Mastermind Revisited

Abstract

For integers $n$ and $k$, we define $r(n,k)$ as the average number of guesses needed to solve the game of Mastermind for $n$ positions and $k$ colours; and define $f(n,k)$ as the maximum number of guesses needed. In this paper, we add more small values of the two parameters, and provide exact values for the case of $n=2$. Finally, we comment on the asymptotics.