Cost: $59 (out of print)
Players: 3-4
Playing Time: 30-60 minutes
Type of game: Logic
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From: Jumbo Cost: $59 (out of print) Players: 3-4 Playing Time: 30-60 minutes Type of game: Logic
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I've been a puzzle fan for almost as long as I've been playing games. Not jigsaw puzzles, which I view as exercises in patience more than ability, but pencil puzzles— crosswords, cryptograms, logic problems, and the like. I suppose many game players fall into puzzledom eventually. After all, puzzles are essentially games for one player, and when you can't find an opponent you can always reach for a puzzle.
Every now and then, a game comes along which includes a heavy puzzle element. Word games often have a strong puzzle-like feel to them, which might explain why I enjoy them so much. Another such genre is the logic game. Games like Scotland Yard, Sleuth, and Clue (all of which have a crime-solving theme) require the use of deductive logic. My favorite in this genre is Robert Abbott's Code 777, an out of print gem published in Europe by Jumbo in 1985.
Abbott's name should be familiar to most of you. His book, Abbott's New Card Games, is a must-have (see this issue's Book Report). His Eleusis game, which appears in that volume, became fairly well-known and was recently transformed into Genius Rules by Winning Moves. Eleusis is also a logic-based game, although it focuses on inductive rather than deductive reasoning.
Code 777 takes a cue from Indian Poker. Every player has a rack of three numbers in front of them, which all players but themselves can see. The goal is to figure out what numbers are on your own rack. Your first bit of help comes from the number tiles themselves. As the name of the game suggests, the number 7 has some significance. The tiles are numbered from 1 to 7, they come in seven different colors (though only a couple of numbers appear in each color), and in 7 different quantities (there's one 1, two 2s, etc. up to seven 7s). There are twenty eight tiles in all, and eliminating tiles from consideration is the key to identifying your own.
Right up front, you can cross off all the tiles you see on other players' racks. But that's not nearly enough. To supply more information, each player draws a card at the start of their turn and answers the question from the card. These questions always ask about the tiles visible to the player answering the question, which means you might get useful information on every turn except your own. Note the word "might" in that sentence. Not every question will help you— often you'll get information you already knew. Sample questions include "On how many racks are there 3 different colors?", "How many numbers are missing?", "Do you see more green sixes or more yellow sevens?", and "On how many racks is the sum of the numbers 18 or more?"
Each player works with a note sheet showing a diagram of the tile distribution and the numbers of all 23 questions. Everyone also gets a crib sheet with copies of the questions to refer to during the game, so when you jot down a "P:4" next to #8, you know that Peter said he saw 4 different colors.
Whenever a player thinks he knows his numbers, he can call them out. If he's right— and all he needs are the numbers, not the colors— he gets a point. Right or wrong, he tosses in his tiles and draws three new ones, starting again from scratch. The first player to get three points wins the game.
Through careful notetaking and good timing, you can make life easier for your second and third racks. For example, when you draw new tiles you can cross off all the tiles you've seen so far, including the ones from your previous rack. Timing can play a key role, too. The discards are shuffled back in when the pool drops to seven tiles. If you make the last guess before this shuffle, your opponents can cross your new tiles off their lists. After the shuffle, they can't be sure if that 3 is the same one they saw before. The downside is that sometimes you just need one bit of information and have to wait for the question which will give it to you. Even worse is when you draw that question! A lucky draw or question order can make a big difference in the game's outcome.
Fortunately, Code 777 plays so quickly that this flaw winds up being a minor one. It's really not about who gets there first. Like a good puzzle, it's about the satisfaction of getting there at all.