Mastermind board game
Hacker ApprovedRanked 5 of 15 board games by recommenders
People recommend this turn-based deduction board game as an enjoyable challenge. Caveat: one line of attack on the solution can get a little boring.
People recommend this turn-based deduction board game as an enjoyable challenge. Caveat: one line of attack on the solution can get a little boring.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Enjoyable, challenging deduction game
“which explained to me instantly why I really liked Mastermind”
Comment from 7 Nov 2025 in “1973 implementation of Wordle was published by DEC (2022)” “The ultimate "Mastermind" challenge.”
Comment from 29 Jan 2026 on Hacker News
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Solution can become a little boring
“there is a line of attack on the solution that can render it a little boring”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in ““Are you the one?” is free money”
Other board games people recommend
The four most recommended other board games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1D Chess | 16 | 2 | 89% | 1 | — | — |
| Tiao | 14 | 1 | 93% | 2 | — | — |
| Diplomacy board game | 12 | 1 | 92% | 3 | — | — |
| Root by Leder Games | 11 | 4 | 73% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Mastermind board gameThis page | 10 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
What people said
7 of the 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“There’s also a great book I think called The Mastermind”
“those seem pretty hard to argue with”
“The ultimate "Mastermind" challenge.”
“there is a line of attack on the solution that can render it a little boring”
“it's a great turn based came you can play whilst having trashy reality shows on in the background”
“It's a master class in branding.”
“which explained to me instantly why I really liked Mastermind”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.