Do you need help? Well, we got you covered?

We knew we had to make a page about helping puzzlesolvers eventually, and we think that this is the time we did so. You will need this in order to solve some of our puzzles on here. Are you ready?

Let's hope you are. Some of them do get complicated, after all.

The Hopscotch Cipher

What is the Hopscotch Cipher?

Do you remember that game where you draw some bricks on the sidewalk, mark them with numbers, and hop across specific bricks in order to get across? Of course, you do.

If not, that's okay. Regardless, think about this cipher as if you're playing hopscotch, but it's all in one straight line, and you have to jump across two bricks at once. (Ex. jump from 1, to 4, for instance. Remember this for later.)

The Hopscotch Cipher is used to encode, and decode messages by making three rows of letters of any alphabet of your choice. For the following examples, we will use the english alphabet, however this can work on other alphabets as well.

Why did you make the Cipher?

For fun reasons. That's what. However, you can also use this cipher for sharing some personal stuff. Ooh~

How to encrypt in Hopscotch?

Okay, let's start tearing down this beast of a cipher. We promise that as long as you're getting the hang of it, it would be easy to spot it.

In order for the following example text to be encrypted, the Hopscotch Cipher requires a number key. The numbers indicates what letters needed to be shifted either to the right, or to the left.

Let's get started with the encryption by placing down our first example:

"I love summer."

Our number key will be: 423.

4 will shift the first row of letters back by four places. 2 will shift the second row forward by two. 3 will shift the last row forward as well. Without the key, encryption/decryption won't be possible. It's important that we all need the number key, along with either direction each number you're supposed to shift to. Keep those in mind.

Are you keeping track so far? We hope so, because this is where things get more complicated. You most definitely have noticed that we said "rows of letter." This means that the alphabet of your choice will be divided in three rows.

Remember what we told you to remember? The hopscotch example, jumping from one, to four? This is where it comes in handy, as you can make three rows of the alphabet, in order to encrypt, and decrypt.

We will use the english alphabet for this example: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

The first 3 letters is extremely important. Let's take a look at the letter "a" for example. "Jump from 1, to 4, for instance." We start at "A", and now we're at "D." Continue through the rest of the alphabet, until you get the following string:

"a-d-g-j-m-p-s-v-y"

Now let's go to the next row of letters, starting with "B." Same rules as the first row. Go from "B", to "E." Continue to the rest of the alphabet, until you get the following second row:

"b-e-h-k-n-q-t-w-z"

Same rules, same execution for the third row. Start at "C", two spaces to "F." This is what you should get:

"c-f-i-l-o-r-u-x"

Now that we got the rows situated, we can start shifting the letters. The first number is four. In this example, we have to shift back by four spaces. This is what we get after shifting.

"m-p-s-v-y-a-d-g-j"

Now the last two rows has to be shifted forward.

Second row is shifted by 2: "w-z-b-e-h-k-n-q-t"

Third row is shifted by 3: "r-u-x-c-f-i-l-o"

When it's all put together as an alphabet, the following alphabet is formed, as shown below:

Okay, so we finally gotten through the most complicated part of this cipher. Now what?

You can now encode your message. We recommend having the unencoded alphabet you used to help you encode the example.

"I love summer" is now: "X cfgz dlyyzi."

How to decrypt in Hopscotch?

If you already have the encoded alphabet, decoding would be a breeze. Otherwise, repeat the steps from encoding.

Let's use another example: "O rugt acyazobd."

Our key this time is "552." First letter is shifted forward 5 letters, second letter shifted back 5 letters, and the last number is shifted back by 2. Same procedure, different numbers.

First row: "m-p-s-v-y-a-d-g-j"

Second row: "q-t-w-z-b-e-h-k-n"

Third row: "i-l-o-r-u-x-c-f"

This is the alphabet would look like once you're done:

Now, time to decrypt:

"O rugt acyazobd" now becomes: "I love pumpkins."

Once you get the hang of it, it'll become easier to encode, and decode.

Is that all? Is there any more information that I should know?

Yes. There's more for you to keep in mind.

The number key, and the indications on what number you would use to shift with will be given to you, either by pieces, or given straight to you. So, if anyone would be worried if you had to guess the numbers, and shifts, you don't need to worry about that now.

Also, some puzzles using the Hopscotch Cipher would use multiple alphabets, as shown here:

That would also be given to you in order to solve the message as well.

Those types of puzzles would only be seen in the hard section here. Let's see if you gotten the hang of it! :D