Board games involve a number of participants, studies conducted by social scientists show that they help in the development of interpersonal intelligence skills as well. The reason for such is the fact that the games involve competition - and collaboration at certain times. As a result, they help the person understand and interact with others more effectively. Common features of games include uncertainty of outcome, agreed upon rules, competition, separate place and time, elements of fiction, elements of chance, prescribed goals and personal enjoyment. Early board games represented a battle between two armies, and most modern board games are still based on defeating opposing players in terms of counters, winning position, or accrual of points (often expressed as in-game currency). A 2012 article in The Guardian described board games as "making a come back". Another from 2014 gave an estimate that put the growth of board game market at "between 25% and 40% annually" since 2010, and described the current time as the "golden era for board games". Much research has been carried out on chess, in part because many tournament players are publicly ranked in national and international lists, which makes it possible to compare their levels of expertise. Playing board games has also been tied to improving children's executive skills. It helps one and all in improving their respective Decision making skills. The adults tend to relate the board games to tedious Project management decisions as well!
Mastermind is a board game with an interesting history. Some game books report that it was invented in 1971 by Mordecai Meirowitz, an Israeli postmaster and telecommunications expert. After many rejections by leading toy companies, the rights were obtained by a small British firm, Invicta Plastics Ltd. The firm originally manufactured the game itself, though it has since licensed its manufacture to Hasbro in most of the world. However, Mastermind is just a clever re-adaptation of an old similar game called 'Bulls and cows' in English, and 'Numerello' in Italian. Actually, the old British game 'Bulls and cows' was somewhat different from the commercial version. It was played on paper, not on a board. Over 50 million copies later, Mastermind is still marketed today! It went on to win the first ever Game of the Year Award in 1973. It also received a Design Center Award, and the 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.
One of the two players becomes a Code-maker and the other is Code-breaker. It is chosen at the start between these two players that how many rounds of game they will play. It is to be noted that the number of rounds to be played must be an even number. A pattern of four code pegs is then chosen by the Code-maker, since the replicas are permitted, the player has an option to deploy these pegs of the same color. The pattern is arranged in the four holes by the Code-maker and is hidden from the Code-breaker. This ensures that the Code-breaker finds it very difficult to decipher the enigma!
The code-breaker tries to guess the pattern, in both order and color, within twelve (or ten, or eight) turns. Each guess is made by placing a row of code pegs on the decoding board. Once placed, the code-maker provides feedback by placing from zero to four key pegs in the small holes of the row with the guess. A colored or black key peg is placed for each code peg from the guess which is correct in both color and position. A white key peg indicates the existence of a correct color code peg placed in the wrong position.
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.
Many ways have been unraveled introduce new varieties of this game. Basic variety is to bolster diverse quantities of players tackling the parts of code-creater and code-breaker. Changing the quantity of colors and the quantity of openings results in a range of Mastermind games of distinctive levels of trouble.Royale mastermind (1972), Grand mastermind (1974), Super masterminds are few of its famous versions. Numerous Studies on Mastermind complexity and the satisfiability problem have been made. Michiel de Bondt has proved that it is a NP-complete problem, using 3SAT fundamentals.
The difficulty level of any of the above can be increased by treating "empty" as an additional color or decreased by requiring only that the code's colors be guessed, independent of position. Computer and online versions of the game have also been made, sometimes with variations in the number and type of pieces involved and often under different names to avoid trademark infringement.
Mastermind is a board game with an interesting history. Some game books report that it was invented in 1971 by Mordecai Meirowitz, an Israeli postmaster and telecommunications expert. After many rejections by leading toy companies, the rights were obtained by a small British firm, Invicta Plastics Ltd. The firm originally manufactured the game itself, though it has since licensed its manufacture to Hasbro in most of the world. However, Mastermind is just a clever re-adaptation of an old similar game called 'Bulls and cows' in English, and 'Numerello' in Italian. Actually, the old British game 'Bulls and cows' was somewhat different from the commercial version. It was played on paper, not on a board. Over 50 million copies later, Mastermind is still marketed today! It went on to win the first ever Game of the Year Award in 1973. It also received a Design Center Award, and the 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.
One of the two players becomes a Code-maker and the other is Code-breaker. It is chosen at the start between these two players that how many rounds of game they will play. It is to be noted that the number of rounds to be played must be an even number. A pattern of four code pegs is then chosen by the Code-maker, since the replicas are permitted, the player has an option to deploy these pegs of the same color. The pattern is arranged in the four holes by the Code-maker and is hidden from the Code-breaker. This ensures that the Code-breaker finds it very difficult to decipher the enigma!
The code-breaker tries to guess the pattern, in both order and color, within twelve (or ten, or eight) turns. Each guess is made by placing a row of code pegs on the decoding board. Once placed, the code-maker provides feedback by placing from zero to four key pegs in the small holes of the row with the guess. A colored or black key peg is placed for each code peg from the guess which is correct in both color and position. A white key peg indicates the existence of a correct color code peg placed in the wrong position.
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.
Many ways have been unraveled introduce new varieties of this game. Basic variety is to bolster diverse quantities of players tackling the parts of code-creater and code-breaker. Changing the quantity of colors and the quantity of openings results in a range of Mastermind games of distinctive levels of trouble.Royale mastermind (1972), Grand mastermind (1974), Super masterminds are few of its famous versions. Numerous Studies on Mastermind complexity and the satisfiability problem have been made. Michiel de Bondt has proved that it is a NP-complete problem, using 3SAT fundamentals.
The difficulty level of any of the above can be increased by treating "empty" as an additional color or decreased by requiring only that the code's colors be guessed, independent of position. Computer and online versions of the game have also been made, sometimes with variations in the number and type of pieces involved and often under different names to avoid trademark infringement.
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 Online Strategy Game she recommends you check out www.letsplayriskonline.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment