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41 ratings

HIT & BLOW

By 俄

This game is also known as "Bulls and Cows" and it has been played as a paper-and-pencil game for a century or more.

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Created by

俄
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Category: Achievements, Game Modes

Languages: English

Posted

Updated

30 Jan, 2017 @ 6:14pm

26 Sep, 2023 @ 7:47pm

2,368	Unique Visitors
26	Current Favorites

Guide Index

Overview

WHERE TO FIND IT

IN-GAME EXPLANATION

GOOD LUCK

INFORMATION

Comments

WHERE TO FIND IT

decoyman

You will find this minigame in the Babylon mall, under the escalators.

There is an achievement associated with clearing the minigame in 5 attempts or less.
In this guide I have collected some information to help those who are interested.

IN-GAME EXPLANATION

コダイ

スミオ

The numbers are a 4-digit combination. The security code changes every time. Input the correct code in 20 tries or less. A red lamp means the number is correct, but in the wrong location. When a location and number match, a green lamp will flash. When all four of the green lamps flash, it'll unlock.

クサビ

テツゴロウ

Quit wasting time with your ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ yapping. To summarize, just get all four green lamps on. Now get to it.

GOOD LUCK

The minigame is randomized so unfortunately/fortunately there is no easy way out. If you want the achievement you will have to put effort. Save the game in front of the Babylon 24 sign, below the escalators, and make contact with the minigame. When you fail you will have to reset the game and reload that save.

The "Strategies" that can be found online are actually some advanced mathematical functions meant to be run by machines. The best you can do during the first turns is to "prune" what you percieve to be the incorrect numbers, and pray that you get all of them right in the 5th turn. Don't rely on memory alone, write stuff down. Also try making a serious face so you appear to be thinking hard.

This was how it went for me:

＃１

０１２３
２ＢＬＯＷ

＃２

４５６７
１ＢＬＯＷ

＃３

８９１２
１ＢＬＯＷ
１ＨＩＴ

＃４

１３８５
３ＢＬＯＷ
１ＨＩＴ

？？

Ｘ３ＸＸ

？？

ＸＸ１Ｘ

？？

５ＸＸＸ

＃５

５３１８
４ＨＩＴ

I started writing down each turn and each result. Before the 5th turn I tried to rule stuff out based on the previous results. I got lucky I guess.

INFORMATION

Math4U website[www2.math-4-u.com]

Here they claim that "If you first declare the opponent 4672 and get two 'BLOW' and next declare 3891 and get one 'BLOW', then 5 never fails to exist."

A Mathematical Approach to "Bulls and Cows"[www.amazon.com]

This is an actual book about the "Bulls&Cows" game.

Wikipedia article[en.wikipedia.org]

Strategies for playing “Bulls and Cows”[www.jfwaf.com]

A PDF I found in Wikipedia.

Automatic «cheat»(?) mode[frank-deng.github.io]

Another cheat site ;)

Some of these things go too deep into the subject, but I thought it might spark the interest of some people. It's surprising to see how much work has been done around this HIT&BLOW game.

8 Comments

< >

Spriggan 15 Jan, 2023 @ 12:41pm

here's another solver that's easier to understand https://www.thonky.com/virtues-last-reward/pod-room-door-solver

俄 [author] 2 Oct, 2022 @ 5:08pm

thanks everyone for the comments. the bulls and cows solver [frank-deng.github.io] really does make it way easier doesn't it. It was a matter of time until the code was cracked, was a fun ride, but it's still fun to try it yourself, like it's the early 00s. I'll update the guide to add the new resource so thank you for the new info. Stay gold

Fiftyfive 25 Jun, 2020 @ 3:57pm

Yo. Thanks a lot for this, I actually found an easier version thanks to you finding out it's called Bulls and Cows. https://frank-deng.github.io/bulls-cows-solver/ It's similar to the VLR Treatment Pod 'Hit and Blow' game which also has it's own solver on Thonky.com