Goodwin
Lynchburg
Virginia
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This is one of the few games in my life that I let slip from my grasp (not on purpose). A friend passed away after borrowing this game, and I did not have the heart to ask for it back from the family. Of course, as such things go, I never saw it in a store again.
Which, of course, is where eBay came in. It had been, in addition to a fine game, a game my mother had given me, so there were sentimental reasons why I wanted a copy of this game. So I found a copy on eBay. Then another copy. And another copy. It became a favorite gift-giving option for me.
I must note that this review is about the Parker Brothers edition of Black Box from about 1977. The components and design are quite different, and I think, superior, to the Waddington's version.
I had never seen a game that looked like this. There was no racetrack around the edge of the board. There were no dice, no cards, no play money. It was for no more than two players, and it could be played solo! It came in a--are you surprised?--black box. When I took the lid off, I found a black playing board consisting of an 8 X 8 grid of ball-shaped depressions surrounded by a border of square depressions which lined up with the ranks and files of the ball-shaped depressions. There were five yellow balls which fit into the ball-shaped depressions, and a fistful of square plastic chits in red, yellow, and orange that fit into the square depressions. There was also a wipe-off diagram of the playing board with a scoring chart, and a wipe-off crayon. Lastly, and perhaps most tantalisingly, I found a rules book with solitaire puzzles and solutions.
It was a very cool and unique game to look at. It still stands out as a visually and physically well-designed and executed game. It's the kind of game people see, and stay to stare at until you either give in and explain it, or they wander away because you are thinking too hard to spare the brain cells to tell them what's up. It's a design from an elegant plastic future...if that's not too oxymoronic.
But once you get over the fact that it's a very cool-looking item, is there an equally good game to play in that black box? I think so.
At the time, I had not yet run across the excellent deduction game, Mastermind, but the game play reminds me much of this classic. Black Box is a lopsided game. One player creates a hidden pattern which the other player must deduce. Then the players reverse their rules, and second player becomes the hider, with the first player becoming the guesser.
The idea of Black Box is this: on the wipe-off diagram of the Black Box board, the "hider" draws the location of four invisible balls. The "guesser" then "shoots" an imaginary ray (think of it as a laser beam) down along a row of depressions in the game board. The beam is affected (or unaffected) by the presence (or absence) of the invisible balls, and either is deflected or stopped. The hider tells the guesser where the beam exits the board (if it does), and the guesser puts an appropriate plastic chit (or pair of matched chits) on the depressions on the edge of the board to indicate the entry and exit squares of the beam. As clues accumulate, the guesser places yellow balls on the board to indicate his guesses as to where the invisible balls are. Finally, the guesser decides he is confident of the location of the invisible balls, and puts the question to the hider, who then reveals the true location of the balls.
Some will not like this game due to the relatively passive role of the hider, who creates the pattern and passes out the clues. However, there is quite a bit of strategy in the pattern of the balls, as beams can be deflected many times before exiting the board, or deflected and absorbed by a direct hit on a ball. It can be quite confusing, and if four balls is too easy, a fifth ball can be added, which allows for four balls to mask the location of the fifth almost completely.
However, if the rotating hider/seeker role does not bother you, I think you will like this game, as Black Box is a very engaging game that demands replay after replay. This was one of the most-played games of the year I got it, and since I have gotten another copy, one of the few games my non-gamer wife enjoys playing.
Ah, yes, and if you don't have a player to play against, the rule book also includes fifty solitare puzzles, in which the rule book takes the role of the hider and gives you clues to assist you in solving the game. This was a very cool feature. This game has also been made into several good freeware computer games, but there's nothing like having an opponent sitting across this retro-future gameboard.
Get one. Get another one and share.
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Richard Irving
United States
Salinas
California
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Quote: It can be quite confusing, and if four balls is too easy, a fifth ball can be added, which allows for four balls to mask the location of the fifth almost completely.
Actually, with five balls it is possible to set up a position where it is impossible to determine one location. The rays are all steered away from several spaces by four of the balls, leaving several spaces where a fifth can never be hit or cause a deflected by any ray.
Otherwise, I agree. This game is an all-time classic.
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Alfred Das
Netherlands
's-Hertogenbosch
Noord-Brabant
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I always love to hear positive stories about this game. I think it is a truely underrated gem and much better than the better known Mastermind and all its later variants.
I was lucky to find a copy for €1.00 in a thrift shop last year. The clear plastic top had a crack in it, but the rest was pristine. I have the Dutch edition by Clipper (a Parker company) called "Ko-Code", pictured below.
I still hope to find a "Mini Black Box" to take with me all the time. 
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David
New Zealand
Wellington
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I had a "mini" Black Box. Played it a lot. Good memories.
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Marc Bicica
United States
New Jersey
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I agree that this is a great game.
The problem of taking turns is simply resolved by freeing yourself from the physical game. It is very easy to create forms on paper that allow simultaneous play. This free and flexible (you can make the field as large as you like) version will never be lost or for sale at some rip-off price on e-bay.
Also I have created a solitaire version in Visual BASIC that I would gladly share.
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Alfred Das
Netherlands
's-Hertogenbosch
Noord-Brabant
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mbicica wrote: I agree that this is a great game.
The problem of taking turns is simply resolved by freeing yourself from the physical game. It is very easy to create forms on paper that allow simultaneous play. This free and flexible (you can make the field as large as you like) version will never be lost or for sale at some rip-off price on e-bay.
Also I have created a solitaire version in Visual BASIC that I would gladly share.
If you like, you can either upload the VB version or link to it on the game's main page. Thanks for the reply here and welcome to BGG!
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Steve Burt
United Kingdom
Cambridge
UK
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rri1 wrote: Quote: It can be quite confusing, and if four balls is too easy, a fifth ball can be added, which allows for four balls to mask the location of the fifth almost completely. Actually, with five balls it is possible to set up a position where it is impossible to determine one location. The rays are all steered away from several spaces by four of the balls, leaving several spaces where a fifth can never be hit or cause a deflected by any ray. Otherwise, I agree. This game is an all-time classic.
Actually, the 'unsolvable' positions do not break the game if you use the supplied scoring system; you score the number of pegs used, with a penalty for any balls placed in wrong positions. The positions with a 'hidden' ball make it very easy to find the first 4 balls - then you guess the last one.
The average score is often lower doing this than trying to deduce some more devious placement of balls.
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Is it still possible to 'hide' the last ball if it's agreed upon, in advance, to create a non-symmetrical pattern??
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