Learn Polish: Albo odszyfrujemy ten tekst, albo przegramy grę. - Either we decipher this text, or we lose the game.

The base verb here is szyfrować, which means to encrypt or to cipher. As you are learning in this lesson, adding the prefix od- often indicates reversing an action or state. Therefore, odszyfrować means to decipher or to decrypt.

Why is odszyfrujemy translated as "we decipher" in the present tense when it is a perfective future verb?

In English, we often use the present tense in conditional or either/or statements about the future ("Either we decipher it now, or we lose"). Polish, however, strictly uses the future tense for future events. Because odszyfrować is a perfective verb, conjugating it gives it an automatic future meaning: we will decipher.

Is there a specific word for "either" in Polish to use in this sentence?

No, Polish just repeats the word for "or". The structure albo ... albo translates directly to "either ... or". You simply place albo before each of the two possibilities.

We see another prefix in przegramy. How does prze- change the base verb grać (to play)?

While prze- often implies doing something "through" or "excessively", with grać it creates the perfective verb przegrać, which specifically means to lose (a game, a match, or a bet). It is the direct opposite of wygrać (to win).