Welcome, Operator 👾
Time to lift the curtain just a little on Level 10 – Cipher Vault. We’ve just finished a full internal walkthrough, and this level is now wired, deadly, and so satisfying when you crack it.
No full spoilers below – just enough to show you what kind of brain-melting fun your support is funding.
🚀 Development Update:
✅ Levels 1–10 are live (tutorial + early missions).
🔐 Level 11 introduces firewall and password cracking.
What You Actually Do (Without Spoiling the Puzzle)
Instead of brute-forcing the vault, Cipher Vault is all about forensics + logic:
Re-open a broken secure channel
You notice the “phone” is offline. Bring it back by adjusting a firewall rule to the exact port the secure messenger needs. Do it wrong too many times and… the system decides you’re not friendly.Hunt for clues across the filesystem
You sweep logs, configs, cache files, and even a hidden overrides folder. Each one hides a clue about the 3-digit PIN in the form of “one digit right but wrong place”, “two digits right but shuffled”, “nothing here is correct”, etc.Spot a hostile daemon
There’s a creepy listener sitting on a cursed port. You have to catch it with proper tooling (process + port), then interrogate its config file to squeeze another clue out of it.Compare live vs. backup state
A cache manifest doesn’t match its backup. You diff the two, then run a validation tool to decide which version to trust. Only then does the game register the official clue.Clean up a dangerous override
Somewhere in a hidden config, a bad override line is poisoning the ledger’s trust. You need to surgically remove the right entry without tripping the “Watcher” that guards it.Kick off a network probe
A dormant scan tool has to be run before its log file becomes “truth” and logs the final piece of the puzzle.
Once all 5 clues are registered, it becomes a pure logic puzzle: cross-eliminate digits, fix the one that’s already in the correct position, and deduce the final 3-digit PIN.
🗓️ Upcoming Deadlines
What’s Next
Terminal – your classic AngrySysOps OS shell.
Vault Ledger UI – the keypad you’re ultimately trying to unlock
Phone Overlay – a secure messenger that slowly drips intel if you’ve done your job right.
👉 Support here: playhackmenow.com
🌐 Our Website Is Live
Find downloads, updates, and behind-the-scenes devlogs at:
👉 www.playhackmenow.com
💡 Tip of the Week
You can flip between them with a quick key, but there’s a ticking clock and very limited attempts on the keypad. Panic is a feature, not a bug..
Why I’m Excited About This Level
Level 10 is basically:
“What if a bank vault puzzle was built by a Linux nerd who loves logic games and hates brute force?”
It blends:
Real-ish command line habits (firewalls, process lists, diffs, tiny Python helpers)
A classic Mastermind-style deduction puzzle
A short timer and limited attempts to keep your heart rate up
If you’re the kind of person who enjoys staring at logs, scribbling digits on paper, and going “OOOH I SEE IT” at 2am… this one’s for you.
How You Can Help Right Now
If Cipher Vault sounds like your jam, here’s how you can support the project:
🔁 Share the Kickstarter with friends who love hacking puzzles & Linux terminals
💬 Tell me in the comments:
– What skills do you want to see tested in Levels 11–13?
– More network stuff? Forensics? Stego? Social-engineering-style puzzles?🧡 Back the project (or adjust your pledge) if you want more levels like this and deeper story cutscenes around each Sigil
Your support is literally what lets me keep adding these weird, nerdy mechanics instead of “press F to hack”.
Thanks for helping bring HackMeNow – and the Cipher Vault – to life.
Back to the terminal now… Level 11 is calling. 🔥🧱
🔗 Stay Connected
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🐦 X: @TheTechWorldPod
📘 Facebook: AngrySysOps