Code break is a game where each letter of the alphabet is assigned a number. Words are written in the form of numbers. It's up to the decrypter to use the code break sheet to find out what the secret message is.
I play this game in the following variations:
This is one I usually only do for homework, as it doesn't involve that much student to student interaction. All you do is write a secret message and have the students use the code breaker sheet to find out what it is. Yea, this one is best left for homework.
The second variation I use is to let the students write their own secret messages for other students to decipher. I find some classes (read: less active) really enjoy this variation.
A team game (my favourite). Teams only need two members, but can have more. For this game I place the message outside the classroom. One student runs to the message sheet and tries to remember as many numbers as they can. Then they run back and give the numbers to the other team members, who use the code breaker sheet to find what the letters are. Make sure the students actually go back to their groups, instead of standing where the sheet is and shouting the numbers back to the team. Larger teams could have multiple number runners, to speed things up. The first team to break the code wins.
I have uploaded a two (Basic and Advanced) example code breaker sheets where each letter from the alphabet is assigned a number. There is a Word Document and a PDF file for download. The basic one contains the numbers from 1 - 26, while the advanced sheet contains random numbers up to 99.
