The Cold Code — 5th Grade Digital Escape Room

Mission: It is 1991. A rogue satellite network will activate unless you decode the final Iron Cipher. Work through six vaults, then the final lock. Use the Reference Sheets buttons for cipher guides.

Vault 1 — Cold War Begins (1945–1960) Locked

Bunker with radios, divided Europe map, typewriter

1) Radio Intercept (Morse)

Use . Translate: .... . .-.. .--. / - .... . / .-- --- .-. .-.. -..

Follow-up: What alliance formed to defend the free world?

2) Airlift Arithmetic

A clipboard says, “Berlin Airlift lasted ___ days ÷ 10 = 32.3.” Find total days, then answer: What was delivered daily?

3) German Riddle

Use if needed.

Ich trenne Ost und West, doch ich bin keine Wand aus Stein.

Vault 2 — Space Race (1960s) Locked

NASA control room with punch cards and Saturn rocket

4) Binary Budget

NASA card shows 01001101 01001111 01001110 01000101 01011001. Convert from binary to ASCII.

Question: What did the U.S. spend billions on during this race?

5) Fuel Flow

Fuel burns at 250 gallons/min for 12 minutes. How many gallons total? Then name the first Moon-landing mission.

6) Caesar Shift (3)

Message: Wklv lv rqh jldqw ohds! Use .

Use the quote to open a locker labeled…

Vault 3 — Civil Rights Era (1954–1970s) Locked

1960s office with civil rights photos and newspaper clippings

7) Headline Acrostic

Highlighted letters on a clipping form: ATLANTA SPEECH 1963. Name Dr. King’s most famous speech.

8) Population Key (Math → Code)

Atlanta 1960: 487,455 | 1970: 495,039. Find the increase, then divide by 10. This becomes a 3-digit key later.

9) Reverse Alphabet

Using (Z=A): R szw zm rnkzxg!

Which Georgian made a major impact on civil rights?

Vault 4 — Cold War Heats Up (1970s–1980s) Locked

Soviet embassy room with red folders and chessboard

10) Russian Riddle

Я оружие без пороха, сила без армии. Что я?

11) Polybius Packet

Decode 31 42 23 11 44 25 with .

Which president said “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”?

12) Countdown Years

A Soviet satellite launched in 1977; U.S. counterintelligence began 6 years later. Which year?

13) Arms Race Pattern

Folder codes: 2, 4, 8, 16, ? What comes next and what does the pattern represent?

Vault 5 — Fall of the Wall (1989) Locked

Crowds at the Berlin Wall, people celebrating, sledgehammers

14) Pigpen Placard

Decode the placard with : ⊐⋏⋏⊐⋎⊓⋏

15) Reunification Math

The Wall fell in 1989. Germany reunified one year later. Which year?

Who was U.S. President when the Wall fell?

16) Ally Riddle (French)

Je représente la liberté, je brille dans le ciel, et je suis un symbole pour beaucoup.

Vault 6 — The 1990s and Beyond Locked

Early 90s computer lab with floppy disks and phones

17) Atbash Alert

Use : Zgyzhs rh hznv.

Which conflict does this hint at for early 1990s U.S. forces?

18) Cost Clock (Math)

Desert Storm costs $61 billion. If $1.2 billion per day, about how many days?

What was the main purpose of the operation?

19) Binary File Hunt

Convert binary 1101 to decimal, then open that file number on the “computer.” What phrase appears?

20) Disk Order (Timeline Logic)

Arrange by earliest to latest: “Internet,” “Cold War,” “Berlin,” “Desert.” Enter as a single line with commas.

21) Span Product Lock (Math → Code)

Use the Cold War span: 1945 to 1989. Compute (1989 − 1945) × 45 to get the 4-digit code.

Riddle: I connect people without wires and changed the 1990s forever.

Final Vault — The Iron Cipher Locked

Massive digital lock with rotating cipher rings

22) Assemble the Key

Gather numbers from earlier puzzles as a 5-part key: Population Key (p8 ÷10), Span Product (p21), Pattern (p13), Binary Decimal (p19), Caesar Shift (the shift).

Enter them as five values separated by commas.

23) Final Language Riddle (Russian)

Мир — это код, который нужно расшифровать.

Translate and enter the one-word answer.

24) Verification Sum (Math → Code)

Convert PEACE to numbers (A=1…Z=26). Enter the total.

Satellite control room status board flipping to green

25) Final Switch

Enter the final word from p23 to disengage the relay.

Crowds celebrating and headlines declaring the code broken

Mission Gallery

Map overlay from 1945 divisions to 1991 changes

Air corridor diagram of the Berlin Airlift

Marchers crossing an Edmund Pettus Bridge photograph recreation

Propaganda posters wall with hidden code marks

Television screens showing the Wall opening in 1989

Early web browser home screen and dial-up modem

Endgame: When every checkmark turns green and the final vault unlocks, you’ve prevented the satellite activation. Well done, agents.