The Pigpen cipher has been used in several works of popular culture including Dan Brown’s 2009 novel The Lost Symbol, both in the book itself, and also to provide a puzzle in the artwork of the U.S. version of the bookjacket. The Trap, a 2009 nominee for Lancashire Children’s Book of the Year, uses a variation of the Pigpen cipher.
In the game Assassin’s Creed II, the cipher is used in the hidden glyph puzzle number 10, titled “Apollo”. Here the cipher is one of many hidden messages tucked away in paintings and photos of historic events or people. Though not essential to the play of the game, the encrypted messages, some of which also use Morse Code and binary code, provide clues to the game’s back-story.
The BBC series, Sherlock, has created a website to correlate with the events in the series – The Science of Deduction. Under the “Hidden Messages” tab, “Sherlock” lists three coded messages he received from a stalker, and the third is in pigpen cipher.
In Club Penguin, a modified pigpen cipher is used for “Secret Agents”.