Mastermind for Kids

Set your secret code by hiding jungle animals under the rocky mountain. There's lions and tigers and bears - monkeys, hippos and elephants, too. See how soon your opponent can guess your code. Along the way, you'll give clues to help. Then you get to break a code. The winner is the player who can guess the code in the fewest turns. Includes: plastic game base with rocky mountain tray, 72 jungle animals, 15 red scoring pegs, 15 white scoring pegs and instructions.

Any serious game collector should obtain this one. High detail game pieces and game board that is usually found in only a few expensive rare chess sets. This is much easier to learn than chess! Watch out, your kids will learn to beat you after a little practice. So, get ready for some healthy competition..


love this game   January 11, 2007
T. Owens (West Columbia, SC United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I am going buy about 10 of these things to give for birthday gifts for all the parties we go to. My 5 year old loves this game and it is hard to get him to sit for anyother games. It is easy to understand and fun to play. I do wish the pieces were a little bigger so that larger hands to hold them better. The price is great too.



Great game for younger kids   December 17, 2008
Kenna Ashley (Lake Anna, VA)
we took my 3 year old to the beach and they had this game at the house. He played it all week! Got everyone to play with him, the animals made it fun and easy for him to work out. Would depend on the child, but this is a great game for younger kids to use for reasoning.


Concept good, design bad   June 18, 2002
Jadecat (Lake Orion, MI United States)
103 out of 107 found this review helpful

Okay, who designs and tests these games?? I don't get it. I also loved Mastermind as a child and bought this one for my 6 year old, figuring it would be easier to learn and play than the 4 peg version. Also it looks really neat in a picture. We opened it up yesterday and she loves it, but it is driving me crazy already. Granted, it is cute, all the pieces are bright colors and of animals, but they are small and they have shallow holes to fit into on the board, so they fall over a lot. A lot! Especially when you have a kid that can't refrain from squirming around for more than 20 seconds. Then, after one falls over, when you try to put it back in its spot, your big fingers knock over their neighbors. Any bump to the board and they all go toppling. Same thing with the red and white pegs. I feel like I am a giant trying to play a little kiddie game. Plus, I really expected it to be harder, more challenging. It took a few rounds for my daughter to get the hang of it, but now the 'secret codes' seem pretty easy to break. There are two different ways they say you can play, and we skipped right over the easy one because it was way too easy. Another minor pet peeve is the little 'cave-like' space you put the hidden color code in. You have to lift that part on and off the board each time you play a game, and in doing so you spill the red and white pegs out of their holder. My daughter always has me lift it off for her as she can't do it gently. AND (I know I am picky, but why don't the designers see these things?) the 'cave-like' space for the secret code gets dark because it is covered, so it is hard to differentiate between colors when you put the pegs in there, the pink, purple and red start to look the same in the cave.
So, if I could go back and do it again, I would just go for the regular Mastermind. In all, my daughter thinks it is great and I like the way it makes her think (flawed logic and all), I just wish it wasn't so clumsy to play though. My rating is high as it is fun (for her), educational and durable because the plastic will last a long time. I just think someone should have seen how unstable the pieces are on the board, and just made it a little more user friendly.