Pocket Cabinet: Cipher School, a Word Path Game

About Pocket Cabinet: Cipher School

The storm has cut the power lines and the station is running on its generator. Between bulletins, the night engineers teach the newest hand the patch rules of the cabinet. A night is three lessons, and each lesson adds one rule about the shape of the path your word takes.

The board is a console of glowing tube tiles, and a word is a patch cable run through touching tiles that never uses the same tile twice. Corners count, unless the lesson says otherwise. Straight Talk allows only up, down, left and right. Cross Wires allows only diagonal steps. Rim Shot makes every word start and end on the outer rim. Zigzag Antenna turns at every tile, and Dead Air keeps you off the tiles the static has taken.

Every lesson opens with a good path and a bad path side by side, so you see the rule before you use it. Then the test begins. As you trace, the cable turns red the moment a step breaks the rule, and a real word that breaks it is refused with the reason. Find the lesson's number of words without a hint and you master it: lightning strikes the mast, thunder rolls and the ON AIR lamp lights. Ask for a hint and the lesson still passes, with help, and waits for another night. There is no clock. A night takes about five minutes. Your progress is kept on this device only; nothing is uploaded.

How to play

Read the lesson sheet: it gives the rule and shows a good path and a bad path on two little boards.
Drag across touching tiles (corners count unless the rule says otherwise) to spell a word of three letters or more, and lift to check it. A tile can be used once per word.
You can also tap the tiles one by one and tap the last one again, or type the word and press Enter. A typed word takes a path that keeps the rule, if there is one.
While you trace, the cable turns red and a note appears as soon as a step breaks the rule. You can turn this off in Settings.
Find the lesson's number of words without a hint to master it. A hint passes the lesson with help, not mastered. The Rule button shows the sheet again.
Press P, Escape or Start to pause. There is no clock.

Controls

Drag across tiles, or tap them one by one — spell a word that keeps the rule
Type the word, then Enter — check it
Arrow keys or D-pad, Space or Ⓐ — move and pick a tile; Backspace or Ⓑ — take one back
1 or Ⓧ — hint (the lesson passes with help)
P, Escape or Start — pause

Frequently asked questions

What is a lesson rule?

A rule about the shape of the path your word takes, on top of the basic one (touching tiles, no tile twice). Straight steps only, diagonal steps only, start and end on the rim, turn at every tile, or keep off the static tiles.

Why was my real word refused?

It is a real word, but its path broke the lesson's rule. The note says which step. Look for another path to the same word, or another word.

What does mastering a lesson mean?

Finding its number of words in the test without a hint. A lesson passed with a hint still counts toward the night, but stays open to master another time.

Is there a clock?

No. Take as long as you like; pausing, switching tabs or opening Settings never costs you anything.