Puzzle tools
Letters to numbers
Type words or numbers: the tool converts in the right direction. For numbers, separate letters with a dash and words with a space, or letters with a space and words with a slash “/”.
How does it work?
Each letter is replaced by its position in the alphabet: A = 1, B = 2, C = 3… up to Z = 26. It is the simplest code there is, often called A1Z26.
To decode, do the reverse: 1 is A again, 26 is Z. A number above 26 matches no letter, which often means the code has to be combined with another one, such as a Caesar shift.
Example
“CODE” gives “3-15-4-5”. And “5-19-3-1-16-5” reads “ESCAPE”.
Using it in an escape game
Great for turning a word into a padlock code, or the other way round: players find a series of numbers (book pages, room numbers, a date) and have to read a word in them.
To make it harder, add up the letter values of a word to get a 2- or 3-digit code, or combine it with a Caesar cipher.
Reference table
| A | 1 |
|---|---|
| B | 2 |
| C | 3 |
| D | 4 |
| E | 5 |
| F | 6 |
| G | 7 |
| H | 8 |
| I | 9 |
| J | 10 |
| K | 11 |
| L | 12 |
| M | 13 |
| N | 14 |
| O | 15 |
| P | 16 |
| Q | 17 |
| R | 18 |
| S | 19 |
| T | 20 |
| U | 21 |
| V | 22 |
| W | 23 |
| X | 24 |
| Y | 25 |
| Z | 26 |
Frequently asked questions
What about numbers above 26?
They show as “?”. Sometimes a number like 27 means the alphabet went round once: subtract 26 to get the letter.
What if the alphabet starts at zero?
Some puzzles use A = 0. In that case, add 1 to every number before converting it.
How do I separate words?
With dashes between letters, a space separates words: “8-5-12-12-15 23-15-18-12-4”. Without dashes, put a slash “/” between words.
Turn your message into a puzzle
On In-Evasion you build a free online escape game: every puzzle has its code, each code found opens the next one, and your players solve it all together on a shared board.