{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/point-and-click--family-13","type":"mechanic","id":"point-and-click--family-13","lang":"en","title":"Ciphers, languages and sign systems","summary":"The player infers symbol meanings and rules for transforming messages.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/point-and-click--family-13/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/point-and-click--family-13.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/point-and-click--family-13.md","aliases":["Ciphers, languages and symbols"],"tags":["Point-and-click adventures","Information, reasoning and social interaction"],"sourceIds":["source-c762da447187414c","source-f2edfe86ae520f9a"],"sources":[{"id":"source-c762da447187414c","title":"Heaven’s Vault: inkle overview","url":"https://www.inklestudios.com/heavensvault/","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-f2edfe86ae520f9a","title":"Chants of Sennaar","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1931770/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"The player infers symbol meanings and rules for transforming messages."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Variants\n\n<a id=\"family-13-branch-1\"></a>\n\n- Substitution and permutation: infer symbol mappings, letter order or transformations. <a id=\"family-13-variant-1\"></a>\n- External key: use a book, table, picture, object or earlier fragment. <a id=\"family-13-variant-2\"></a>\n- Hidden messages: find acrostics, hidden layers, reverse-side text or sign arrangement. <a id=\"family-13-variant-3\"></a>\n- Symbol meanings: infer pictograms and words through context and repeated situations. <a id=\"family-13-variant-4\"></a>\n- Grammar: understand word order, negation, number and participant roles. <a id=\"family-13-variant-5\"></a>\n- Translation: compare languages and enable characters to understand each other. <a id=\"family-13-variant-6\"></a>\n- Word puzzles: solve rebuses, anagrams, puns, riddles and ambiguity. <a id=\"family-13-variant-7\"></a>\n- Cultural systems: interpret gestures, etiquette, symbolism and rituals. <a id=\"family-13-variant-8\"></a>"},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"A working classification with 44 families and 355 variants. Families overlap: one puzzle can combine items, dialogue, deduction and a character schedule. Core actions, progression architecture and assistance are separate layers. Sources identify examples from neighboring adventure genres."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"point-and-click","id":"family-13","title":"Point-and-click adventures","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/point-and-click/#family-13","categoryIds":["section-2"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Ciphers, languages and symbols","description":"The player infers symbol meanings and rules for transforming messages.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/adventure-chants-sennaar-03.webp","width":1440,"height":810,"game":"Chants of Sennaar","sourceUrl":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1931770/","originalUrl":"https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/1931770/ss_d194cfba045634d86c99aec5ed7ecbf7270cb8a2.1920x1080.jpg?t=1774006124","credit":"Rundisc / Focus Entertainment","rights":"Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.","caption":"Symbols are matched with sketches in a notebook","alt":"Symbols are matched with sketches in a notebook","markers":[{"x":83,"y":47,"label":"Collected symbols to match"},{"x":28,"y":36,"label":"A sketch helps infer the meaning"}]},"tips":["Provide consistent mappings and let players test meanings in context."],"examples":[{"title":"Chants of Sennaar","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1931770/"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Original taxonomy adapted from user-selected design discussions; linked sources support specific examples, not the whole classification.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/point-and-click"}}