The adventure has begun!
(click “Back this project” to purchase access)

Print → Decode → Advance

Welcome to a one-of-a-kind 3D-printed puzzle adventure. A story in the making.

The cryptatrope is an original invention that reveals clues and animations through geometry, motion, and light. Your 3-chapter journey begins with the core designs + a video sent from the past.

An adventure for makers of all ages. No electronics required.

As you print and solve progressively intricate optical upgrades, secret codes unlock downloads that carry you deeper into the story. By the end, you will have built a set of 3 unique naked-eye illusions, including a stereoscopic mechanical hologram.

Project Fundamentals

• Production Quality: A handcrafted experience by a solo creator
• Skill Level: Medium to low - easy to print, puzzles emphasize fun
• Audience: Seekers of novel experiences and rewards that feel earned
• Equipment: Most 3D printers work, including any Bambu - no AMS required

• Materials: ~400g of PLA + a few inexpensive glow sticks or LEDs - details below
  (optional bonus prints, such as the relic holder, require additional filament)

  

The Situation

Trailer video is at the top of the page.
 

After a failed test of his time displacement device, Mike (Prime Tower Designs) and his 3D printer are trapped in the year 1503. To facilitate his return, he encrypted a message into an invention he called a cryptatrope. He then placed the blueprints in a time capsule.

If his temporal secret had been revealed early, Mike's home timeline would never have come to be. Until now, however, the 3D printing technology to build another cryptatrope did not exist, ensuring the message could not be decoded before its intended moment.

Your Role

That time is now. As a backer you will receive Mike's files, allowing you to print the device, decode the message, and transmit it through a dedicated web portal to unlock the next chapter.

More content is revealed as you progress, and all backers get the full adventure. Additional video monologues will be uncovered, guiding you to print the device's next photonic cylinder, each upgrade more unexpected and intricate than the last.

A commemorative token is awarded at the end of each chapter. These optional prints can be showcased in the deluxe display stand.

The Artifact

The cryptatrope is a 3D-printed naked-eye optical device capable of surprising effects including animations & hidden light-based messages. This is made possible purely through geometry, motion and light, with no electronics required. The device can be powered by a standard 6” glow stick, though an LED option is available for convenience.

Cryptic engravings whisper clues. Specks of light coalesce, revealing the true secret.

Mike has previously published smaller devices using an earlier version of the mechanism. The cryptatrope is the purest, most robust form of the invention yet: easier to make & easier to use. The larger message area of its swappable photonic cylinder allows for text and animations that go far beyond what was previously possible, and its improved focus method provides a new level of clarity.

But the biggest reveal still awaits…

An In-Depth Mystery

Along with Mike's video, we also found these digital images under a directory named “mechanical hologram.” Though their full significance is not yet understood, they appear to describe a stereoscopic method for generating pinhole tunnels, possibly allowing multiple spatial viewpoints to be encoded.

Some kind of non-electronic volumetric display?

Update - Learn more about it here: Physically Encoding 3D Animations in Pure Geometry

What to Expect

We can't tell you exactly what to expect. Right now we have Mike's message, blueprints, some photos he sent, and his presently inoperable time displacement device.

Strangely enough, however, we also found the following note neatly tucked inside:

My present is your future. To enter with open eyes, here are a few basic facts to know.

1. The adventure takes place in 3 chapters, each with successively more advanced cryptatrope technology that is printed to progress. In the final chapter, the cryptatrope reaches its full dimensional capability.
    
2. Completing the adventure requires roughly 400 grams of PLA (mostly a dark color, some basic white, and some optional accent colors). Multicolor capabilities are not required and only provide a bit of polish. Assembly is minimal.
    
3. Additional inexpensive supplies required to complete the adventure:
   A few 6” glow sticks (one per chapter)
   *or* 2 magnetically activated Y LEDs + 1 or 2 round neodymium magnets (25x3 mm)

-The Observer

Take These With You

Below is more information about the supplies the Observer indicated will be needed. There are two options – you don’t need to purchase parts for both.

Option 1: For the rugged, do-it-yourself adventurer

• 3 glow sticks (thick 6” green kind)
  Inexpensive emergency prep supplies carried by many big stores. Brightness varies considerably across brands and colors. Must be the type with a true hook. This is the kind Mike has (affiliate links) - whatever you get should look nearly identical: 10-pack, 32-pack

Option 2: For a more polished and lasting setup

A Cryptatrope parts kit (ZL022) is available in Bambu's store.

