Cyphox & EchoCraft
I’ve been tinkering with a wooden puzzle box that opens only after a specific sequence of clicks and rotations. I’m thinking of hiding a short message inside, but I need a way to make the sequence itself act like a cipher. How would you turn those physical movements into a secure code that only a few would crack?
Alright, map each click or rotation to a number first—say a click is +1, a rotation by 90° is +2, 180° is +3, 270° is +4. Record the sequence as a string of numbers. Next, pick a small prime, like 13, and use it as a modulus for a Vigenère‑style shift: each number plus the next prime in a repeating key of your choice gives you a letter (1→A, 2→B, etc.). To hide it, scramble the order of the moves using a reversible permutation that only you know, maybe based on the shape of the box. The final code is the result of that permutation plus the modular shift. Only someone who knows the move mapping, the prime, and the permutation can reconstruct the message. Keep the key secret, and you’ve got a puzzle that’s as cryptic as it is tactile.