing for a slot on your schedule, Cypherdyne isn’t a must play; but it’s a fun warm up for the other games at the venue.