While the kit is easiest, you can opt to buy the components individually:

• 2 magnetically activated Y LEDs (white)
  The Cryptatrope can be customized to fit LEDs from other vendors.
• 1 or 2 round neodymium magnets (25x3 mm)
  The regular and deluxe stands use 1 and 2 magnets respectively.

Tokens of Appreciation

For those who enjoy tangible rewards, the adventure includes an optional progression mechanic.

At the end of each chapter, you receive a printable completion token themed to commemorate something meaningful from that chapter. The first two chapters provide miniature tokens, while the final chapter unlocks a special full-sized Prime Tower Designs MakerChip.

A deluxe display stand, designed to showcase these tokens, is included with select backer rewards.

Reward Tiers

Being a backer is like getting a ticket to the experience. Regardless of which Reward Tier, each backer gets access to the complete adventure, starting with the first cryptatrope.

The “Adventure + Deluxe Stand” tier also includes the file for the deluxe display stand.

Add-Ons

Those who wish to play a bigger role in this project’s success may become a Supporter or Patron. These optional add-ons include bonuses that do not change the core adventure. Early backers will also be included in a Hall of Fame section of the project portal.

Standalone 3D-Effect Cryptatrope: File for a non-puzzle version focused on the core effect, suitable to display to non-adventurers. This model is provided first through the Add-Ons. Similar standalone versions may be released in the future as paid or free options, while the main adventure models remain exclusive to participants.

Deluxe Cryptatrope Display Stand: The same file that's included in the “Adventure + Deluxe Stand” tier, also included in the Add-Ons to ensure that more committed backers receive it regardless of which reward tier they select.

Publish Your Cryptatrope: Mike will create a custom cryptatrope featuring a message of your choice (subject to length and content guidelines). It will be published on MakerWorld as a free model under the Prime Tower Designs account, allowing your message to spark a trend or promote your business.

Work to be Done

Update: The work described below is now fully complete.

Iterating to dial in the optics…

The initial funds (goal of $1,000) enable restoration of Mike's remaining digital blueprints & videos, which have degraded over time, as well as development of a web portal for backers to relay decrypted messages. This will allow us to send supplies back through time to Mike, and to publish any additional communications recovered as the adventure unfolds.

What Lies Beyond

This project is a step toward a more ambitious vision: a hybrid adventure where a playable digital experience and real-world 3D-printed objects work together in a unified story. In a fully realized version, players would explore an immersive world, periodically encountering artifacts or fragments that must be printed, assembled, and used to progress.

For this current crowdfund, the concept is being explored through narrative cutscenes rather than a playable video game. It is an early experiment in a potential new kind of storytelling medium. It just so happens that Mike's temporal mishap occurred at the perfect moment to test the idea.

Tech Enabled by 3D Printing

These effects rely on geometry that traditional manufacturing cannot produce.

Your Support Makes it Possible

This past year has been a journey, and this project is Mike's most significant attempt so far to express “Engineering + Art = Magic." It explores how 3D printing can be elevated beyond objects into experiences.

Every backer is implicitly casting a vote for projects like this, and each Supporter and Patron (see Add-Ons) helps bring them to life. No matter how you choose to get involved, THANK YOU!

Additional Details

Licensing

Please do not share the decoded messages uncovered during the adventure. They are part of the models; provided under a standard personal-use digital file license.

Commercial sales are not permitted without prior authorization. To discuss commercial licensing options, please contact Prime Tower Designs.

Future Plans

Mike plans to release non-adventure cryptatropes (free and paid options) outside of this crowdfund, potentially with canned and/or customizable messages & animations. Those versions, however, would not allow users to progress through this adventure since they would not contain the required secret messages.

More Magical Makes

Hopefully, this project helps inspire even more story-driven 3D print projects. One to check out is Excalibur - The King's Trial, a puzzle-box style design with a modern twist. Given Roadrunner4d's track record, it is sure to be an exciting quest you can print for all the puzzle lovers in your life.

Also check out Mike's favorite winning entries from his Old World Magic contest.

Aetheroscope by StudioPrint.3D	Codex Volante by Freya
Puzzle Cube by Maroni	Dur-Kharaz Ulgrim by garrellmcroy