# Install color-code with Homebrew, apt

Free advanced MasterMind clone. Version 0.8.7 via Homebrew; verified 2026-05-18. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install colorcode.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:color-code
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install color-code
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install colorcode
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: colorcode from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:color-code
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.8.7
- **Source summary:** Free advanced MasterMind clone
- **Homepage:** <http://colorcode.laebisch.com/>
- **Last updated:** 2026-05-18T15:16:42-04:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- colorcode (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.8.7
## Project history and usage

ColorCode is a GPL-licensed Qt MasterMind clone by Dirk Laebisch. It is packaged less as a Unix command-line tool than as a small desktop puzzle game that happens to be distributed through Unix package managers.

### Project history

The project had a dedicated website by October 2009, shortly after the 0.5 release. Its early releases expanded the game from a configurable MasterMind clone into a richer puzzle implementation with alternate game modes, accessibility-oriented scaling, preferences, a timer, stored game lists, and a built-in solver.

### Adoption history

ColorCode entered Debian packaging in December 2009, which is the most visible upstream-cited adoption milestone. The supplied Homebrew metadata also maps it to Debian and Ubuntu packages, making it a small cross-distribution desktop game rather than a single-manager formula.

### How it is used

Users run the `colorcode` executable to play MasterMind variants with configurable color counts, column counts, duplicate-peg rules, predefined difficulty levels, and optional solver assistance.

### Why package nerds care

ColorCode is a representative example of Homebrew carrying lightweight open-source desktop software alongside CLI tools. Its upstream history also shows the usual long tail of small Qt applications: source tarballs and distro packaging matter more than a large hosted forge presence.

### Timeline

- 2009: ColorCode 0.5 released and the dedicated project website launched.
- 2009: Debian packaging announced by upstream.
- 2010: ColorCode 0.6 added a second game mode and settings dialogs.
- 2011: ColorCode 0.7 added separate solver and timer threads plus game lists.
- 2015: ColorCode 0.8.5 became the first feature-complete Qt 5 release.
- 2023: ColorCode 0.8.7 added CMake as a build option while keeping qmake.

### Related projects

- The project is explicitly positioned as a MasterMind clone and solver. Its package-manager footprint links it to desktop game packaging in Debian, Ubuntu, and Homebrew.

### Sources

- <http://colorcode.laebisch.com/>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - colorcode - 0.8.7-1+b1: installed executable or alias match | Debian stable package indexes: colorcode from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | advanced clone of the MasterMind code-breaking game | http://colorcode.laebisch.com/
- Ubuntu apt - colorcode - 0.8.7-1build2: installed executable or alias match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: colorcode from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | advanced clone of the MasterMind code-breaking game | http://colorcode.laebisch.com/


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/color-code.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/color-code.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph