Every time I meet the fine folks at Smart Zone they’re always quick to pull me right into a game. This year that game was The Hidden Code, by Dave Cousins. Still wrapping up production, the game has pieces that look like a Chess Rook cut in half. Each half has either a color or a number, and the two halves can stick together magnetically. The goal of the game is to guess a player’s color and number. You do this by asking them questions like, “Do you have 4 Red.” If the player you asked has either Red or a 4, they must answer “Yes.” The last player standing wins.
It seemed simple at first, but being a novice at the game I was quickly overwhelmed by the two gentlemen I played with. I found out using dirty tactics, like asking for colors that didn’t exist to make finding a number easier, are perfectly OK and are extremely clever.