Rules:

  • Do not leak the link nor the game being offered.
  • Do not share answers.

There are no hints provided on the puzzle. If it seems that no one can get it, hints will be provided via update to this post and nowhere else.

Which game is it, you say? Well, you'll have to solve the puzzle, won't you?
That's the fun of it!

Good luck! Ends Tuesday, October 9, 2012 at 7 PM PDT.

http://itstoohard.com/puzzle/ctZewYmC

  • Update: Set inventory to private so the game won't be known!
  • Update 2: HINT: The first question utilizes a polyalphabetic cipher, whereas the second utilizes a monoalphabetic cipher.
  • Update 3: HINT 2: There are no spaces in the first question. All letters provided represent real letters.
  • Update 4: HINT 3, The Monumental Hint: Actual words, not gibberish.
  • Update 5: HINT 3A: Plaintext and key are made up of intelligible words, not random letters.
  • Update 6: HINT 4: Cipher used was coined before the seventeenth century.
  • Update 7: HINT 4A: To build upon the prior hint, this cipher was one of few notable polyalphabetic ciphers in use during that period.
  • Update 8: HINT 5: This cipher in history included some involvement by Kasiski.
  • Update 9: HINT 6: Key is NOT equal to or greater than the plaintext length. That would create a sort of one-time pad, which is perfect secrecy, granted the key is used no more than once and is also random.
  • Update 10: HINT 7: It uses the Vigenere cipher (Question #1).
  • Update 11: HINT 8: Key length is between 1-10 characters.
  • Update 12: HINT 8A: Key length is between 7-10 characters.
  • Update 13: HINT 9:, Mad Dash to the Finish: There are nine cipher alphabets used in Question #1.

Ended! Solutions were:

  • Question #1: Key/Answer: gladiator

    • Full codeword: gladiatorgladiatorgladiatorgladiatorgladiato
  • Question #2: Answer/plaintext: this one is far easier to solve than the other one

NOTE: There was an error (by me) in the converting of the seventh character of Question #1. This was unintentional and for this, I apologize. However, to look at the bright side, it did help to simulate (just a tiny bit) the difficulty one might have had when it was solved back when the cipher was prevalent in use as there was human error and intentional errors. Future puzzles will be checked ten times over as well as being checked by a third party who will either know nothing of Steam or will be disqualified from entry.

You may wish to view the giveaway's page directly as there are some comments on there that you may find interesting from the first couple solvers: http://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/C6Bgh/fortix

12 years ago*

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If only I could figure out the length of the key.. Still probably couldn't get it :P

12 years ago
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One more hour... one last hint??

12 years ago
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Was hoping for a more narrow key length, haha. Perhaps exact :P

12 years ago
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Narrowed!

12 years ago
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Not enough tiiiiiiime, haha

12 years ago
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Would you please post the solution soon after this is over? Can't wait to start kicking my ass about having gotten close (although probably this won't be necessary).

12 years ago
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Of course.

12 years ago
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yeah im eager to see what it was as well :p

12 years ago
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Dang, was trying 8 all the time. Only repetition I could find was 8-based.

12 years ago
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So the game was Fortix?

12 years ago
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That is correct. The forums seem to be populated with many cryptic puzzles. I decided to see how the forum would respond to a truly cryptic puzzle (as in, involving actual cryptography/cryptanalysis). Further puzzles will not be quite as hard as this one.

12 years ago
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This puzzle were hard, solved just 1/2 of them, but truly enjoyed them and learned something new ^^ So thank you hugs

12 years ago
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Whoa, I actually hit the keyword. But it didn't fit or at least I thought so. My bad for not trying it all the way in.

12 years ago
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I experimented with "glad" for a while, but I thought it would have to be a keyphrase rather than a single word, something along the lines of "gladyoumadeit". I never had "gladiator" in mind and when "Glad I x" didn't lead anywhere, I pushed further on to "go", "gu" and so on.

There were actually some misleading combinations like "blue re" yielding stuff like "Do all o". I tried "bluered" and stuff like that hoping to arrive at "doallofthe" or something.

Also "iswales" seemed like a good candidate. "iswalesacountry" or something maybe.

I would have definitely abandoned "gladiator" because of the missing "t" in the clear text, though.

12 years ago
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I got to GLA... but was trying shorter keys and didn't get any further.

12 years ago
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Keep in mind, the error I made was only in the seventh character. The rest of the ciphertext was converted correctly and according to the key and plaintext. It was a very hard one. You did get close, though, and really, that's great! Look out for more puzzles of mine. :D

12 years ago
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Well, I surprised myself that I got both things solved (even thought I didn't complete the first one, but I was on the right way and if there wasn't spelling mistake, I would ve have it) considering I have no experience with such a stuff apart from some puzzling in adventure games like Broken Sword. Good thing is it turned out to be Fortix giveaway, which I don't really care for, be it some other game, I would be mad at myself for not following the lead to the end. ;)

am definitely looking forward to more puzzles of yours!

12 years ago
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Closed 12 years ago by totalanonymity.