Great dad-daughter game: Mastermind

by Karen Walrond (Subscribe to Karen Walrond's posts) Feb 28th 2006 7:58AM

When I was a kid, my family and I travelled quite a bit -- mostly due to the fact that my dad was often transferred from country-to-country with his job. As such, there were long periods of time spent on airplanes, moving from one place to another.

My father, the engineering Ph.D., was a lover of logic games and brain teasers, and instilled the same passion in my sister and me. One of the games he loved back in the 70's was MasterMind. Do you remember this game? It was played between two people -- one created a secret colour code behind a partition, and the other player tried to figure out what the code was, via cryptic clues given by the first player.

My dad and I used to play this game for hours. If you or your kids are logic-fanatics, I strongly recommend it. If memory serves, this game was huge at one time -- yet nowadays, I rarely ever hear anyone playing it. You can purchase the game online at Amazon.com for a perfectly respectable $14.99, and international shipping is available.

How about you -- were you ever a MasterMind?

Comments (11)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Kate 2-28-2006 @ 8:11AM

I used to love beating my sisters at that game! I love board games, but the husband won't play me (he doesn't like to lose - ha ha). I can't wait until my daughter is old enough to play these sorts of games.

momma2mingbu 2-28-2006 @ 8:21AM

My dad and I used to play Mastermind a lot too.
My kids and I play on the Neopets website a lot and they have a game called Time Tunnel which is a lot like Mastermind.
http://www.neopets.com/games/timetunnel.phtml

Marcia 2-28-2006 @ 8:28AM

Amen momma2mingbu! When I have my youngest relatives over, we enjoy logging onto neopets and letting them play games such as Time Tunnel. The children really love those kinds of games because they are not too difficult for them to learn. I have never came in contact with Mastermind, but now that I know it's out there I might just have to buy it for the little ones because they don't yet have the internet at their home.

Ms Sisyphus 2-28-2006 @ 8:29AM

Oh, I loved this game. My oldest brother has 7 years on me, and so we were often into different things--plus, I'm a girl. But Mastermind....we used to play this for hours. I felt so grown up the first time I beat him.

Andie D. 2-28-2006 @ 8:46AM

My neighbor and I used to play this game for HOURS! I didn't even know they made it anymore! Going to Amazon right now....

Christina 2-28-2006 @ 8:57AM

Yes! I played that game all the time as a kid! They had it in our classroom in elementary school, and we were encouraged to play it during game time. It was always a favorite of mine.

Alyssa 2-28-2006 @ 9:44AM

I loved this game in junior high! I played it with my babysitters. I asked for it for Christmas this year, but didn't get it- maybe for Mother's Day!

beth 2-28-2006 @ 10:17AM

Yes! I played this game with my dad when I was younger. He wasn't really into playing board games or card games with us, so I remember loving this game because he would always say yes to it. I had forgotten all about it!

LS 2-28-2006 @ 10:45AM

Mom, Dad, both older brothers... all of them played this one with me. We LOVED it. Another favorite was the original Battleship (not the electronic one, we made our *own* battle noises). Amazon and the makers of Mastermind owe you a debt... their sales are going to spike, thanks to you!!

Mary 2-28-2006 @ 11:10AM

We still HAVE ours! And yes, it's a great one. Being the word person I am, I've discovered a couple of MasterWords online. Same game, same type of clues, just letters instead of colours.

P's Mama 2-28-2006 @ 11:36AM

Oh my gosh! I had totally forgotten about this game! I was obsessed with it! Thank you so much for the trip down memory lane. Although my daugher is too young to play it now, I'm placing my order pronto. My poor husband is going to have to play it with me...

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