Writing a computer program to play Mastermind that appears to be intelligent

  • Authors:

  • Joel Gyllenskog

  • Affiliations:

  • Computer Partners Incorporated, Boise, Idaho

  • Venue:
  • ACM SIGART Bulletin
  • Year:
  • 1983

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Abstract

Writing computer programs to play games is a pleasant avocation. To capitalize on this opportunity it makes sense to use the computer's abilities for computation and storage that human competitors lack. Algorithms that are usable by people in a reasonable amount of time are often poor choices for computerization. I believe that Roa's algorithm to play the game of mastermind as published in the October 1982 SIGART Newsletter serves as an example. The algorithm exhibits several fatal flaws:□It is predictable.□It is reproducible.□it performs at the novice level.