Code Breaker Game

What is Code Breaker?

Code Breaker is a deduction puzzle about identifying a hidden ordered sequence. You create a guess from the available symbols and receive two pieces of information. An Exact marker means one guessed symbol is correct and already in the correct position. A Color marker means one guessed symbol appears in the secret but belongs in a different position. Unmatched symbols receive no credit. The important detail is that the feedback is a count, not a map from a marker to a particular guessed tile, so each row becomes a small logic problem.

The Standard game uses four slots and six symbols with repeated symbols allowed. That creates 1,296 possible codes before the first clue. The objective is not to get lucky; it is to choose guesses that separate possibilities, interpret repeated-symbol feedback correctly, and keep every later move consistent with what earlier rows proved.

Repeated symbols are handled correctly

Repeated symbols are where weak implementations often become confusing. Suppose a secret contains two copies of one symbol but your guess contains three. The feedback must not award three matches just because the color appears somewhere. Code Breaker first counts exact-position matches, removes those positions from consideration, and then matches only the remaining occurrences up to the number actually present in the secret. This same calculation is used for every displayed clue, every exact candidate check and every QA fixture.

Four difficulty levels change the real search space

Easy uses four slots and five symbols without repeats, producing 120 possible codes. It is useful for learning the distinction between symbol membership and position because each symbol can appear only once. Standard uses four slots and six symbols with repeats allowed, producing 1,296 possibilities. Hard expands to five slots and seven symbols with repeats, producing 16,807 possibilities. Expert uses five slots and eight symbols with repeats, 32,768 possibilities, and reduces the guess allowance to eight. These are genuine state-space changes rather than cosmetic labels.

Exact Candidate Lens

Candidate Lens is an optional study tool. When enabled, the browser enumerates the full code space for the active difficulty and applies every submitted row as a hard constraint. A candidate survives only when recomputing its feedback against every previous guess produces exactly the same Exact and Color counts that you received. The number shown is therefore an exact remaining-candidate count for this ruleset, not a made-up difficulty score.

Candidate Lens also shows a small sample of codes that still satisfy every clue. It intentionally does not claim that the sample is exhaustive on larger search spaces. Turning the lens on marks the run Assisted because knowing the exact size of the remaining set is additional information you would not have in unaided play.

Hint is a study aid, not a claim of perfect play

The Hint button exact-filters the remaining candidate set and chooses a candidate intended to split that set usefully. On smaller sets it can compare many candidate partitions; on larger sets it samples deterministically so the browser remains responsive. The product does not call the hint mathematically optimal. It is a practical local suggestion designed to help you ask a more informative next question. Using Hint marks the run Assisted and fills the suggested symbols into the current row without automatically submitting them.

Undo preserves PB fairness

Undo removes the most recent submitted row and restores that guess to the active row so you can reconsider it. Because seeing feedback and then erasing the row gives extra information, Undo also marks the run Assisted. Once a run becomes Assisted, hiding Candidate Lens or continuing without another hint does not turn it back into Clean. Clean personal bests therefore represent games solved without Candidate Lens, Hint or Undo.

Autosave and local stats

An unfinished Practice game autosaves in browser storage with the seed, difficulty, current row, submitted feedback and Assisted state. Returning to the same mode can restore the exact position. Practice stats track games, wins, clean wins and the best clean solve for each difficulty by fewest guesses and then time. These are device-local records only. The game does not invent a global rating, world percentile, leaderboard, IQ score or account-backed ranking.

Keyboard and mobile play

Each symbol has both a color and a visible shape so the interface does not rely on color alone. On a keyboard, number keys select symbols, Backspace removes a choice and Enter submits a complete row. On touch screens, the same actions are available through large buttons. Feedback markers also use letters—E for Exact and C for right symbol in the wrong position—so their meaning remains readable without depending on fill color.

A practical deduction routine

Early guesses should usually test several symbols rather than repeatedly rearranging the same uncertain group. Once you know a symbol belongs in the secret, use later rows to separate membership from position: keep confirmed symbols while changing where they sit, and introduce fewer unknowns at once. When two rows appear contradictory, recompute what each feedback count actually guarantees. Candidate Lens is useful after you have made your own deduction and want to verify whether you accidentally kept an impossible code in mind.

Daily Code Breaker is a separate specialist habit

The Daily Code Breaker uses one deterministic Standard code for the calendar date. It keeps a separate local solve history and streak and does not enter the existing Today’s 6 rotation. That separation preserves the main six-game daily score while still giving Code Breaker its own repeat-visit loop.