Cicada 3301: An Internet Mystery 

[Credits, References, and More] www.lemmi.no/p/cicada-3301

Imagine reaching the final step and it says “you can now play as Luigi”

At the end there’s a small text saying: “The real prize was the friends we made along the way. Thanks for playing.”

For 4chan users, 2:53 was harder than the Liber Primus puzzle, because they had to go outside.

For anyone wondering, as of July 25, 2023, the puzzle is still stuck on the deciphering of the Liber Primus texts. Not much, if any, progress has been made since this video. There is a dedicated subreddit called r/cicada that is dedicated to the project if you are interested in learning more :)

I think cicada is my dad, he pops up from nowhere with pointless shit and then vanishes for a number of years.

The winner receives tooth paste recommended by 10/10 dentists

5 years after watching this and I STILL desperately want to know what Cicada 3301 actually was (and this is still worth a re-watch!).

youtube randomly recommending me this after 5 years

imagine a 10 year old calling his mom but misses it by one digit and ends up calling the cicada number

Dora surely ain't gonna figure this shit out

When I listened to interconnectedness, I noticed the chords were constant. This reminded me of Pythagoras for some reason. Pythagoras believed that numbers were the ultimate reality, he taught his students to worship the mathematical order of the universe. He was also heavily interested in music and harmony, and saw the universe as a grand harmony. Pythagoras, however, was a cult leader. A religious figure. Well, I searched for any relation between Pythagoras and cicadas just to see if my weird hunch had anything to it, and sure enough, our understanding of cicada behavior through mathematics begins with Pythagoras. This means nothing likely but who knows, maybe the cult of Pythagoras still exists. They believed in immortality btw.

People who assumed this was a recruiting test for a secret organization just don't get how passionate puzzle people can be about puzzles.

Teacher: The test isnt even confusing The Test:

I swear the thumbnail made me feel like this was a horror internet story

My toxic trait is thinking I could've solved this

One of the freakiest things is, that the first song sounds the same if played backwards

Everyone: Her clues are so obvious! Her clues:

Imagine getting to the end and it just says, “gottem”.

I think one of the biggest mistakes Cicada made was to involve leg work-- once leg work is involved, you're not going find the people who solved the puzzle, instead you're just going to find the grunts who do the leg work. Sounds like they did find some people they want, but they'd probably find even more if they had cut out the leg work phase. The other mistake is not doing a better job to keep the interest of their winning contestants-- to be fair, maybe they did find a few who actually stayed and were interested in their goals, but people would probably be more interested if they understand what the group is trying to do, and what they should prepare for... Sometimes people say yes, but then a few years later, the answer will no longer be yes. You can't really deal with people this way, like expecting them to still be in your pocket/aligned with you after years, when they aren't part of anything you did so far or are given no information for years. Social intelligence is just so undervalued by these highly intelligent type sometimes-- Sometimes this elitism and exclusiveness just rubs me the wrong way. I get not wanting the riffraff, but cramming your group with the same type of people means it's unlikely to detect a mistake that would have been apparent to people with a different skill set. (Assuming this really isn't just some sort of elaborate internet game. Honestly, as soon as leg work is involved, I thought it was just a game akin to the one from Gravity Falls-- which was really great and cool! But if it was an internet game, they probably could have done better than claiming to be people working on internet privacy/freedom of information, so I assume they are serious.) However, I think putting contradictory things in the email was brilliant. Without giving a clear signal of what answer they are really looking for, people are more likely to just answer honestly, rather than trying to game the answer. Spiking your interview with trap questions is a good way to weed out types you want to avoid. (Although maybe what they really believe is, only some information should be free. I mean, I don't believe ALL information should be free. The ones involving public interest, sure, but not the personal ones.) I also think going to 4chan is a good idea, as people there probably value their anonymity (hence align with the privacy concerns), so it was probably right place. Again, the biggest mistake probably was involving leg work.

I always thought and had in mind that people related to the creator of the Bitcoin (Satoshi Nakamoto) were also creators of Cicada and some other projects.

This guy is calling me an idiot for 17 minutes and 53 seconds.

The winner of this puzzle will get a Toothbrush approved by 10/10 dentists.

As soon as there was that glitch as the transition my heart dropped. I was so entrapped in the video that I was got off guard and had no idea what was going on, not to mention all those letters and numbers on the screen didn't help😅

Cicada 3301: The Incredible Mystery of the Logo and Its Origins

Me: Whats the password for the WIFI? My friend: It’s on the back of the router The back of the router:

Teacher: the test isn’t that hard, you just need to study. The test:

Plot Twist: This video is affiliated with Cicada, and it contains the 4th puzzle. 👀

I remember coming across this as a teen back in 2012. Me and my cousin tried to figure it out thinking it was a game. Later to discover it was a huge conspiracy. My mind was blown

*The winners got a bag of lays potato chips that was full of chips instead of air*

The winner gets the ability to capitalize numbers

I go back to this video like every 6 months. Lemmino, I love this video. Oh my god. Never stop making videos, you're phenomenal ❤

Bro this channel is so good, it gives me tingles up my spine every time :)

*This could’ve been the greatest Rick Roll ever in the history of the universe*

The winner gets to know Victoria's Secret

one of my favorite videos of all time. amazing work!

