Puzzle Desk

Code Breaker

Guess the hidden code. After each guess, a filled dot means right colour in the right place; a ring means right colour in the wrong place.

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How to play Code Breaker

How to play

Tap pegs to fill the highlighted row, or drag them onto its slots, then press Check. Tap a slot to choose it; tap a chosen peg again to take it out. Every colour has its own symbol too.

Reading the clues

Each filled dot means one peg is the right colour in the right place. Each ring means one peg is the right colour but in the wrong place. The dots don't tell you which pegs they belong to; that is the puzzle.

Levels

Easy: 4 pegs from 6 colours, no colour used twice, 10 guesses. Classic: 4 pegs from 6 colours, colours may repeat, 10 guesses. Hard: 5 pegs from 8 colours, colours may repeat, 12 guesses. The daily code is a classic one, the same for everyone.

Keyboard

Number keys place pegs, arrow keys move between slots or change a peg, Backspace takes a peg out and Enter checks the row.

Questions

What do the dots and rings mean?

A filled dot: one of your pegs is the right colour in the right place. A ring: one of your pegs is a colour that is in the code, but somewhere else. A colour only earns as many dots and rings as it appears in the code.

Is this the same as bulls and cows?

Yes, it is the same idea. In bulls and cows, a bull is a right digit in the right place and a cow is a right digit in the wrong place. Here the digits are coloured pegs.

What is a good first guess?

On Classic, a guess with two pairs, such as two pink and two yellow pegs, splits the 1,296 possible codes well. On Easy, any four different colours is a fine start.

What does the hint do?

It counts every code that still fits all your clues, puts one of them in your row and tells you the worst case: how many codes could still be left after its feedback. You can still change the row before checking it.

Can every code be cracked within the guesses?

Yes. Classic codes can always be found in five guesses with the right strategy, so ten gives you plenty of room for mistakes.

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