• All puzzles are linked to one of four topics, equivalent to a branching narrative: the player gets to decide which thread to pursue first (a “thread” being a series of puzzles that must be solved in sequence as each either unlocks or is key to solving a subsequent one), even though all four “routes” are available for solving all the time.
    • Four seasons?
    • Signs of the zodiac?
    • Four elements?
  • Clues in plain sight: A list of news article titles that are actually mini-riddles; they will share a common theme so that the player can figure everything out by finding the relationship between them. For example, each riddle might refer to a cardinal direction–north, south, east, west. One might use the sequence to solve a different puzzle, like moving across a grid.
  • Hidden clues: the player must do creative things to discover them, like run some JS code in the console. Risky, because this might tempt them to read the source code.
    • Could use simple code to replace clues.
  • Encoded clues: messages or directions converted to less direct forms, like converted to binary and then encoded in black and white squares, like a punch card.
  • The marquee at the top of the page serves as a consistent source of notifications and updates on puzzle progress. It informs the player that they’ve completed particular milestones.