Cipherfell: two tutorial storyboards

Welcome to Cipherfell. You are the Warden of the Seal. Your job is to investigate before you trust. This guide shows the controls, the evidence loop, and optional dungeon combat. You do not need to finish every activity at once.

Choose New Game for a fresh start, or Continue for a saved journey. The research prompt is optional. Choose No to play without session logging. Your progress saves in this browser, so return to the same browser and game address.

Use W, A, S, D or the arrow keys to walk. On a phone, drag the touch joystick. Walk along the road, release the controls, and stop beside a doorway. You can take your time while learning the layout.

Read the objective at the top left. Press N or select the minimap to open the atlas. The red dot is you; the gold marker is your destination. Choose a location to track it, then walk there. Tracking does not teleport you.

Approach a person or doorway and press E, or use Talk on a touch screen. Read the conversation and inspect the available evidence. If nothing opens, move closer. In dungeons, keep E for interaction: Space or F is your attack.

A claim is not proof. Explore, collect clues, and return to the Case board. Compare what different sources tell you before making a decision. If the puzzle is locked, use the objective to find the evidence you still need. The guide will not reveal the answer.

Open Help if you forget a control, and use Replay tutorial to see the guided introduction again. In a puzzle, read the feedback and request a hint when you need one. Before trying again, say what the new information changes about your reasoning.

Dungeons are optional side trips. Enter the Sealed Vault through the Archive, the Flooded Mine through the Harvest Storehouse, or the Crypt through the Chapel. Read the expedition goal and speak with the resident near the entrance. Your main case remains available when you return.

Face the enemy and press F or Space, or tap Attack. The red ring shows the danger area. Step outside it while the enemy prepares, then return during recovery. Repeated hits do not cancel a committed attack. Watch the health bar and leave room to retreat.

Defeated enemies have a seventy-five percent chance to drop a hint. Open Loot hints to read what you found. Some victories give no hint, and defeated enemies stay defeated. Resident advice and town route notes provide other ways to get help, so a missed drop does not stop progress.

The East Ward has eight local jobs. Read the instructions and complete each task in order. Some jobs award a supply; others reveal a route note. Finish the inn's guest-ledger job to unlock rest. In a dungeon, Use supply restores two health and consumes one item.

If your health reaches zero, recover at the entrance. Your discoveries, defeated enemies, and hints are kept. Use the dungeon map to return to the entrance stair, then interact to leave. Keep the same browser for your saved journey. Now find one clue and explain why you trust it.

Use Cipherfell as a shared problem-solving experience. Students should justify a security decision with evidence, not race to finish the game. This fifty-minute lesson focuses on the first identity case, with optional extensions for later classes. The teacher tutorial prepares you to facilitate that discussion.

Set one observable goal: students will identify a claim, compare two independent sources, and justify an identity decision. Case One fits this goal. Later cases explore secrecy, access, information leakage, forged orders, integrity, and recovery. The complete seven-case campaign belongs across multiple sessions, not one short lesson.

Before class, open the live game in the browser students will use. Test movement, dialogue, sound, and saved progress. Use a separate demo profile for projection. Prepare a screenshot backup and set an appropriate volume. The game stores progress locally; it does not provide a teacher dashboard or a class roster.

Explain the optional research prompt before students start. They can choose No and still play. Logging and short knowledge checks are separate from the classroom task. If your course collects exports, explain the purpose and handling in advance and use the institution's process. Do not equate opting into logging with participation credit.

Use the first five minutes to frame the evidence question. Spend five minutes on controls, then fifteen on paired investigation. Use ten minutes to compare decisions, ten to connect the reasoning to a new security situation, and five for an exit ticket. If play runs long, preserve the discussion and reflection.

Project a brief think-aloud. Read the stranger's claim, then ask what would check it independently. Demonstrate movement, one conversation, and the Case board. Stop before selecting the final answer. Invite students to predict their next evidence source and explain why it might help, then send pairs to investigate.

Assign a navigator and an evidence checker. The navigator handles controls; the checker records the claim, source, observation, and a possible alternative explanation. Switch roles halfway through the investigation. Ask pairs to submit a short justification, not only a screenshot of success. This makes their reasoning visible even if they do not finish.

When a pair stalls, ask which objective they are following, which source they have checked, and what remains uncertain. Point them to Help or an available hint. Ask them to explain the feedback before retrying. For motor or reading barriers, offer shared controls and a screenshot discussion route. Check any AI-tutor answer against the evidence.

Invite two pairs with different reasoning to explain their decisions. Ask which evidence was independent, what could be copied or misunderstood, and what new information would change their minds. Compare the quality of their justification. A correct choice without a defensible explanation is an invitation to investigate further, not proof of mastery.

Now change the setting. An unexpected message claims to come from campus IT and asks for a password reset. Ask students to name the claim, identify a separate trusted channel, and explain what they would verify. Then discuss where the village analogy breaks down. The goal is transferable reasoning, not treating game rules as a complete security procedure.

Use a six-point exit ticket: up to two points for identifying the claim, two for evaluating independent evidence, and two for a justified decision or transfer. Do not grade combat speed or random hint drops. Optional CSV export is per browser and requires logging. A partial lesson may not reach the game's post-check, so use your own exit ticket.

Collect the exit ticket and ask students to name one change in their reasoning. Remind them to return with the same browser if continuing later. Reserve dungeons and East Ward jobs for an extension, not a requirement for this first lesson. Your reusable teaching cycle is frame, investigate, compare, transfer, and reflect.