Disclaimer – We have received this item for free or on a loan basis for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
Take Christmas retro this year with the original Mastermind game from Goliath. I remember this from my childhood, but since then it’s been updated for the 21st Century and includes more pegs this time (which over time you’ll realise is a must!) The rules are the same though; the codemaker creates a 4-peg code using the colours white, red, blue, green and yellow and hides them behind the shield. The second player, the codebreaker, has to guess what the sequence of colours is. With each correct colour, a red peg denotes that it’s in the correct place. If the colour is correct but in the wrong place a white peg is used. If there are no correct colours, no pegs! There are 10 tries to get the code correct.
Endless fun, this game doesn’t need much explanation nor much skill. It works across all the age ranges and even across languages and can be used as a quiet game to help wind down after Christmas Day or Boxing Day. The colours and pegs are tiny though, so they’re best not left around small children, and the warning is that under 3 year olds shouldn’t play with it. It also recommends over 8 years old to play. However, the ease of the game means that younger children can play as long as they’re responsible with the small pieces. I especially think children who are good at logical thinking or prefer strategic games would love this. It only needs 2 players too, making it even more accessible. Great fun at Christmas, but the rest of the year too.
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