Wood and Stewart (famous researchers) published a research in 1987 that shows the benefits of Mastermind. The study showed that college students who participated in the research enhanced their critical thinking abilities, making them less prone to errors in reasoning. Games capture the ideas and worldviews of their cultures and pass them on to the next generation. Games were important as cultural and social bonding events, as teaching tools and as markers of social status. As pastimes of royalty and the elite, some games became common features of court culture and were also given as gifts. There are many varieties of board games. Their representation of real-life situations can range from having no inherent theme (e.g. checkers), to having a specific theme and narrative (e.g. Cluedo). The time required to learn to play or master a game varies greatly from game to game. Learning time does not necessarily correlate with the number or complexity of rules. The rise in board game popularity has been attributed to quality improvement (more elegant mechanics and graphics) as well as increased availability thanks to sales through the Internet. Linearly arranged board games have been shown to improve children's spatial numerical understanding. This is because the game is similar to a number line in that they promote a linear understanding of numbers rather than the innate logarithmic one. The board games can be therapeutic and paying games have been suggested as a viable addition to traditional educational curriculum.
Mastermind is similar to a game that was popular hundreds of years ago which was named as Bull and Cows. It involves two players who are involved in deciphering the so-called codes of each other. It was invented in the year 1970 by an Israeli telecommunication expert named Mordecai Meirowitz. He was an acting postmaster too! His idea was at first turned down by many of the leading toy companies, but he persisted, and took it to the International Toy Fair at Nuremberg in February 1971. Released in 1971, the game sold over 50 million sets in 80 countries, making it the most successful new game of the 1970s. It has received awards like Game of the year (1973), Design Center Award and Queen's Award for Export Achievement.
Something about this game caught the imagination of the public, and it became the most successful new game of the 1970's. The game is played using: a decoding board, with a shield at one end covering a row of four large holes, and twelve (or ten, or eight, or six) additional rows containing four large holes next to a set of four small holes; code pegs of six (or more; see Variations below) different colors, with round heads, which will be placed in the large holes on the board; and key pegs, some colored black, some white, which are flat-headed and smaller than the code pegs; they will be placed in the small holes on the board. In 1993, Kenji Koyama and Tony W. Lai calculated that the best strategy uses an average of 5625/1296 = 4.340 moves.
The two players decide in advance how many games they will play, which must be an even number. One player becomes the code-maker, the other the code-breaker. The code-maker chooses a pattern of four code pegs. Duplicates are allowed, so the player could even choose four code pegs of the same color. The chosen pattern is placed in the four holes covered by the shield, visible to the code-maker but not to the code-breaker. The code-breaker may have a very hard time finding out the code.
Now the actual game of 'cat and mouse' begins. Twelve (may be even ten or eight) turns is the thing that the Code-breaker gets the chance to disentangle the arrangement conveyed by his partner. He does as such by organizing a column of code pegs on the unraveling board. At that point, the Code-producer comes into picture by conveying 0 to 4 key pegs in the little gaps of the column. On the off chance that this key peg is colored or black, it suggests that the forecast of the other player is exact both regarding shading and position, while, a white key peg indicates the likelihood of right shade sent in the off base spot.
There may be an instance when there are similar colors in the predication laid down the Code-breaker and it is not feasible to grant a key peg to all of them unless they match the exact number of similar color in the hidden code. Now, if the hidden code is A-A-B-B and the Code-breaker indicates B-B-B-A, the other player ought to grant two colored key pegs for the correct A, nothing for the third A and finally, a colored key peg for the last B. This ensure, that the suspense is kept alive, hiding the fact that the code has a second B in it! Here A and B represent colors that might be used in the table board.
This pattern of guessing, unraveling goes on until one of the thing happens, either the Code-breaker runs out of his chances or he predicts the exact pattern deployed by the Code-maker. The scoring is such that the Code-maker is awarded a point for each prediction that the Code-breaker makes. A bonus point is granted to the Code-maker if the other player doesn't unravels the correct pattern in the last prediction. The winner is obviously the one who has most number of points after finishing the pre-decided number of rounds. Even the score revolving around coloured key pegs placed can be used.
In November 2004, Michiel de Bondt proved that solving a Mastermind board is an NP-complete problem when played with n pegs per row and two colors, by showing how to represent any one-in-three 3SAT problem in it. He also showed the same for Consistent Mastermind. Varying the number of colors and the number of holes results in a spectrum of Mastermind games of different levels of difficulty. Another common variation is to support different numbers of players taking on the roles of code-maker and code-breaker. Few of its varied varieties are Word mastermind (1975), Number Mastermind (1975) and Incicta (1977).
