[games] The Mastermind Box Cover: What the Hell Were They Thinking? … Transcripts from inside the room at the Mastermind board game new cover presentation.

REYNOLDS: Do we want sexual tension on a board game cover for eight-year-olds?

SMITH: We want adult tension. The tension of brains. If anyone sees sex, that’s on them. We’re not responsible for the public’s imagination. We’re responsible for moving units in Woolworths. Gary, I see what you’re going for… a Cold War posture: mutually assured… embarrassment? You probe, they conceal, you infer, they flinch. Gorgeous.

REYNOLDS: Jesus. All that from colored pegs and a plastic tray?

LARKIN: Bingo.

[games] How to Win at Monopoly and Lose All Your Friends … interesting analysis of how play Monopoly effectively … ‘Because Monopoly is one of the best-selling games of all time, most of us learned to play it as children. As such, most of us know the basics of going through a turn, such as rolling, moving, buying and improving properties, collecting rent and so on. However, few people know all the rules (more on this later) or how to form a cohesive strategy. This results in games were people more or less roll the dice and go through the motions until somebody wins. Because of the way the game is designed, this inevitably results in one person acquiring a majority of the assets on the board, and beginning the slow, painful, friendship-destroying process of grinding the other players out of the game, turn by turn. This is why Monopoly starts as a fun exciting romp, only to turn into a bitter cesspool of despair…’

[fun] How to Win at Monopoly® – a Surefire Strategy … ‘Always buy Railroads; never buy Utilities (at full price).’ [via Robot Wisdom]

[london] Monopoly Map … ‘A geographically accurate map of the elements of standard London Monopoly’ [via qwghlm.co.uk]

[puzzle] Sudoku Spreadsheet — Frustrated by Sudoku? Got Excel?

[puzzles] Sudoku Solver … ‘I have written this solver to show the extent of the possible logical solutions that derive from the numbers on the board.’

[puzzle] Can you Digit? — more about Sudoku from the Guardian … ‘I now have the profound dissatisfaction of being obsessed with something I’m not very good at.’

[puzzle] How To Solve Sudoku … ‘A colleague at work sent me the puzzle and I sat down and worked out this way of solving it. Being slightly computer literate I decided to make a spreadsheet do all the hard work. I circulated the solution and someone suggested I publish the algorithm – I hope it helps.’ [via The Guardian’s Newsblog]

[puzzle] Diamond Geezer on Sudoku: ‘…like all the best puzzles it’s fiendishly simple.’