I remember watching this when this vid first came out thinking how sick this was. Rewatching its still sick. Good editing and storytelling man

I love that it’s called cicada. A ton of noise cause by a small, insignificant insect

The finalists get toothpaste that 10/10 dentists recommend

imagine u just saw the poster one day and was like "that seems cool, i'll scan that" and you get recruited by a cybercult

i have watched this video several times now. every once in a while i come back even though i know the content. its just so well made.

The winner gets a microwave that heats the food not the bowl

teacher: cmon guys, the homework isn’t that hard, I taught it just yesterday *the homework:*

it's criminal how this one is so short haha but i still love your work nonetheless will be sitting down and enjoying some popcorn while i watch your newest video!!

I find it amazing how some people spend so much time on something to give others something fun to do

The winner gets a toothpaste that’s approved by 10 out of 10 dentists

The winner gets hand sanitizer that kills 100% of germs

i come back to this video essay all the time dude i love this

One of my favourite internet mysteries ever. Always come back and watch this now and then.

This could honestly be the biggest Rick roll in all of history

one of youtube’s most legendary videos

this video is so well made i love it

This dude just dropped his mixtape in the middle of the biggest scavenger hunt of all time.

Imagine doing all of this and in the end you get rick rolled.

I've seen this at least 2 times already but I'll watch it again because it is such a good piece.

ngl i come back to this video all the time; i watched it the first time on a school chromebook and it's still my favorite youtube video ever. cicada 3301 is so impressive and the story is SO captivating. best video essay everrr :3

The amount of effort these soundcloud guitarists go through just so their music gets heard is unbelievable...

Imagine getting to the end and getting rick rolled.

I come to this video every once in a year. And then try to explain to my uninterested friends and family about this elaborate puzzle. So well made and explained.

this is still one of my favourite videos on youtube of all time

I can’t imagine how scared the first person to the website was when they saw the countdown

The winner of this puzzle gets the coordinates to Old Zealand

Lemino haha. Clever. Subscribed

wait 14-17 years, that's how long cicadas take to hatch.

Say what you want about cicada 3301. They make good music.

Sometimes, I just play your videos in the background. Pure ASMR with your way to talk.

i have watched this video probably 10 times now in the last 5 years, this fascinates me beyond belief..

“Only for smart people” Me: trying to balance the light switch in the middle

The winner gets to know who let the dogs out

This brings back good memories. Been hearing a lot about this puzzle when I was new to RU-vid. Every single person in here was talking about it.

One of the best videos ever uploaded in youtube

“We have no name, we have no symbol” proceeds to put 3301 in every message with a cicada LMAO

Everyone’s talking about how intelligent the puzzle’s solvers are but not how skilled the puzzle’s creators were.

Great video again!!

This video is very important. This video helped to really popularize long form essay type videos, and especially ones about paranormal or creepy topics.

The fact he made his own soundtrack for this makes this 75% better.

They’ll be back in 17 years, just like a cicada.

The proximity to the airport could also be the organization's anticipation that many of the puzzle solvers might have to fly to get to the next step too

I found this episode absolutely fascinating. How incredibly clever the creator's and cryptic puzzle solver's are. It just goes to show you how many rabbit holes there really are within the Interweb and how skilled you would need to be to find and navigate some of them🕷🌐🕷

"Only for intelligent people" Me: Opening the fridge slowly to see when the light turns on.

This is the most interesting way to sell books I have ever seen.

I could’ve swore the video was longer than 17 min

This was made really well!

Imagine solving an incredibly difficult and secretive puzzle and then getting hired on as a programmer

I come back to this video about twice a year. Its really good.

imagine doing this and you live in a country without a cicada QR code

When his voice drowned at “The end” I thought I gonna die

Amazing video. Very interesting. Cheers.

I remember being recommended this video more than a dozen times back in 2018 but never going through the effort of watching it, until now. I got recommended this again years later and somehow I remembered this video because of the unique thumbnail and Cicada 3301 (about which I had no idea cuz back then we didn't had such cheap internet). Good old days....

No one: Math exam questions:

The winner gets to know who is the 1 dentist out of 10 who doesn’t recommend the toothpastes

The way that background music completes the vision and narration is delightful.

Nice vid man I’m starting to get into your channel

Imagine if this was somebody's college project and they overdid it? Had to change it to stop more arguements

Turns out cicada was trying to promote his SoundCloud the whole time

I cannot get over the intro music. It's just so good and fitting

i watch this video like 2-3 times a year im OBSESSED with this and fun fact this video is what lead to my pursuit in cyber security where i am in college to do as we speak!

*The Finalists Get To Know Victoria’s Secret*

If this whole “being an internet cult” thing doesn’t work out for cicada, they should really look into music production.

Love the music for this one, 0:32 still randomly plays in my head sometimes.