News about Noita cryptograms
Last year I reported about nine encrypted messages from the computer game Noita. They are still unsolved, but there are new clues.
Over a year ago, blog reader Tobias pointed me to a crypto puzzle. “It involves nine (probably) encrypted messages in the computer game Noita,” he wrote. “These messages consist of eye symbols looking in five different directions.”
Noita (Finnish for “witch”) is an action-adventure computer game. The player plays a witch who, on her journey through an underground cave system, tries to get deeper and deeper and to the end. Whether the player walks the path, teleports, or digs through the earth is up to the player.
The nine eye messages
The nine messages mentioned by Tobias have been known for about two years. There have been intense discussions about them in the Noita community, but they haven’t yielded much so far. On a fan page they are shown on two graphs. Here are the first four cryptograms, which are called West Side Messages:
Quelle/Source: Noita Wiki
There are also five East Side messages:
Quelle/Source: Noita Wiki
The alphabet used consists of five symbols. Each symbol can be seen as an eye. The differences arise from the pupil being at the top, bottom, right, left or center.
Transcription
On the said fan page, a document is linked in which numerous Noita players have written down their thoughts and findings about the eye messages. A transcription of the nine cryptograms can also be found there. It makes sense that the five eye symbols are represented with the numbers 0 to 4. The order is different from the two pictures. In order not to make things too confusing, I have taken the order from the discussion document in the following, even if it does not agree with the pictures above:
Message 0 (East 1)
2010132233040411302321143130330040240005
0320412200014222421222201100032013411135
3102210440002001040401441420330220342415
2313131300311321201422313314413414412115
0140032121141300411101002412410040310015
0403314323411221010100401204124424424025
133312203301031131112112103223145
13104242241303041102031232043135
Message 1 (West 1)
3110132233040411302321143130330040240045
0320412200014222421222201100032013411015
0202010440001040440401441420330220341315
1112131300011020201422313314413414414015
2122233032440002432311102212310310220435
4034314012221113402103014133412213301325
024142214222030242001232124023232014035
31013221121302032222004223103132241135
Message 2 (East 2)
1210132233040411302321143130330040240045
1320412200014222421222201100032013411325
3020132300442101430012141403110241042235
1024411132222314033301302310103224414225
0141130301441020203111142410342321321125
1411201200401030221224020400001032210405
0011322100422310432420131030102003002215
0201422403120313302310001033104412014225
0342010431011002001245
1314020220201413223115
Message 3 (West 2)
3010143042311111301032001142111420421445
1320410024412002221410132400222201204025
1101202100440120220141002021300132433125
4011301120103223134314223132130311000035
1431102230242242010212231422001031112235
2034012300412222131322202302421402114405
1222010000121431012333120102242032215
0110101013212311030320302413203220305
Message 4 (East 3)
2210143040001003022202312222321441442115
3320410022224313410032420000102200424315
3132233121201340041413023100012310431305
0200201400020212123111000031122201100325
1402142220230420012142412112231040100345
0030210313002122103100003123320032404225
0012402410202320430430312241313123011425
2323111302110210202223414121132403212305
0010301242212240330032110242131332310015
4102101033004320314121114223304034000415
041240123045
04230101045
Message 5 (West 3)
1110143040440231010332321201132400320235
4320410023421203014412122224014202111305
0330311342241441113030031422340421311125
4314132002101412021124312302031114300215
1031332142002300111430341430331101221205
1011322111204423101313212310203110222005
1201201231300110240141330210230022200445
2103122200014401220032321421413321312205
1202240222342030331202440402005
0021211001411022421034024114425
Message 6 (East 4)
1010143040001000000102132331201421330035
2320410022224312124304303001102034211305
1010042232100343001442142240222003000225
3034110223132024033020302224411420101415
1432343001202422301103013020010400301305
0123324013413413024413014124122223033225
2122221431303020131021131022300031032325
4323314110324032001221031124314401202315
122024230101311232213035
34212102201003230340345
Message 7 (West 4)
3010143040001000000102132331201400400025
2320410022224312124304303001102221131425
2113102140010321222411243001001312233135
0302212301323014304134203000323324211405
0402102401032022102430210121030120332325
4022111031324121021424403111220214311415
2042332412033020233010412042410122321015
3111403114212321224102401324400302214405
2243141140421211141401305
0202310000310001021400115
Message 8 (East 5)
1110143040001000000102132331201430441335
3320410022224312124304303001102111124305
1012142233020240141442122222302122132335
3034110224012020413020022424202403412025
0141101141031110102401102040100131001305
2112111301104412111124034101220400412135
1020410412211341301330132430110420102215
0202030022400101204423110421111420311025
1312242202220415
2324421013314315
Possible solutions
One possible interpretation is that each pair of numbers stands for one letter. Since there are 25 different number pairs (00 to 44), one could represent almost the entire alphabet in this way. This would correspond to a Polybius or ADFGX chffre. However, there is not an even number of digits in each line, which makes the assignment difficult.
An interpretation as ternary numbers is also possible and is described in the linked document. In addition, there are frequency analyses and a bit more information there.
After my first blog post on the Noita cryptograms in August 2021, there were some interesting comments, among others from The_Piper. Despite all this, the mystery remains unsolved to this day.
New clues
A few days ago I received another email from Tobias. Apparently there are some new findings about the Noita cryptogram, which I am of course happy to pass on to my readers:
- The nine messages are between 99 and 137 characters long. In total there are 1036 characters.
- No number appears twice in a row.
- The same number can appear at adjacent positions in different messages.
- The eyes can be read in a certain geometric order, so that they form messages of the numbers 0-82 in groups of three in the Base-5 number system.
- The numbers are statistically uniformly distributed.
- The messages contain long isomorphisms.
- The messages all start with different numbers, but are followed by a longer sequence that is the same in several (sometimes all) messages.
- There are a few cases where such identical sequences occur further back in the messages.
Tobias also sent me three more links:
- Document with the messages
- Overview of the cryptanalysis of the messages
- Summary of the findings about the messages
Can a reader find out more about the Noita cryptograms with these pointers?
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Further reading: Ein Krypto-Klassiker: Das Fair-Game-Kryptogramm
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