Codesmasher: Learning About A Cryptographer in a Game about Cryptography

Qian, Xinxin

Etd

Codesmasher: Learning About A Cryptographer in a Game about Cryptography

Public

Codesmasher is an educational code breaking game that seeks to tell the story of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, “America’s First Female Cryptanalyst''. Through a combination of stories presented from Elizebeth’s point of view, to solving encoded messages using various cipher techniques that Elizebeth herself used, the player learns about her career and her impact on the art of cryptography in the United States and gain a better appreciation for military code breakers. This paper discusses the process of how we researched Elizebeth’s story, created the game, playtested it and gathered data, analyzed the playtest data, and finally published the game on itch.io.

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