Glyph Keypad symbols are each an outer shape with a mark inside, such as a circle with a dot. The Defuser names all four keys, shape first and mark second. The Expert finds the only manual column that holds all four, and the Defuser presses the keys in the order their symbols appear in that column, top to bottom.
Glyph Keypad symbols: six shapes and five marks
Every Glyph Keypad symbol combines one of six outer shapes with one of five inner marks, which makes thirty possible glyphs. The shapes are circle, square, triangle, diamond, hexagon and arch. The marks are dot, bar, plus, ring and zigzag. The manual prints a name under every glyph, such as "hexagon zigzag".
That small vocabulary is the module's gift to the team. Glyphs look strange at first, but every one breaks into two plain words, and the manual uses those same words. The table below describes each part as it is drawn on the keys and in the manual.
| Part | Name | How it looks |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | circle | A plain round outline |
| Shape | square | Four equal sides, flat on the bottom, corners slightly rounded |
| Shape | triangle | Three sides, pointing up, flat along the bottom |
| Shape | diamond | A square turned to stand on one corner |
| Shape | hexagon | Six sides, flat on top and bottom, pointed at the left and right |
| Shape | arch | Straight sides and a flat bottom, with a rounded top like a doorway |
| Mark | dot | A small solid spot in the middle |
| Mark | bar | One short flat line across the middle |
| Mark | plus | A flat line and an upright line crossing, like a plus sign |
| Mark | ring | A small hollow circle in the middle |
| Mark | zigzag | A short line that goes up, down and up again |
Two pairs need care. Square and diamond are the same outline turned 45 degrees, so the Defuser should say which edge is flat. Dot and ring are both small and round in the middle; a dot is filled in and a ring is hollow.
The glyphs are drawn as outlines only, so they look the same on screen and on a black and white printout.
How should the Defuser name a Glyph Keypad key?
The Defuser should name each key as shape first, then mark: "circle dot", "arch zigzag", "diamond plus". That is the order the manual's captions use, so the Expert can scan for the exact words printed under each glyph. Saying the key's position first, top left or bottom right, keeps the four keys apart.
The keys sit in a two by two grid. A full description sounds like this: "Top left, triangle bar. Top right, hexagon ring. Bottom left, square dot. Bottom right, arch plus." Four positions, four two-word names, and the Expert has everything needed before opening the page.
New teams often describe a glyph by what it reminds them of: "a little house with a squiggle." That costs time twice. The Expert has to translate it to the manual's words, and the next time the same glyph appears someone may call it a tombstone instead. Using the manual's names from the first round removes that whole step.
It also helps to agree on the words before a round starts. The communication guide covers how to agree on names for symbols and colors so that every player says the same thing for the same shape. On Glyph Keypad the agreement is easy: the six shapes and five marks above are the whole list.
Finding the one Glyph Keypad column with all four keys
The manual prints six columns of seven glyphs each. Exactly one column holds all four of the Defuser's glyphs. The fastest way to find it is to take one key, find every column containing that glyph, and then check only those columns for the other three keys. Columns missing any key are out immediately.
Six columns of seven give 42 places shared among thirty glyphs, so any one glyph sits in only a few columns, often just one or two. Starting with any key narrows six columns to a handful. The second key usually narrows it again. By the third key, there is normally one candidate left, and the fourth confirms it.
Read the columns, not the rows. The table looks like a grid, but the order that matters runs down each column. Scanning across a row mixes glyphs from different columns and leads nowhere.
The Expert should say out loud which column they have: "Column four has all four." That gives the Defuser a pause before pressing and lets a second Expert check if one is listening.
On a printed manual, a pencil helps. Tick each of the four glyphs in the candidate column as you confirm it. Four ticks in one column is the answer, and the ticks also mark the press order at a glance, since you only need to read them from the top down. On a screen, a finger on the glass does the same job. Either way, the aim is to stop holding four names in your head while your eyes move between six columns.
If two Experts share the page, split the columns: one scans columns one to three, the other four to six. Whoever finds a full match says so, and the other stops looking.
Pressing Glyph Keypad keys from the top of the column
Once the column is found, the press order is the order the four glyphs appear in that column, reading from top to bottom. Where the keys sit on the keypad does not matter at all. The Expert reads the four names in column order, and the Defuser presses the key that matches each name.
The column holds seven glyphs, so three of them are not on the keypad. The Expert skips those and reads only the four that match.
A worked example
Here is a full example. The four keys and the seven-glyph column are invented for this post; real columns change with the rule seed.
Example keys, as the Defuser describes them: top left, triangle bar. Top right, hexagon ring. Bottom left, square dot. Bottom right, arch plus.
Example column, top to bottom:
- circle zigzag
- square dot
- diamond bar
- arch plus
- triangle bar
- circle ring
- hexagon ring
The matching glyphs are at places 2, 4, 5 and 7. So the Expert calls: "Square dot. Then arch plus. Then triangle bar. Then hexagon ring." The Defuser presses bottom left, bottom right, top left, top right.
Each correct press lights a green lamp with a tick at the top of that key, so both players can see progress. If the Defuser presses the wrong key, it is a strike, but the keys already pressed stay pressed. The Expert picks up from the next name on the list.
What if two Glyph Keypad columns almost match?
Two Glyph Keypad columns can easily share three of the four glyphs on the keys. Only one column shares all four. The game builds its columns so that any four glyphs taken from one column never all appear in another, so a three-key match is always a near miss, never a second answer.
The columns are also built to overlap. Every column shares several glyphs with other columns, so one familiar glyph never gives the answer away on its own. That is exactly why near misses happen: the Expert spots three keys in a column, feels sure, and starts reading.
The defence is simple. Check all four names before reading the order. Touch each one on the page, or count aloud: "triangle bar, yes. Hexagon ring, yes. Square dot, yes. Arch plus, yes. Four." If the fourth is missing, move on to the next candidate column.
A near miss also points at a description problem. If no column holds all four, one key was named wrong. The usual suspects are square and diamond, or dot and ring. Ask the Defuser to look at those two parts again before scanning a second time.
The Glyph Keypad mistake: pressing keys in the order they sit
The classic Glyph Keypad mistake is pressing the keys in reading order: top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right. The keypad layout has nothing to do with the answer. Reading order matches the column order only by luck, and the first key that breaks it is a strike.
It happens when the Defuser finishes describing and the Expert says "found it" before reading the order. The Defuser, ready to act, starts at the top left. If that key sits third in the column, the press is wrong.
Each wrong press is its own strike. A Defuser who presses all four in reading order can collect more than one strike on a single module. Strikes speed up the countdown, and with the default limit of three, the third one ends the round.
The fix is a hand rule that matches the one for the Big Button: no key is pressed until the Expert names it. The Expert says one glyph name, the Defuser says "pressed", and only then does the next name come. It sounds slow, but the whole module takes four short exchanges.
Glyph Keypad is one of the three starter modules, in the pool for Strange symbols and the rest of the first section on the missions page. After it, the next pages to learn are the memory and spelling ones: the guide to Color Echo's vowel tables and strike columns and the guide to spelling the sound-alike words on Word Grid. For a short tour of every regular module, see the 11 modules explained.