How to play Code Breaker

The goal

Guessing

• Tap a color in the tray, then tap holes in the glowing row to place it. Or drag a peg from the tray into a hole.
• Tap a placed peg to take it out, or drag it to another hole to swap. Undo takes back your last change; Clear empties the row.
• When the row is full, tap Check.
• On a keyboard, press 1 to 8 to place a color in the next hole, Backspace to take one back and Enter to check.

Reading the clues

• A black key peg means one of your pegs is the right color in the right hole.
• A white key peg means one of your pegs is a right color but in the wrong hole.
• Key pegs don’t say which of your pegs they mean. Each peg in the code is counted once, so guessing a color twice only scores twice if it’s in the code twice.
• Every color also has its own symbol, so pegs can be told apart without relying on color.

Winning

• Crack the code (all black key pegs) within 10 guesses to win. Run out of guesses and the shield lifts to show the code.
• Your record keeps your best time and the fewest guesses you’ve needed in each mode. Starting a new game partway counts as a loss.

Modes

• Easy: 4 pegs from 6 colors, and no color is used twice in the code.
• Normal: 4 pegs from 6 colors, and colors can repeat.
• Hard: 5 pegs from 8 colors, and colors can repeat.
• Computer guesses: you hide a 4-peg code (6 colors, repeats allowed) and watch the computer crack it. It scores its own guesses honestly and never needs more than five.

Questions

Strategy guides