What codes are used in escape rooms?

Exploring various types of ciphers often leads us to the fascinating world of transposition ciphers. One such cipher is the Rail Fence Cipher, which involves writing the plaintext in a zigzag pattern and then reading it off row by row. This method of encryption can confuse even the most seasoned codebreakers.

Another category of ciphers is the polyalphabetic type, which uses multiple alphabets to encrypt a message. A well-known example is the Vigenère Cipher, where each letter in the plaintext is shifted by a number of positions based on a keyword. This method provides a higher level of security compared to simple substitution ciphers.

Numeric ciphers also play a significant role in the realm of encryption. Binary code, for instance, represents text using only two symbols, 0 and 1. This system is the foundation of modern computing and digital communication.

Delving into historical ciphers, we encounter the Playfair Cipher, which was popular during the 19th century. It uses a 5x5 grid of letters and pairs plaintext letters to form digrams, which are then encrypted based on their position in the grid.

Keyword ciphers offer another layer of complexity. The Keyword Shift Cipher, for example, uses a keyword to determine the shift pattern for each letter in the plaintext. This method requires the decoder to know the keyword to correctly interpret the message.