Mastermind
Colour-deduction game — one player sets a hidden 4-peg code; the other guesses, with black/white peg feedback each turn.
What is Mastermind?
Mastermind is a two-player code-breaking game invented by Israeli postmaster and telecommunications expert Mordecai Meirowitz in 1970. One player secretly arranges four coloured pegs from six colours; the other has ten guesses. After each guess the codemaker gives feedback — a black peg for each guess in the right colour and position, a white peg for each right colour but wrong position. Sold over 55 million copies via Invicta Plastics (later Hasbro). A classic of both toy-shops and computer-science education.
Quick facts
Category
Puzzle Games
Type
Individual
Players
2–2
Where played
indoor
Country of origin
🇮🇱 Israel
Estimated origin
1970, Mordecai Meirowitz (Israeli postmaster); Invicta Plastics UK commercialised worldwide
Olympic
No
Popularity
global