NSA CryptoChallenge
| Category | Price | Seller | Device |
|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Free | CACI-CMS Information Systems, Inc. | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
NSA executes some of the nation’s most important and sensitive intelligence operations. To help us accomplish our mission, we’re looking for the best and the brightest problem solvers to join our team.
If you can solve these puzzles, you just might have what it takes to help NSA keep America safe.
© 2016 National Security Agency
Reviews
Lots of fun for me
Hyster3sis
I like solving monoalpha substitution ciphers. I always do advanced but try beginner/intermediate if you’re not very good at these. Never give up and eventually you’ll solve even the hardest ones. Some take me one minute some take a long time. Lots of fun. The interface is fairly intuitive. I can hardly see the options on the bottom (no contrast) but I only either substitute letters or clear the whole board and start redoing when my guesses look bad. That bottom control interface could be improved. Above all, I’d like to see the developer add enhancements. It does work just fine though, and it’s lots of fun. Thanks NSA!
Very entertaining!
Royalene Short
So far it has been awesome! The beginner level is challenging, but not so hard that you want to give up. I definitely recommend this game to anyone who is into puzzles and likes a good challenge.
Enjoyable...
Dutch_306
My only complaints with this app are: When you solve a puzzle it disappears immediately, as soon as you input the last letter, and before you can read the quote. This is very frustrating. The letters and keys are a bit too small. It's very easy to press the wrong button. Aside from those two issues it is a great app, and very enjoyable. A solid four or five stars after a few minor improvements are made.
Good first start
Lil' Ranger
The puzzles are fun. However, the menu buttons in the game are easily triggered. Move them to the top away from the keyboard (or hide through the pause option with a smaller graphic in the top area) to prevent accidental checks, hints, cancelations, etc. Also allow the user a chance to see the completed solution without automatically closing it. Suggestion to have an alphabet table showing character relations to help spot possible patterns, i.e., letter shift. Or show other historic methods of cryptography to help educate. Another suggestion is to, upon the puzzle being solved, identify how that cypher pattern was created (since the puzzles can be solved just by knowing letter frequencies). If adding other helpful items include the letter frequency table as a reference. Perhaps a leaders board to try to beat other times.
v1 but enjoyable
arkling
very entertaining app. my only complaints are. 1) very small/tight keyboard, very easy to hit the wrong key especially at the bottom 2) sometimes a wrong letter will get stuck, not refresh and then even what the whole phrase is in, the game won't end. 3) it would be nice to be able to read the phrase at the end. but despite those things it is a great app from a great organization.
Very good, a few tweaks would make it.
Codebustah
I'm liking it very much. It's a good cipher game. ***WANTS*** 1. I would like harder difficulties, including ciphered letters being the same as their solution from time to time (ie the encoded word "zje" solving as "the".) for added difficulty, rather than being able to anticipate what words ARE NOT based on their content. 2. There is a leaderboards/highscore system in already, however it does not function. Functionality would be great. 3. Randomly generated sentences for game longevity? There are lots of puzzles, but eventually I'm going to want more. 4. Cipher formulas and more tips, you know... unless you'd have to kill us if you told us. ***BUGS*** 1. Sometimes cryptos will not autocomplete when filled. May or may not be connected to use of the "check" button. The puzzle will be complete but not finish, thus forcing a quit. Also, if/when hint is used in this case, the game crashes. To be expected, but... 2. When you try to restart such a completed but finished puzzle, it retains all the letter you decoded, and does not solve. PERHAPS a "finish puzzle" button would help, rather than a possibly unreliable autocomplete. ***NEEDED TWEAKS*** 1. Menu buttons (Pause button in specific) are too close to the keyboard by maybe a decimeter. Overall, not too bad as the menu buttons have a confirmation request afterwards. Just a little annoying though. 2. Menus are a tiny bit scattered and seemingly mixed, but it's okay. ***FINAL OPINION*** Fun, challenging, and aimed right to the NSA career path. With a little education on how to complete the ciphers, you could probably hook a lot more potentials. Get the leaderboards up, and then monitor everyone's times so you know who to actively recruit. You might also consider making the puzzles cheatproof (no recurring puzzles, randomly generated sentences and ciphers, etc) for a honest online/talent hunting app. If that's what NSA made this for, that is. Otherwise, good app. Lotsa fun.
Glad it exists, hope it keeps improving
jk12345678901
This is fun, but I'd like to see these improvements: 1) Better entry methods/UI. I'd rather click a character position and then type the mapped letter. If a letter is used, clear it when reused. 2) Harder puzzles - no punctuation, then no spaces, then Vigenère ciphers. 3) Include letter frequency analysis tools (at selectable key lengths) 4) Control the screen brightness. On harder puzzles, the screen dims as you take time to study.
