Lessons on Strange Symbols
This game was made for the 2025 Confounding Calendar
https://confoundingcalendar.itch.io/
Help archaeologists decipher the meaning of some strange symbols. To "draw", hover over guiding arrows and click! Comments may have some spoilers.
Confounding Calendar 2025 Palette: https://lospec.com/palette-list/calm-and-chloric
"Nothing You Could Do" Font by Kimberly Geswein
Comments
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Really good, thanks you ^^
I've never felt so stupid and smart at the same time. Great game :P
i completely brute forced my way through this i didnt understand a thing can somebody explain (i completed it)
Svefg cneg:
Bx, svefg guvat, lbh arrq gb haqrefgnaq gur svefg cneg, nobhg whfg pbhagvat. Gur sbhe flzobyf ner whfg 1 2 3 4, fb lbh haqrefgnaq n fubeg iregvpny one vf 1 naq n ybat bar vf 2. Fb Ybat one naq fubeg one vf 3, naq Ybat naq Ybat vf 4. Nsge gung vg'f gur zngu, gur yvggyr bar orybj gur flzobyf orvat + naq gur qnfu orvat gur rdhny. Vs gur svefg flzboy vf Guerr naq gur frpbaq vf Sbhe, gur guveq nsgre gur qnfu vf Fira. Naq gur sbhegu sebz gur bgure rdhngvba vf ryrira. Gunv zrnbf guvf svpgvbany pvivyvmngvba pbhagrq va onfr SBHE, fb n ubevmbagny one vf Sbhe, ohg bayl jura lbhe ahzore vf uvture guna n zhygvcyr bs Sbhe. Sbhe vf Gjb ybat onef, ohg Svir vf n fubeg one naq n ubevmbagny one, Fvk n Ybat one naq n ubevmbagny one, Fira n ybat n fubeg naq n ubevmbagny, Rvtug gjb ybat naq n ubevmbagny. Avar vf uvture guna rvtug, zhygvcyr bs sbhe, fb vg'f gjb ubevmbagny onef naq n fubeg one naq, lbh pna whfg pbagvahr yvxr guvf. Gur rknz vf Gjb cyhf Fvk cyhf Fira, fb Svsgbba, naq gb qb vg lbh whfg arrq gb cyg nf znay ubevmbagny onef nf gur arnersg zhygvcyr bs Sbhe, Gjryir, naq whfg pbzcyrgr vg jvgu Guerr, n ybat naq n fubeg.
Frpbaq cneg:
Gurl znqr gurve zrgubq zber pbzcyrk. Gurl nqqrq n fynfu va cynpr bs gur fubeg one gb qb fhonfgenpgvba, naq qbhoyr fubeg onef sbe zhygvcylpngvba. Gur svefg rdhngvba fubjf gur arj jnl gb jevgr Svir, gur frpbaq vagebqhprf fhonfgenpgvba naq gur arj jnl gb jevgr Fira, naq gur guveq naq sbhegu (jvgu gur zhygvcylpngvba) fubj ubj gurl ercerfrag ahzoref uvture guna Rvtug. Abj, sebz Bar gb Sbhe, onef ner iregvpny. Svir vf n iregvpny one sbe Sbhe cyhf n ubevmbagny sbe Bar hagvy Rvtug (n iregvpny cyhf Gjb ybat ubevmbagny onef). Naq Avar vf n iregvpny, n ubevmbagny, cyhf n fubeg iregvpny. Vg jbexf yvxr fbzr fbeg bs fgnvef: rnpu gvzr lbh tb uvture guna gur zhygvcyr, lbh shfr gur gjb ybat onef sbe Sbhe vagb n fvatyr ybat one naq lbh nqq gur erznvavat onef. Gur znva qvssrerapr jvgu gur svefg cneg vf gung gur onef erznva va gur fnzr qverpgvba, juvyr gur svefg flfgrz hfrq ubevmbagny onef fcrpvsvpnyyl sbe gung.
Naq guveq cneg:
Vg'f n qngr, orgjrra 1275 naq 1280. ( gur " lrne ?"). Fb rnpu cneg nebhaq gur prageny pebff fubjf Gughfnaqf, Uhaqerqf, Graf naq Barf. Gbc yrsg fubjf Bar juvyr Gbc Evtug fubjf Gjb, sebz 1200, fb lbhe wbo vf "bayl" gb vqragvsl vs lbh arrq gb ernq vg nf n M ( gbc yrsg, gbc evtug, qbja Yrsg naq qbja Rvtug) be yvxr n Reirefr P ( Gbc yrsg, gbc evtug, qbja evtug naq qbja yrsg). Orpnhfr Qbja Yrsg fubj n Fira naq Qbja Rvtug n Rvght, lbh pna rnfvyl svaq gur evtug beqre.
lol, gg
Good thing there was no loss of information, or it would have been much harder to solve.
i saw it coming, and yet i still fell for it. damn you and your fun puzzle
Gur svany najfre erzvaqrq zr bs hzoeryyn npnqrzl frnfba 3 fvtvy
Edit: I get it now
Solved it... but... ncbybtvrf gb nfx ohg rira gubhtu guvf jnf nofbyhgryl njrfbzr gb qrpbqr (fghzoyrq n ovg ba gur 2aq cneg nf zl oenva gubhtug sbe n frpbaq gung gurl punatrq gb onfr svir nf V pbhyqa'g jenc zl urnq nebhaq gur arj ehyrf) ohg V'z jbaqrevat vs gurer'f zber gb gur raq zrffntr? Fbzr zrgn zrnavat gung V nz zvffvat? Lrnu, V'z greevoyr ng gubfr... Zl bcvavba : gung pvivyvmngvba fubhyq'ir fghpx jvgu gur svefg vgrengvba (sbe fher) nf vg bayl tbg zber pbaibyhgrq... Vf gung gurve 'ybff' ?
