C.Y.P.H.E.R. (or Courageous Young Partners in Hush-Hush Electronic Radiotelegraphy) is wonderful educational game, where you are the detective. You start with 3 contact sheets which contain clues as to the correct location (whether they name 3 constellations, insects, dog breeds, etc.). Go to the correct location and you will receive a piece of the Cyphergram (or cryptogram) in your Microscan watch. If you choose incorrectly, you may run into evil agents from L.U.R.K., who will scare away your contacts or even steal information from you.
Each contact agent will also give you a clue to the animal that you must identify. You must identify several animals correctly in order to receive the entire Cyphergram for decoding. Once you receive the entire Cyphergram it is up to you to decode, just like a true detective! If decoding in standard English isn’t hard enough, you can also choose to decode it in American Sign Language, Morse Code, Braille, or Semaphore.
The game is great for people of all ages, and includes four levels. The combination of the cryptograms and animal trivia is entertaining as well as informative. It’s a good tool for anyone that wants to learn more about animals and even learn about some of the more obscure animals.
To help with the clues given to you by agents, there is also a FunCyclopedia which contains all the tools you need to help you on your animal mission and loads of other information you may just want to know. You can also send Cyphergrams for other players (perhaps a sibling or friend) to decode. If you choose to receive Cyphergrams from one of the game made agents, you will notice that the stories interconnect as you continue each mission.
The one downside to the game is that choosing the location of the agent seems a little out of place. The game will give you the name of three “items” such as Cassiopeia, Orion, and Little Dipper. Not all children will recognize these as constellations, nor is there any way of activating the information on the game. Furthermore, finding the location of the agent is the only time that such information is needed in this particular game. Besides the only little fault, it is overall an underrated gem that can provide for hours of entertainment.
