205:
This version is usually played orally, but is easier to play if each player (or each team) keeps written notes. It is exactly like the numerical version, except instead of four-digit numbers, four-letter words are used. They must be real words, according to whatever language or languages the game is
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On a sheet of paper, the players each write a four-digit secret number. The digits must be all different. Then, in turn, the players try to guess their opponent's number who gives the number of matches. The digits of the number guessed also must all be different. If the matching digits are in their
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The host responds with the number of cows and bulls for each guessed word. As with the digit version, "cow" means a letter in the wrong position and "bull" means a letter in the right position.
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would result in "2 bulls, 1 cow" (since E and A are in the right positions, while T is in the wrong position). The game continues until one of the guessers scores "4 bulls" for guessing
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These programs maintained a league table of players' scores, and protecting the integrity of this league table became a popular case study for researchers into computer security.
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machine. It became so popular the administrators had to introduce systems to prevent it from clogging the system. In 1972, the original
Cambridge MOO was ported to the
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being played in. Alternative versions of the game can be played with three-letter or five-letter words, but the four-letter version remains the most popular one.
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version of bulls and cows. This software uses "A" to denote "bulls" (digit in the correct position) and "B" to denote "cows" (digit in the wrong position).
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computers and another was available through the DEC Users
Society, both dating from 1971. A version written by Lane Hauck in the language
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Computer versions of the game started appearing on mainframes in the 1970s. The first known version was written by Frank King at the
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would result in "0 bulls, 3 cows" (since E, A, and T are all present, but in the wrong positions from the guess), and a guess of
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word (i.e. no letter appears twice) and, if the word length is not pre-determined, announces the number of letters in the word.
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The game may also be played by two teams of players, with the team members discussing their strategy before selecting a move.
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Other players (the guessers) try to figure out that word by guessing isogram words containing the same number of letters.
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for two or more players. The game is played in turns by two opponents who aim to decipher the other's secret code by
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The numerical version of the game is usually played with four digits, but can be played with any number of digits.
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It is proved that any number can be solved within seven turns. The average minimal game length is
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485:"The Golden Age Arcade Historian: The Ultimate (So-Far) History of Gremlin Industries Part 2"
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would result in "0 bulls, 0 cows" (none of the guessed letters are present); a guess of
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right positions, they are "bulls", if in different positions, they are "cows". Example:
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sometime before the summer of 1970. This version ran on
Cambridge's multi-user
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A version called BASIC MOO was published in the DECUS Program
Library for
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released in 2021. Players have six attempts to guess a five-letter word.
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Answer: 1 bull and 2 cows. (The bull is "2", the cows are "4" and "1".)
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The first player to reveal the other's secret number wins the game.
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284:, a game show that contains word puzzles with similar gameplay
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later served as the basis for the handheld game Comp IV by
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and the word-based version predates the hit word game
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operating system at MIT, and reimplemented on early
509:Ritchie, Dennis; Thompson, Ken (July–August 1978).
209:The game play for the word version is as follows.
80:Bulls and cows predates the commercially marketed
560:"Mathematics, Computer Science, and Number Games"
250:The word version of bulls and cows is similar to
588:Page with the PL/1 code for Moo by J.M. Grochow
8:
541:"Optimal algorithms for bulls and cows game"
464:"San Diego's Gremlin: how video games work"
638:, a similar online game with cute animals
306:
304:
311:Grochow, Jerrold (July–September 1972).
300:
7:
632:, a web version of Bulls & Cows
420:Steele Jr., Guy L. (3 March 1971).
227:For example, if the secret word is
213:One player (the host) thinks of an
527:10.1002/j.1538-7305.1978.tb02136.x
483:Smith, Keith (25 September 2015).
462:DeWyze, Jeannette (12 July 1982).
25:
356:Software: Practice and Experience
317:Software: Practice and Experience
625:iOS version of Bulls & Cows
595:"The Computer as a Master Mind"
545:slovesnov.users.sourceforge.net
489:The Golden Age Arcade Historian
100:was widely available for early
511:"The UNIX Time-Sharing System"
350:Aleph-Null (April–June 1971).
1:
515:Bell System Technical Journal
389:Ritchie, Dennis (June 2001).
290:, a board version of the game
146:Cambridge Computer Laboratory
620:Bulls and Cows online solver
441:""MOO" or "BULLS and COWS""
275:, a similar game with words
683:
593:Knuth, D. E. (1976–1977).
29:
558:Liu, Chao-Lin. (2001).
112:systems, among others.
667:Paper-and-pencil games
407:10.3233/ICG-2001-24202
391:"Ken, Unix, and Games"
368:10.1002/spe.4380010210
352:"Computer Recreations"
329:10.1002/spe.4380020313
51:
652:Games of mental skill
608:: 1–6. Archived from
439:Johnston, L. (1971).
426:DECUS Program Library
116:The numerical version
96:. A version known as
71:paper and pencil game
42:
615:on 11 February 2017.
282:(American game show)
131:Opponent's try: 1234
30:For the animal, see
128:Secret number: 4271
69:-breaking mind or
52:
27:Code-breaking game
195:26274/5040 ≈ 5.21
16:(Redirected from
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521:(6): 1905–1929.
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313:"MOO in Multics"
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201:The word version
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150:operating system
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75:trial and error
57:(also known as
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582:External links
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569:(in Chinese).
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362:(2): 201–204.
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185:Milton Bradley
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63:pigs and bulls
59:cows and bulls
55:Bulls and cows
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18:Bulls and Cows
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662:Logic puzzles
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610:the original
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492:. Retrieved
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395:ICGA Journal
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422:"BASIC MOO"
104:computers,
48:open source
646:Categories
295:References
288:Mastermind
87:Mastermind
82:board game
445:Decuscope
376:222193478
261:word game
258:web-based
166:Bell Labs
152:on their
102:mainframe
84:version,
451:(1): 29.
337:62558113
267:See also
179:for the
630:CowBull
494:19 July
215:isogram
197:turns.
158:Multics
110:Multics
65:) is a
44:4digits
636:Koalas
374:
335:
253:Wordle
93:Wordle
32:cattle
613:(PDF)
598:(PDF)
563:(PDF)
372:S2CID
333:S2CID
280:Lingo
273:Jotto
181:PDP-8
177:FOCAL
154:Titan
46:, an
496:2022
245:heat
241:teal
237:eats
233:coin
229:heat
162:Unix
108:and
106:Unix
67:code
523:doi
403:doi
364:doi
325:doi
173:PDP
164:at
98:MOO
61:or
648::
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571:32
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303:^
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
