Anatomy of a puzzle: The Hidden Hint Font

There’s something quite satisfying about making a font, and for this challenge, I wanted to create one that solved a problem I often encounter when giving hints in puzzles. Hints are essential for players, but they can be tricky to manage. On one hand, you want them to be readily accessible. On the other, they need to be disguised so they’re not too obvious. No one enjoys a puzzle where the answers—or even the hints—are sitting in plain sight.

There are lots of ways to approach this. Some puzzlers set up online forums or webpages where hints can be accessed. Others use grid systems, where the answer is hidden somewhere on the grid and players must locate and confirm it. Many use a series of graded hints, either online or printed in books. I tend to use a combination of these methods.

What we try to avoid is anything too blatant—like mirrored writing, upside-down text, or notes hidden at the bottom of the page. These tricks can be spotted too easily. So I started thinking: how can you truly hide hints in plain sight?

That’s when I came up with the idea of a font that’s a puzzle in itself. In this font, you have to connect the dots to reveal each letter. The hint can be printed right alongside the puzzle, disguised as a seemingly random collection of dots. Only by solving that mini puzzle—by drawing the lines between the dots—can the hint be revealed.

I imagine that after some practice, players might begin to read the font without needing to draw the lines. But it still works well as a system, especially if you decorate around the dots or embed them in a pattern to make them blend in more naturally.

Making the font was relatively simple. I used a program called Calligraphr, which is available online with a free version that allows up to 76 characters—more than enough for this project. It generates a PDF template, which you can either fill out by hand and scan, or do digitally. I created the characters in Adobe Illustrator, using dot patterns for each letter.

At first, I included the lines and curves of letters like A, H, B, and J, but they made the letters too obvious. I removed those guides, which helped preserve the puzzle element.

The end result is quite pleasing. I’m looking forward to hiding it in future projects and using it as a test hint system for playtesters. It’ll be interesting to see whether people spot the hints—and if they do, how they use them.

The Enigmailed Fonts

We currently have three fonts available for you to download, free-of-charge!

Clean Semaphore Font - Nothing clever or smart about this - the emphasis was on simple. The vast majority of semaphore fonts have little flags on them, and I wanted something which was literally lines.

Flummox Font - Made for a project, this was the reslut of a mad idea - could oyu use the morse of each letter ot make that letter? The result is this!

Hidden Hint Font - If you've read this far, you'l know what this is about!

Let me know if there are any other puzzle fonts you'd like me to design!