Quill Almanac: Cipher School, a Code-Breaking Class

About Quill Almanac: Cipher School

Storm Almanac Radio broadcasts from the lamp room of an old lighthouse on a sea stack. On storm nights the boats out on the water cannot speak plainly: the static eats their words, and all that gets through is a trickle of number codes. The station’s night school trains new operators to read that trickle, one rule at a time.

Every lesson opens with a worked example you step through at your own pace: a code, its signal log, and the reasoning that pins it. Then the calls come in. The trawler Marigold is lost off the north rocks; the keeper on Gull Island has lost his fog horn; two climbers are cut off by the tide. Each caller’s frequency is a code of three different digits, and the log tells you about it: 6 1 8, one digit right but in the wrong place; 1 2 8, nothing is right; the digits add up to 15. Every line is true, and together they leave only one code.

Tune the dials and transmit. A wrong transmission is not wasted: it comes back as one more line of the log. The station engineer can lock a dial for you, at half the points. Win the exam call without the engineer and the lesson’s licence is stamped: the great lamp swings round onto the caller’s boat, the clouds part, and the boat answers the code back in Morse light. Six lessons take you from your first locked digit to the long night when every kind of line comes at once. Choose Apprentice, Operator or Chief (four dials), and switch on large text, high contrast or Gentle light, which takes every flash away. There is no clock.

How to play

Step through the lesson’s worked example: the rule, the log, and how the code is found.
Read the call’s signal log: every line is true of the caller’s code of three different digits.
Tap a dial, then a digit, for each dial (or type the digits). The Scratch switch crosses digits off a dial instead.
Press Transmit (Enter). A wrong code comes back as a new line of the log and costs a quarter of the points.
The engineer locks one dial on its digit for half the points. Win the exam call without him to stamp the licence.

Controls

Tap a dial, then a digit, or type 0 to 9 — tune the code
Left and right arrows — pick a dial; up and down — turn it
Enter or Transmit — send the code; S — the scratch pad; H — the engineer
Escape or Start — pause

Frequently asked questions

How do I read a log line?

A heard code line such as 6 1 8 says how many of its digits are right and in their place, and how many are right but on another dial. Every digit of that line it does not count is wrong. Band lines give the sum, how many digits are odd, or how the dials compare.

What happens when I transmit the wrong code?

The station hears it and adds it to the log as a new line, so you learn from it. Each wrong transmission costs a quarter of the call’s points, and after six the signal is lost.

How do I win a lesson?

Solve the exam call, the second call of the lesson, without the engineer. Then the licence is stamped and the boat answers in light. You can always take the lesson again.

Is there a way to avoid flashing light?

Yes. Switch on Gentle light in the settings: there is no lightning, and the boat’s answer glows softly instead of flashing. Reduced motion in your device settings also stills the storm.