How to Use A Caesar Cipher Wheel

How does a Caesar cipher work?

It's not as difficult to learn how to encode and decode secret messages as you may think.

You take the alphabet, and shift every letter by a certain number of places.

For example: if you shift one place, you would replace each letter with the one that is one place down the alphabet. So A would become B, B would become C, and so on. 

• In this example, with a right shift of one,  the word CLUE it becomes DMVF

Better yet, instead of calling it a shift, let's use what is known as a Cipher Key.

• A cipher key is an essential part of both the encoding and decoding process.
• The exact same cipher key must be used when decoding a message that was used when encoding
• If we align to two wheels so the the top and bottom wheels are aligned CA then we can now encode the word CLUE as ENWG.

Caesar cipher wheels and decoder disks are an early form of encryption and a great entry point for any interested in cryptology or escape rooms. They are perfect for both the classroom in an educational setting and your favorite room escape game

Now you will be a step or two ahead next to you come across one of those pesky encrypted messages.