Dispatch Hacking Guide – Puzzle Solutions and Tips

Dispatch breaks up its strategic base-building and hero management with intense hacking sequences that challenge your reflexes and puzzle-solving skills. These grid-based mazes ramp up in difficulty and change the pace, pushing players to think on their feet while racing against time.

Hacking segments require guiding a small avatar through intricate maze-like grids to breach systems before the clock runs out. It’s a refreshing hands-on diversion, but don’t be fooled — those early simple puzzles quickly evolve into complex challenges involving passwords, moving antiviruses, and path manipulation.

Understanding the basics of Dispatch’s hacking mechanic is crucial to progressing smoothly through the story. Once comfortable with the core controls and puzzles, you’ll find the increasing difficulty more manageable and less frustrating.

The H4ck3d by R0b3rt trophy is awarded to players who complete every hacking segment flawlessly, without failing a single one. Keep in mind two hacking puzzles in the game are optional; skipping them won’t count as failures but also won’t block you from earning this trophy. Later choices between multiple hacks allow you to miss some without penalty.

This is a trophy given to player who pass all the Hackings without failing a single one. There are to hackings that are optional and you don’t have to do. Remember that if you pass those, you will not get the trophy. However in later episodes where you have to chose between two Hacking puzzles, the one that you don’t do is not considered a failure and doesn’t affect your path to getting the trophy.

Hacking challenges appear throughout all episodes of Dispatch, increasing in complexity over time. From beginner tutorials to puzzles with inverted controls and dangerous electrical hazards, each episode demands new strategies to succeed. Below are direct links to episode-specific walkthroughs that detail every puzzle’s route and solution.

• Hacking Solution for Episode 1
• Hacking Solution for Episode 2
• Hacking Solution for Episode 3
• Hacking Solution for Episode 4
• Hacking Solution for Episode 5
• Hacking Solution for Episode 6
• Hacking Solution for Episode 7
• Hacking Solution for Episode 8

• Hacking Solution for Episode 1
• Hacking Solution for Episode 2
• Hacking Solution for Episode 3
• Hacking Solution for Episode 4
• Hacking Solution for Episode 5
• Hacking Solution for Episode 6
• Hacking Solution for Episode 7
• Hacking Solution for Episode 8

When you jump into a hacking puzzle, you’ll guide your avatar through maze-like grids while racing against a ticking timer displayed by an orange bar. Early puzzles focus on simple pathfinding and bridging gaps, but as the game progresses you’ll face increasingly devious twists like collecting passwords and navigating hazards.

You may encounter a Hacking Puzzle mostly during the shift or sometimes during the story scenes. But either way the process is the same. You have to guide an avatar through a maze-like grid to reach the end point, before you run out of time. An orange bar tells you how much time you have left. On your way there are gaps to cross, and early on that’s simple; as you go forward you’ll have to do more difficult things like finding a password down a side branch.

Some nodes along the path feature a hammer icon indicating that you can build bridges across gaps by activating them. Triggering a hammer node requires entering a specific arrow sequence displayed nearby. Certain nodes may have dual hammer icons allowing you to toggle between two different bridge configurations by reactivating the node.

If you reach a gap and you see a hammer icon there, you can build a bridge across the gap by activating the node. In order to activate the node, you have to enter an arrow sequence. Sometimes there are two hammers on the icon and by reactivating these the path you built disappears, and an alternative appears. By reactivating the hammer icon you can switch between these two paths.

Occasionally, you’ll encounter padlock icons on locked nodes without displayed arrow sequences. To unlock these, you must first find the matching password on a separate key node located somewhere else in the maze. Memorize the code there, then return to the locked node and input it. Passwords become longer and can span multiple nodes in later challenges.

As I said in order to activate a node with a hammer icon you have to enter a sequence of arrows that you can see right there. But sometimes these specific arrows are not given to you and you have to find them. These nodes are marked with a padlock icon. Head to the key node, memorize the code, then return to the padlock and enter the password there. As you progress through the game, the passwords get longer and they might even be split across two nodes.

Antivirus programs patrol advanced hacking levels as red avatars that chase you aggressively when you enter their detection zones. Getting caught means immediate failure and starting over. The best tactic is to lure these antiviruses into controlled loops, giving you time to slip past unnoticed. In later stages, you’ll gain the ability to disable antimiviruses using electrical charges.

This is another thing you’ll see in more advanced levels. When you enter an antivirus’s patrol area, a red avatar will chase you and if it gets to you, then you have to start over. Running away from them and baiting them into the controlled loop is the best approach when encountering an antivirus. In more advanced levels you’ll be able to destroy them using an electric charge.

Electrical charges are a late-game mechanic where you collect charges to toggle certain paths open or closed. Beyond that, charges let you destroy antivirus enemies, clearing the way for safer navigation. Timing your charge usage carefully is key to overcoming some of the more challenging puzzles.

This is another mechanic that was introduced in the later episodes. You have to collect charges to open and close certain paths. Also you can destroy antiviruses using electrical charge.

If you hit a wall on a specific hacking puzzle, the settings offer an option for unlimited hacking attempts. This removes the pressure to succeed on the first try and lets you focus on learning the route and mechanics until the story can move forward. For detailed step-by-step routes, password codes, and antivirus patrol timings, consult the episode walkthroughs listed above.

Dispatch

Release Date

October 22, 2025

ESRB

Rated M for Mature 17+ (Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol)

Developer(s)

AdHoc Studio

Publisher(s)

AdHoc Studio

Dispatch screenshots showing hacking sequences and antivirus challenges
Dispatch game tags and genre identifiers