Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture may just be a contender for the best walking game of the year, depending on your tastes. Pedestrian jokes aside however, and you’ll find that the game is a lot more than just a glorified simulator of moving your two favourite appendages.
There’s a mystery or two to solve in Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, that includes a bit of codebreaking. Puzzled by this string of numbers that you receive when you finish the game?
Well here’s the answer. It’s simple enough. Each number is based on an a letter of the alphabet, which isn’t exactly a taxing cipher to deal with. 1 = A, 2 = B and so on and so on.
The real challenge of course, comes from separating single-digit numbers from double the double digits, but once done, you get this message:
In the wake of a human being’s death, what survives is a set of afterglows, some brighter and some dimmer, in the collective brains of those dearest to them. There is, in those who remain, a collective corona that still glows – Douglas Hofstadter
Douglas Hofstadter is a cognitive science professor, with that particular quote coming from his book I Am A Strange Loop. It’s a book that deals with the human mind, and how it creates an identity of self perception in order to navigate through our crazy world.
Thing is, that’s only one of many codes hidden away in the game. Over on Reddit, more codes have been discovered:
So I’ve finished the game, and I’ve collected what I believe is most of the Number Stations numbers either from the radios (before you activate them), the computers and television sets (after you activate them) and even a couple unique ones from the Pause Menu (which would otherwise only repeat the ones found elsewhere in the world). These are the numbers. I don’t even know where to begin.
… 00 07 03 16 06
….. 00 11 22 07 24
.. 03 08 02 06 22
. 12 06 12 12 11
? 14 03? 57 13 09 (hard to make out)
…. 14 04 08 03 01
… 16 14 15 17 25
…. 16 15 14 06 04
.. 17 00 11 17 13
.. 17 00 25 13 09
. 18 25 08 01 01
. 11 11 14
The dots in front designates how many beeps were heard before the numbers were read out loud (though I think they’re a red herring). The numbers were always read two and two, and that last number is no typo: There was one instance of only a six digit code.
I did originally have a record of where I heard the numbers as well, but then they got repeated as much throughout the story, that it didn’t seem to matter (also taking into account that the items that produce the numbers can be found out of order as well). I’ve therefore put each sequence in numerical order, but they might have to be put into a different set of order to make sense.
These codes are a bit trickier to decipher it seems. One theory posits that the number of beeps heard before the codes, determine the order of unlocking the message. Rather cryptic then. But it’s the kind of mystery that is worth solving. I’ll update the post as soon as more info is uncovered.
In the meantime, see if you can give it a fair crack. My monkey brain isn’t exactly up to the task right now, as some bad caffeine as left me with a vague sense of uncertain-tea.
Last Updated: August 12, 2015
Dutch Matrix
August 12, 2015 at 15:05
Nope.
DragonSpirit009
August 12, 2015 at 15:15
Crap… I suck at code breaking!
Alien Emperor Trevor
August 12, 2015 at 15:15
“just a glorified simulator of moving your two favourite appendages.” That gives the game’s name a bit of a different spin… O_o
RinceThis
August 12, 2015 at 15:26
Well you do tend to waggle them a bit more than most…
WitWolfy
August 12, 2015 at 15:31
“Nobody has legs except you”. Doesnt quite roll off the tongue though…
AfricanTimeZA
August 12, 2015 at 15:22
you do know that i will be thinking about this non-stop until the “code” is “broken”, very selfish
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 12, 2015 at 15:28
I wanted to make a joke about R2 and RT, but then I remembered this is only coming to PS.
RinceThis
August 12, 2015 at 15:28
PS what precious?
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 12, 2015 at 15:30
PlayStation.
ps. boo
RinceThis
August 12, 2015 at 15:31
Vita or PS4?
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 12, 2015 at 15:32
I’m a pc gamer. We’re all equals under the pc nation. We don’t divide ourselves with numbers or funny names that sound like whole-wheat crackers.
Alien Emperor Trevor
August 12, 2015 at 15:32
Don’t call those people crackers, that’s racist!
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 12, 2015 at 15:33
LOL
Dutch Matrix
August 12, 2015 at 15:33
AMD vs Intel?
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 12, 2015 at 15:34
I have an Intel CPU and an AMD GPU.
😀
Dutch Matrix
August 12, 2015 at 15:35
Neutral Wuss!
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 12, 2015 at 15:37
I’m like Blade of the pc gamers!