The trouble level of any of the above can be expanded by treating "vacant" as an extra color or diminished by obliging just that the code's hues be speculated, autonomous of position. Mastermind can also be played with paper and pencil. There is a numeral variety of the Mastermind in which a 4-digit number is guessed. Digital versions have recently overshadowed the board variety as most of the youth spends their free time online!
Mastermind is similar to a game that was popular hundreds of years ago which was named as Bull and Cows. It involves two players who are involved in deciphering the so-called codes of each other. It was invented in the year 1970 by an Israeli telecommunication expert named Mordecai Meirowitz. He was an acting postmaster too! His idea was at first turned down by many of the leading toy companies, but he persisted, and took it to the International Toy Fair at Nuremberg in February 1971. Released in 1971, the game sold over 50 million sets in 80 countries, making it the most successful new game of the 1970s. It has received awards like Game of the year (1973), Design Center Award and Queen's Award for Export Achievement.
Something about this game caught the imagination of the public, and it became the most successful new game of the 1970's. The game is played using: a decoding board, with a shield at one end covering a row of four large holes, and twelve (or ten, or eight, or six) additional rows containing four large holes next to a set of four small holes; code pegs of six (or more; see Variations below) different colors, with round heads, which will be placed in the large holes on the board; and key pegs, some colored black, some white, which are flat-headed and smaller than the code pegs; they will be placed in the small holes on the board. In 1993, Kenji Koyama and Tony W. Lai calculated that the best strategy uses an average of 5625/1296 = 4.340 moves.
The two players decide in advance how many games they will play, which must be an even number. One player becomes the code-maker, the other the code-breaker. The code-maker chooses a pattern of four code pegs. Duplicates are allowed, so the player could even choose four code pegs of the same color. The chosen pattern is placed in the four holes covered by the shield, visible to the code-maker but not to the code-breaker. The code-breaker may have a very hard time finding out the code.
Now the actual game of 'cat and mouse' begins. Twelve (may be even ten or eight) turns is the thing that the Code-breaker gets the chance to disentangle the arrangement conveyed by his partner. He does as such by organizing a column of code pegs on the unraveling board. At that point, the Code-producer comes into picture by conveying 0 to 4 key pegs in the little gaps of the column. On the off chance that this key peg is colored or black, it suggests that the forecast of the other player is exact both regarding shading and position, while, a white key peg indicates the likelihood of right shade sent in the off base spot.
There may be an instance when there are similar colors in the predication laid down the Code-breaker and it is not feasible to grant a key peg to all of them unless they match the exact number of similar color in the hidden code. Now, if the hidden code is A-A-B-B and the Code-breaker indicates B-B-B-A, the other player ought to grant two colored key pegs for the correct A, nothing for the third A and finally, a colored key peg for the last B. This ensure, that the suspense is kept alive, hiding the fact that the code has a second B in it! Here A and B represent colors that might be used in the table board.
This pattern of guessing, unraveling goes on until one of the thing happens, either the Code-breaker runs out of his chances or he predicts the exact pattern deployed by the Code-maker. The scoring is such that the Code-maker is awarded a point for each prediction that the Code-breaker makes. A bonus point is granted to the Code-maker if the other player doesn't unravels the correct pattern in the last prediction. The winner is obviously the one who has most number of points after finishing the pre-decided number of rounds. Even the score revolving around coloured key pegs placed can be used.
In November 2004, Michiel de Bondt proved that solving a Mastermind board is an NP-complete problem when played with n pegs per row and two colors, by showing how to represent any one-in-three 3SAT problem in it. He also showed the same for Consistent Mastermind. Varying the number of colors and the number of holes results in a spectrum of Mastermind games of different levels of difficulty. Another common variation is to support different numbers of players taking on the roles of code-maker and code-breaker. Few of its varied varieties are Word mastermind (1975), Number Mastermind (1975) and Incicta (1977).
The trouble level of any of the above can be expanded by treating "vacant" as an extra color or diminished by obliging just that the code's hues be speculated, autonomous of position. Mastermind can also be played with paper and pencil. There is a numeral variety of the Mastermind in which a 4-digit number is guessed. Digital versions have recently overshadowed the board variety as most of the youth spends their free time online!
About the Author:
Cheryll Tefera is an online gaming enthusiast. She loves working with gamers to help them get better in strategizing their moves. Cheryll believes that it is imperative not to share any personal information in online gaming world. If you are looking for Best Online Strategy War Games she recommends you check out www.letsplayriskonline.com.
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