Players who want more of a challenge on Cryptograms.org may register a free account in order to play competitively with all other members of the site. To compete, all you need to do is login to your account. Whenever you're logged in, you will receive points for every cryptogram you solve. Those with the highest number of points will be listed on our hall of fame.

Do I need to play competitively?

Absolutely not! Players are more than welcome to solve as many cryptograms as they like without being logged in to an account. If you're not logged in, you will be allowed to get up to five hints for each cryptogram puzzle. No points will be awarded for successfully solving a puzzle when you are not logged in.

How does competitive play differ?

The only real differences in competitive play are that (1) each game you play while logged in is tracked to your account, and points are awarded for each puzzle you solve and (2) players are not allowed to receive hints while playing in competition mode.

How are points awarded?

Points are caculated based on both the difficulty of the puzzle you completed, and the total amount of time it took you to complete it. The more difficult the puzzle, the more points you receive. The faster you complete a puzzle, the more points you receive. The minimum number of points you can receive for any puzzle is 10 points.

How do I switch out of competitive mode?

To play in regular mode, all you need to do is log out of your account. When you're logged in to your account, a logout link will be displayed prominently at the top right of every puzzle screen. Just click it and you will be logged out of your account and back in "regular" playing mode.