Somewhere behind the board is a secret row of four shapes. You get a limited number of tries to name it exactly, and each try earns a small clue. Read the clues well and the answer falls out of pure logic, with no luck needed after the first guess or two.
This Bulls and Cows unblocked version is part of Christopher Müller's PaperGames collection. It swaps colored pegs for six black-and-white shapes, which are easy to tell apart on any screen, and adds a daily puzzle that is the same for everyone.
How to play Bulls and Cows
The code uses four positions, filled from a set of six shapes: circle, square, triangle, diamond, star and cross. Tapping a position rotates it to the next shape. Once every position is filled, send in your guess.
The reply comes as pegs. Black says a shape sits in its correct position. White says a shape belongs somewhere in the code, just not where you put it. You only learn how many of each, never which positions earned them.
Earlier tries pile up under the board along with their pegs, which makes side-by-side checks easy. On Easy you have 12 tries and the code never repeats a shape. Medium cuts that to 10 and lets a shape appear twice. Hard keeps repeats and leaves you only 8. Fail, and the code is revealed.
Controls
| To… | Keyboard | Mouse | Touch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Change the shape in a slot | Tab to the slot, then Enter to cycle | Click the slot to cycle through the six shapes | Tap the slot to cycle through the six shapes |
| Check your guess | Tab to "Submit guess", then Enter | Click "Submit guess" | Tap "Submit guess" |
| Start a new code | — | Choose a level, then click "New game" (open "Menu" if it is hidden) | Choose a level, then tap "New game" (open "Menu" if it is hidden) |
| Play today's shared puzzle | — | Click "Daily Challenge" | Tap "Daily Challenge" |
Tips
- Use four different shapes to start. That covers the most ground with one guess.
- Change one thing at a time. Swapping a single position between guesses makes it clear which shape caused the pegs to change.
- A guess with no pegs is gold. It rules out all four of those shapes for the rest of the game.
- Keep repeats in mind on harder levels. On Medium and Hard, a shape that already scored a peg may still appear a second time.
- Test each new guess against the old clues. Before submitting, ask whether it would produce the same pegs as every earlier guess if it were the code.
Bulls and Cows questions
What is the Daily Challenge?
It is a Medium puzzle built from today's date, so everyone gets the same code each day. It is worked out in your browser, and nothing is sent anywhere.
Can one shape earn two pegs?
No. A shape in the hidden code pairs with at most one shape you guessed, so using the same shape twice doesn't double the clue.
Does it remember a game I didn't finish?
Yes. Your unfinished code is stored in the browser, so you can close the tab and come back to the same puzzle.
