1970 · Mordecai Meirowitz

Mastermind (board game)

board game

Released: 1970
Platforms: —
Genres: —
Developers: Mordecai Meirowitz
Publishers: Hasbro
Age ratings: ESRB E

About

Mastermind or Master Mind (Hebrew: בול פגיעה, romanized: bul pgi'a) is a code-breaking game for two players invented in Israel.

It resembles an earlier pencil and paper game called Bulls and Cows that may date back a century.

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

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;

Development

Mastermind was invented in 1970 by Mordecai Meirowitz, an Israeli postmaster and telecommunications expert.

After presenting the idea to major toy companies and showing it at the Nuremberg International Toy Fair, it was picked up by a plastics company, Invicta Plastics, based near Leicester, England.