SUMMARY/TL;DR

To sum up my strategy, remember this pattern and apply it as needed.

1122

1333

4144

3525

3627

3826

GG

This is the GG pattern.

This is a guide at how to improve at the game Mastermind, which was renamed by Lucid to Code Breaker for the purpose of it being the same name as the Mastermind role. This guide isn't for teaching you how to play the game, but, how to get better at the game and yes, there is a very tiny learning curve.

I noticed people started to copy my strategy when I was using it, but, I don't think they understand it exactly, so I will explain. For the purpose of this guide, I will call colors by numbers instead so that it is simpler to post here. The numbers are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. The way I pick what code I will use is with a random generator, as this isn't cheating and is just me making sure my code is completely random for the other player and not predictable.

The first thing I always do is 1122

If there is 0 red dots and 0 grey dots, then 33 44

If there is 0 red and 0 grey, guess what? That means 5678 are the numbers in the code and now all I have to do is arrange them correctly.

One way to do this is to try 5678, 6785, 7856, and 8567 in order to get an idea of what goes where, but, this is not effective due to the fact that there is still sixteen different possible solutions here and if I get a red dot, I have no idea which number the red dot is.

This is where the 55 66 strategy comes in. I know I will at least get 2 grey or 1 grey 1 red. I could get 2 red, so here is what I do when I get 2 reds.

1. If I get 2 greys, is just swap the 5 and 6 in the 5768 or if I got one red one grey, I swap the 7 and 5 around to see what I have. What could have been sixteen different possible answers is now getting broken down into a small number, very fast.

Here is where it gets tricky. I could have won the game by now, but, if I didn't, then I have to choose my next choice off how many reds I have and how many reds I'v had. When I make the next move after the 5566, it's going to decide a lot based on what 5566 was.

If 5566 had 2 red dots and when I put 5768, it has 4 grey, then all I have to do is swap the 5 and 7, then the 6 and 8, and win the next turn.

If 5566 had two grey, then all I have to do is 6758 and count the greys and red then. If its four greys, swap 6 7, then 5 8. If its two reds and two greys, then you have to swap the 7 and 8. If its 4 reds, then why the hell are you still reading this?

Now if the thing is one grey and one red, then we can have some issues here. You will end up 7568 and it will either be all grey or all red. Literally just repeat the previous step of swapping from here. This is the way you will guess when you know what four colors it is. It is the most efficient.

Finding out the four colors

Starting the game off, I always do a red red green green, or 1122. The purpose for this is because I need to find out if its one of these colors. If its not, you know what to do next already, but, if it is a single grey or red, then I get busy with this next step. If there is a single grey, I 2333. If it is a single red, I 1333. This tells me if I get a grey or red from here, what number is correct and what spot it's probably in. I won't deny that the 333 after the 1 can add a new red or grey, thus making it slightly more difficult, but, that is where the next step comes in.

If there was a grey in the 1333 instead of a red, then 4144. If there is zero, then you know that the 3 was the number and its correct place is the first number. You will also find out that 2 is the number. You might not catch on to what I am saying exactly, but, understand the pattern I have here and the purpose of the pattern. This isn't a guide on how to win, but, how to improve and understand if you lost to dumb luck or skill.

Once you realize which of the first numbers is correct, then you move on to a pattern like this. 3525. The 3 if you knew the three was there. If not, put a 5 there instead and replace the two fives with two sixes. Repeat the concept of the 1122, but, in this case, you know that the 2 is in the right place. It won't always be 2 in this place, but, the concept will be the same. About this part, you should be very close to solving the code. Sorry if you suck and don't understand the strategy.

Here is what a good game should look like. This is a perfect game.