Mastermind

The game that I played was Mastermind. Mastermind is a game where you have to guess a code that includes 4 colors. You have 8 colors to choose from and you can guess a sequence of 4 colors from those 8 at a time. When you guess a code, red and white pegs are placed into 4 slots to determine how many colors are correct. A red peg means a color is correct and in the correct spot, and a white peg means a color is correct but in the wrong spot. Although you get this information from the red and white pegs, you do not know which colors are correct, and that is where you have to do the rest of the thinking.

Strategies

An example of a strategy I used was close to a process of elimination type of strategy, but it was also a lot of guessing. I started with placing the first 4 colors and saw if there were any that were at least correct. For example, if I didn’t get any white pegs to indicate that I got any of the first 4 colors correct, then I would know that the code involves the last 4 colors, which would be easier to work with. (Process of elimination).

How Mastermind uses Inductive/Deductive Reasoning

In Mastermind, inductive reasoning is mainly used because the game involves using specific observations, like observing patterns, to find out the code. Although, deductive reasoning is also used in the game when you build off your previous guesses, because you are using general ideas to come to a specific solution.