This simple game based on paper is now the inspiration to one of the most popular games which floods your WhatsApp group every other day!
The game’s core mechanics come from the older pencil-and-paper game “Bulls and Cows,” a simple code-guessing game with numbers.
In the game one player (the code-maker) creates a secret sequence, and another (the code-breaker) attempts to guess it based on positional feedback.
The game is traditionally played with 4-digit numbers, though versions exist with 3 to 6 digits or even words.
The code-maker writes down a secret number where all digits must be unique (no repeats! This is important and we will come to it later!).
The code-breaker submits a guess of the same length, also with unique digits.
After each guess, the code-maker provides two scores!
Bulls: The number of digits that are correct and in the right position!
Cows: The number of digits that are in the secret number but in the wrong position!
Did you get the modern version of the game with that description!?
There is an intermediate popular game which also got inspired by this one!
Telecommunications expert Mordecai Meirowitz invented the peg-based version of cows and bulls in 1970.
This game play included colors!
One player (Codemaker) sets a secret color code, and the other (Codebreaker) guesses, receiving clues (black/white pegs) for correct colors/positions!
Did you understand that one! Yes! It is Mastermind!
The famous computer scientist Donald Knuth analyzed the game in 1976, proving the codebreaker can always win in five moves or less!
Later on the colors were replaced with alphabets and set to six letters with repeats (which are the hardest clues to solve!)
So you have a six alphabets to solve in six tries or less!
Yes! The Wordle! You even have similar games with numbers and even they are real fun to play!
Fun also was to watch comedians like Raju Shrivastav!
Now finish your worldle of the day and sleep!
Shubh ratri…
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