Mastermind for Kids

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Mastermind for Kids

Item	Price	More/Buy
Mastermind for Kids (021853030204)	$6.80	@ Amazon (US)

Descriptions (1)
Reviews (3)
Related Items (4)
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Description(s)

Mastermind for Kids From Amazon (US) for $6.80

Mastermind for Kids
From Amazon (US) for $6.80

Review(s)

You may want to skip this kids' version... (Rating: 4.00) Review : ...and go straight to the original Mastermind. I know I wish I had. We picked this up for our 9yo son, with an eye toward our 6yo & 7yo nephews. I have fond memories of playing Mastermind as a kid and stumping my brother. The original wasn't available at Christmas, so I ordered this for kids who hadn't seen anything like it before. My son figured out his first pattern in 5 rounds. After that, he never went more than 4 rounds (or moves?) without solving it. We took turns playing with him for about an hour. Once we put it up, we never got it back out. It's just too easy. Our nephews (6 & 7) have since played Mastermind, and enjoy it immensely. It's tough for them, but not too tough. So this set won't get much use from them either. If your child is younger than 8 or new to this type of game, Mastermind for Kids won't hurt. It might be fun. But you'll soon want to move up. The pieces are a little too easy to knock over, but no more than one should expect. As they are small and plentiful, they also seem easy to lose. If your game collection is small and limited to essentials, skip this one. If it's large, if you like to have the perfect something for any situation, or you just collect games, then go for it. It's not a bad game, but it's not a must-have, either. Concept good, design bad (Rating: 0.00) Review : 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. Cutest Strategy Game (Rating: 5.00) Review : The brightly colored animals invite children to try this really fun strategy game. Once you play it, you may not be able to stop. The quality of the plastic is the best manufactured anywhere, so this makes an excellent gift. The compact size of the game, enables easy storage for travel on vacations, camping, or to take to the hospital for visitation. 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..

You may want to skip this kids' version... (Rating: 4.00)
Review : ...and go straight to the original Mastermind. I know I wish I had.
We picked this up for our 9yo son, with an eye toward our 6yo & 7yo nephews. I have fond memories of playing Mastermind as a kid and stumping my brother. The original wasn't available at Christmas, so I ordered this for kids who hadn't seen anything like it before. My son figured out his first pattern in 5 rounds. After that, he never went more than 4 rounds (or moves?) without solving it. We took turns playing with him for about an hour. Once we put it up, we never got it back out. It's just too easy. Our nephews (6 & 7) have since played Mastermind, and enjoy it immensely. It's tough for them, but not too tough. So this set won't get much use from them either.
If your child is younger than 8 or new to this type of game, Mastermind for Kids won't hurt. It might be fun. But you'll soon want to move up. The pieces are a little too easy to knock over, but no more than one should expect. As they are small and plentiful, they also seem easy to lose.
If your game collection is small and limited to essentials, skip this one. If it's large, if you like to have the perfect something for any situation, or you just collect games, then go for it.
It's not a bad game, but it's not a must-have, either.

Concept good, design bad (Rating: 0.00)
Review : 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.

Cutest Strategy Game (Rating: 5.00)
Review : The brightly colored animals invite children to try this really fun strategy game. Once you play it, you may not be able to stop. The quality of the plastic is the best manufactured anywhere, so this makes an excellent gift. The compact size of the game, enables easy storage for travel on vacations, camping, or to take to the hospital for visitation.

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..

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Mastermind for Kids

Item	Price	More/Buy
Mastermind for Kids (021853030204)	$6.80	@ Amazon (US)

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