Unun V jbhyq ybir vg V pbhyq pbzr hc jvgu fbzrguvat gung qrrc ohg "Ybff" vf whfg n qhzo vagrearg zrzr
Nccerpvngr gur ercyl naq arire urneq bs gung zrzr (creuncf V'z trggvat gbb byq sbe guvf) ohg gung syrj evtug bire :-) Unq gb ybbx vg hc urer : uggcf://ra.jvxvcrqvn.bet/jvxv/Ybff_(Pgey%2ONyg%2OQry) naq tbg gur ersrerapr (jvgu gur nofgenpgvba bs gubfr 7 yvarf). V'yy whfg fgvpx jvgu zl srryvatf : gung fbzr flfgrzf trg zber pbaibyhgrq bire gvzr naq fbzr ehyrf oernx fbzr fvzcyr ryrtnapr naq oevyyvnapr :-)
Vg'f abg onfr 5, vg'f whfg gung gurl punatrq gur ubevmbagny yvarf gung zrnag 4 gb iregvpny, naq gurersber gur nqvggvbaf jbhyq or ubevmbagny, ohg whfg gb ahzoref 4-8.
Vg vf npghnyyl onfr 9, nsgre gur 8 gur "pbeare" cneg zrnaf 8.
Nice riddle! It was fun to solve it.
I am at a loss for words
im so angry right now
クリアできた！面白かった！ありがとう！
I cleared it! It was fun! Thanks!
who here solved the last puzzle and who just knew
Indeed, gur ahzore flfgrz frrzf gb unir ybfg zber naq zber ryrtnapr nf n ahzore flfgrz nf vg "ribyirq"
i hate you. i really really hate you
oh my
How could you do this to me
Anyway, fun puzzle lol
literally guessed at the last one.
(encoded rot 7 to avoid spoiler)
P zhd aol wbujospul myvt h tpsl hdhf iba pa zapss thkl leohsl huk yvss tf lflz eK. Ypnoa dolu P zhd aol "lcvsbapvu", P aovbnoa "obo, pa rpukh svvrz sprl aoha vul svzz vclyzptwspmpjhapvu" huk dolu aol flhyz whya jhtl P dhz sprl FLW.
why rot7 instead of rot13?
to be special. unfortunetly, you need rot19 to handle rot7.
i enjoyed this so much and i'm so mad
ok cool haha
I asked myself "vf guvf ybff?" before even clicking on the game, but I love deciphering games, so I didn't let that influence how I played. absolutely love it.
Super fun though i’m stuck for finals
vxabj vgf onfr sbhe naq unir qrpvcurerq svir frira sbhe rvtug fhogenpg guerr sbhe mreb gjb naq vqx vs gung vf pbeerpg ohg ubj vf fvk rira jevggra
you basically have it!
Smaller hint (rot13): vg'f jevggra fvzvyne gb ubj vg jnf va gur cnfg, jvgu bar qrgnvy punatrq
Larger hint: gur qvtvgf ba gur obggbz dhnqenagf qvssre sebz gur barf ba gur hccre dhnqenagf fbzrubj
nvm i figured it out lol. i was just doing sbhe cyhf guerr vafgrnq bs sbhe cyhf gjb
The way I did it was just qbvat 4 rdhngvbaf ng bapr, jurer rirel dhnqenag vf vaqrcraqrag bs rnpu bgure
the minute i realized vgf gur tbqqnza ybff zrzr v tbg vg it was amazing
I feel really dumb, but I can’t figure out what the sideways value is worth on the second puzzle when it’s near the bottom. I love this tho!!
Glad you're enjoying it!
Smaller hint (rot13): fvzvyne gb ubj vg jbexrq va gur cnfg, fbzrguvat qvssrerag unccraf rirel sbhe ahzoref
Larger hint: Gur yrsgzbfg ahzore va gur gbc evtug rknzcyr va gur frpbaq frpgvba ybbxf yvxr gur ahzore guerr ebgngrq, cyhf n iregvpny cbfg
I did it with the smaller hint!! :DD And the third one!
i didn’t even need to do any deduction for that last step lol, i knew what type of answer it had to be
This was so fun I rly liked it :) Ending made me laugh
how did i not see it sooner... brilliantly done
vf guvf ybff
Great setup for a bad joke. >:C
That was actually quite fun! Real neat dealing with numbers unlike our own.
god damn it i was gearing up to write a nice thoughtful response and the end completely derailed me hahahaha. well played.
anyway, this is really great! learning the rules of the symbols was very satisfying. i got held up for a while on a combined mental mistake, ba frpgvba 2 v zvfvagrecergrq gur / nf n qvivqr, naq qhr gb gung v ergebnpgviryl ehyrq gung rirelguvat jnf onfr 5 vafgrnq bs onfr 4. bapr v ernyvmrq vg jnf n fhogenpg vg nyy sryy vagb cynpr
super fun very nice :)
hehe just the reaction I was hoping for! Glad you enjoyed it
any hints on where to start?
For a very general hint, I'd recommend looking visually at how the symbols progress/combine/etc.
For a more specific starting hint: (rot13)
Vg frrzf yvxr gur "pbhagvat" frpgvba vf fubjvat n cebterffvba bs ybj ahzoref, jung rknpgyl ner gurl, naq ubj zvtug lbh vzntvar gur frdhrapr cebterffvat shegure (hfvat gur nqqvgvbany rknzcyrf tvira)? Sebz gurer, gb nffvta ahzoref gb guvatf naq vs nal shegure ybtvp qrirybcf.
thanks
I’m giving this another go and I think I get it now. I’m on the second level which is confusing me a bit, but very cool game! edit: Solved!