Level 5 · Mysteries & Monsters
Mission 420
Decoder Ring: Crack the Explorer’s Message
Badge: Codebreaker Supreme
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Build a giant decoder ring in your HQ and crack the explorer's torn page.
A torn page from the explorer: WKH GHVHUW KROGV WKH NHB. Build a giant decoder ring and crack it.
- New skill Building a ring of letter signs
- Level 5 · Mysteries & Monsters
- Difficulty Intermediate
- Mode Survival
- Time 50–60 min
- Ages 13+
What you’ll build
Lay out a giant decoder ring of letter signs on your HQ floor, with an outer and inner circle. Use the most common three-letter word to work out the explorer's secret shift, then decode the torn page word by word. Where does the explorer point you next?
Finish line: Your giant decoder ring is built and the explorer's message is cracked.
Bonus challenge: Crack a message without being told the shift: count which coded letter appears most. It's usually E in disguise!
You’ll need
- Lots of planks for signs
- Sticks
- Coloured blocks for two rings
- A family member to decode
You choose
- My cipher chamber's name
- My bet for the shift number
- My own secret line for someone
Stuck?
- Signs placed on the floor face the way you're facing, so walk around the ring as you place them.
- Near the end of the alphabet the shift loops back to A. Count round the circle, not off the end.
- Run out of signs? Six planks and a stick make three signs, so gather wood before you start.
For grown-ups
Get this mission
This mission is in Mission Pack 41 (Level 5: Mysteries & Monsters). Its printables arrive in the store soon. We release about one level a month.
Print one mission at a time. You never need to print everything.
Played on Minecraft Bedrock on iPad. Buttons can differ on other devices and versions.