Viking Of Science
August 12, 2015 at 15:46
or a Daywalker…. 😛
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 12, 2015 at 15:49
That would be applicable if I actually went outside and walked 😉
Viking Of Science
August 12, 2015 at 15:51
what!? does “playing” dear esther not count?
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 12, 2015 at 15:52
XD
WitWolfy
August 12, 2015 at 15:30
I’m barely passed math for a reason…
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 12, 2015 at 15:30
I’m barely grammar
Dutch Matrix
August 12, 2015 at 15:31
Oh Snap!
WitWolfy
August 12, 2015 at 21:07
Noah fence but my grammar is just vine 😉
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 13, 2015 at 08:07
😀
Dutch Matrix
August 12, 2015 at 15:30
Also you failed Grammar
AfricanTimeZA
August 12, 2015 at 15:33
*failed at Grammar
Dutch Matrix
August 12, 2015 at 15:33
Thanks. Now I know.
WitWolfy
August 12, 2015 at 21:06
English was 60% im Afrikaans by hart.
DragonSpirit009
August 12, 2015 at 15:35
I hate myself for trying to deciphering the code now
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 12, 2015 at 15:38
I bet all that Rants would see in that is….
SEVEN
Alien Emperor Trevor
August 12, 2015 at 15:40
…
Jason Luthor
August 15, 2015 at 03:49
Numbers Stations are by their nature supposed to be one time decryptable sequences that only a particular individual has the code for.
Aaron Lucas
August 17, 2015 at 21:17
What do the numbers mean Mason?! THE NUMBERS!!
Brian
January 11, 2016 at 00:30
Not a red herring– there are both long beeps and short beeps before each number sequence, and you need to distinguish between them. They’re morse code. Here’s what I’ve found:
B 16 14 15 17 25
I 17 00 11 17 13
6 14 04 08 03 01
E 18 25 08 01 01
D 17 00 25 13 09
? 00 11 22 07 24
M 03 08 02 06 22
N 12 06 12 12 11
H 16 15 14 06 04
G 11 11 14
S 00 07 03 16 06
The sequence marked with a “?” I only heard once, and it ran before a radio that, once clicked on, switched to a voice message. I only know that there were 5 beeps, and I never found that same number sequence again, so I’m not sure which beeps were dots and which were dashes or what number it translates into via morse code. Also, the 3rd sequence I have listed is the only one where the morse code translates into a number (6) and not a letter.
I hypothesized that the numbers might stand for letters, and that since there were 00’s included that meant the alphabet might run from 00 to 25. However, that would make the first sequence translate to B QOPRZ, so that seems unlikely. I’m also guessing that the G sequence (with only 3 numbers) is the final sequence.
Airon Patapon
April 19, 2016 at 01:32
What if we invert ? Z=00 Y=01 … A=25 Its make sens ?
Brian
April 19, 2016 at 04:45
I finished the game a few months back, and I don’t think any of it matters. They are just codes for you to distinguish them from each other and make sure you get them all… but there’s never a point in the game where the specifics of the sequencing has meaning. Kind of a letdown, actually, there not being a bigger picture regarding the actual numbers themselves.
Roong Aïdee
October 18, 2016 at 12:50
The bigger picture is to be found irl. These codes do matter big time ; the whole game is basically just a pretext to show you this intel. Codes, math, geometry, verses… it’s all about the part of reality we don’t see but still live by.
The actual game starts when you turn off the computer.
Brian
October 18, 2016 at 18:06
Okay… so do the codes correspond to anything specifically? Or are you talking in the most general of terms, and is there no direct correspondence between anything in the game and anything “irl” other than the most general of ideas about questioning existence? If there is anything specific, the game has completely failed in communicating that.
Roong Aïdee
November 13, 2016 at 19:12
You find out. That’s the game. That’s the teaching.
Brian
November 13, 2016 at 21:58
No, you don’t. I’ve played the game through to the end, and gotten every associated trophy. The ending is a frustrating & vague non-ending that retroactively questions the competency of its storytelling. EGttR poses interesting questions and features a beautiful environment, and resolves the personal narrative for most of its characters. But in terms of even addressing the larger narrative and the mythology the game developers have created, it’s a total failure.
Eh?
March 9, 2016 at 16:45
Anybody else notice the “5…1…6…1…4…1…5?” at the end of the trailer? https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8z8qv6qhhAY#t=120
jayme
April 30, 2016 at 06:41
Good job linking the Redit page….