Mastermind
It's from 1970, before you were born.
- Maker
- Invicta / Pressman
- Type
- Board game (code-breaking)
- Debuted
- 1970
- Note
- Invented by an Israeli postmaster
As an Amazon Associate, OlderThan earns from qualifying purchases.
About
As of 2026, it's 56 years old.
Mastermind cracked onto the scene in 1970, a two-player code-breaking duel invented by Mordecai Meirowitz, an Israeli postmaster and telecommunications expert. One player hides a secret sequence of colored pegs; the other deduces it through logic, guided only by tiny black-and-white feedback pegs telling them how close they are.
It's a pure deduction engine — a few good guesses and some careful elimination will crack almost any code — and its striking 1970s box art (a sharp-suited man and an elegant woman) became as iconic as the game itself, lending it an air of sophistication few peg games could claim.
Logical, elegant, and quietly brainy, Mastermind is the code-breaking classic that turned colored pegs into a battle of pure deduction.
