Break the Code - First Play!

18th September 2022

We're on Board Game Arena​ for some gaming goodness.

Use your deductive reasoning to... Break the code, a puzzle-like game of logic and elimination.

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Caveat: We've only ever played Break the Code digitally.

What's in a game?

• Tiles: There are 20 tiles in Break the Code and they are numbered form 0-9 twice, one set has black numbers and the other white, except for the number '5' which is green in both sets.
• Question cards: Players ask each other questions to solve the game's central conundrum but are limited to using the questions that appear on these 21 cards.
• Screen: The physical version of the game comes with a screen for each player to hide information from other players, most important of which are the player's own numbers.
  The screen also has 5 columns labelled A-E which will correspond to the player's own 5 tiles during the game.
• Notepad: This is a pad of reference sheets used by players to record the results of questions asked throughout the game. The top part of the sheet lists the 20 numbers on the tiles which can be struck off as they are eliminated.
  Below that is a grid that has a column labelled A-E and rows for each other player, allowing players to cross-reference information about columns and players.

There's little to no art in the game and to be honest, the game is a fairly abstract almost puzzle-like game that doesn't really need it.
Presentation wise, it's clear and easy to understand.

Break the Code also has no iconography unless you count numbers. There's nothing here that would prove an obstacle to players.

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Question cards & notepad. At the top is shows all the tiles and has space for the answer. Below that is the grid used to solve the code and n the right it shows the player's own numbers.

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How's it play?
Setup
The setup for Break the Code differs some what between a 2 player count and a 3-4 player count.
The setup here is for 3 players.

• Players: Give a screen and a sheet from the notepad to each player, as well as a pencil.
• Tiles: Shuffle the tiles into a face-down stack.
  Depending on player count deal 5 tiles to each player face-down and 5 face-down into a central playing area.
  Players: Each player should now secretly look at their own tiles and arrange them numerically from left-to-right, positioned face-up behind their personal screen so that each number is in a column with a letter. I.e., the lowest number will be in the A column and the highest will be in the E column.
  Central tiles: The tiles in the central area should remain face-down and be revealed until the game is over.
• Question cards: Shuffle the question cards into a face-down deck. Deal 6 cards face-up into the central area.
• First player: Determine a starting player.

On to play
The objective in Break the Code is to deduce the value and colours of the 5 tiles in the central area before anyone else. This will be done by asking other players questions (Using the questions on the question cards.) about their own tiles and then by matter of elimination discovering which tiles are in the central area.
Break the Code uses a traditional turn order with the active player resolving their turn before play progresses to their left.
On their turn, the active player can choose 1 of 2 actions.

• Ask a question: The active player picks one of the 6 available question cards and the other player must truthfully answer its question.
  Questions might include:
  'How many odd tiles do you have?'
  'How many of your tiles have a white number?'
  Record result: Once players have given answers, all players should record what has been said on their sheet. Thus, even when it's not a player's turn, they should pay attention to answers given.
  Discard: Once a question card has been used, it is discarded and a new one is drawn in its place.
• Guess tiles: Instead of asking a question, the active player may choose to guess what 5 tiles and their colours are in the central playing area. A player only gets one chance to guess the tiles!
  First the active players writes their guess down on the allotted spot on their sheet. Then, without revealing the tiles, the active player peeks at them and declares whether they were wrong or right.
  Got it right: If the active player has correctly surmised which tiles are in the central area, play continues until the current round is finished, this potentially gives players later in the round a final chance to guess the tiles.
  Got it wrong: If the active player got it wrong, they are out of the game and play progresses as normal but without them! They must continue to truthfully answer other players' questions.
• Next player: Regardless of whether the active player asked a question or made a right or wrong guess, play progresses to the player on their left - unless the active player got the right guess and is also the last player.

Player count
There are a couple of differences in setup and player according to player count.

• 4 player: A 4 player game only differs from a 3 player in 2 regards:
  Only 4 tiles are dealt to each player and the central area. This means the 'E' column is not used in 4-player games.
  The active player must also answer the question they asked.
• 2 player: In a 2 player game, 5 tiles are dealt to each player, no tiles are dealt into the central playing area. Players are now instead trying to guess each other's 5 tiles.
  Additionally, players are not eliminated from play for making an incorrect guess.

Endgame
If all question cards have been used and no one has made a correct guess, all players lose!
Additionally, if all player make incorrect guesses, then again, all players lose.

When a player makes a correct guess, the end of the current round is played out, the game ends and they are the winner. There is a chance however, that other players may also make a correct guess with their last action. In which case, all players who guessed correctly are declared winners.

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Overall
There's not much to say about the mechanics of Break the Code, it's a very straightforward game that is essentially a multiplayer puzzle; ask questions and eliminate extraneous numbers until you are left with only the correct numbers.
Since questions are solely based on the available cards it means there can be a need for a bit of lateral thinking and trying to gleam information from awkward questions. I suspect that if players got to ask the questions they wanted, it would end a game quickly or break it!
It's also vital to listen to answers given to other players' questions.

Players first eliminate their own tiles which leaves them with about 10-12 more tiles to eliminate. They must cross-reference multiple answers to get the information they need. E.g., They may learn a player's first tile is a black number, then they may learn it's a odd number, then they may finally learn it's a 1 and so on.
Conversely, players will sometimes get a lot of information quickly, e.g., learning the tile in the E column is green means it must be a 5 and that it is also the highest number a player has behind their screen.
It's this kind of reasoning that drives Break the Code and if that sort of fairly heavy puzzle orientated game play doesn't appeal to you, then this is one to avoid.

Myself; I quite like puzzles but I'm not so sure about a multiplayer one, it's not something I feel lends itself well to multiplayer. I will add that we did play it online and over voice chat which could make it feel somewhat disjointed compared to face-to-face..
Having said that, I did enjoy Break the Code but found once I had 'broken' the code, there was very little motivation to go back to it another time.