Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Why am I giving a 1-star rating to one of my favorite games? Because this edition sucks, that's why. This edition is objectively poorly designed. Did nobody play test this? Did an intern design this for their summer project? Who knows? So, to run down the complaints: 1. Poor choice of colors. For some reason, the designers felt that the board and the peg covers needed to be bold, primary colors--meaning they couldn't use two of the most easily identifiable colors in the code pegs. This means you get pegs in pink and teal/green? And that the hint pegs are now changed from black and white to RED and white. What was wrong with a black/gray/brown game board? Nothing. Someone thought--incorrectly--that trendy/different colors would be refreshing and somehow hold the attention of attention-deficient players. It's just harder to use. 2. Poor build quality. I'm not the only reviewer here who's mentioned this. It's seriously the most poorly designed edition of any game I've bought. And that's really saying something, since the original was nothing stellar, but nothing to complain about, either. It's cheap plastic, and everything's rounded, making it hard to hold while traveling, suitable only for tabletop use. The hidden code cover is poorly made, the hinges not secured enough to keep the cover attached to the game. I'm not talking abuse, either--just regular moving the cover up and down, and it'll come off. This isn't a fluke, this is how it was designed. The peg storage cover stays put, but the storage compartments a) aren't completely separated, so the pegs will mix, and b) the code peg compartment isn't nearly big enough to hold all the code pegs! To store all the code pegs with the game, you have to put some of them in the hint pegs compartment, mixing the two types and eliminating the advantage of having two compartments in the first place. The hint pegs do sometimes slide too far down into the hole, reflecting inconsistent build quality, but I did experience that in the original, as well. The code pegs or their holes have been changed enough to make them very difficult to handle and hold in place. A domed top was never the best design (hard to grasp), but in the original they were easier to grasp, for some reason. Do yourself a favor and buy an original/used one on eBay. This is just an embarrassment.