Introduction to Minesweeper Game

Minesweeper is a PC game with logic and puzzle being its basis. The game is played to open the cells without activating the hidden scattered mines. As part of making progress in the game, players receive clues in the form of numbers, indicating where the mines may have been stationed.

Since its inception, there have been numerous variations of the Minesweeper game, with Arbiter, Minesweeper X and ViennaSweeper being the most popular ones.

This computer game is played against time, so, you must open the non-mines squares as quickly as possible. As you experience playing Minesweeper, you learn about the different in-game patterns to help you manoeuver sensibly.

With technological advancement, you have access to Minesweeper game online today. It does not require any additional installation, but just a minimum download for you to start playing the game.

It offers the same amount of fun, if not more, with access to different levels of difficulty to test your resolve.

An Insight into Minesweeper Game

If you are into logic-based gaming, Minesweeper is for you. Played on the computer, the game comprises a board with squares. These squares contain safe cells, empty cells as well as mines. Your role, as the player, is to unlock the safe cells without detonating the mine.

If a mine is detonated, you lose the game. You can choose to restart the game, but it will be all from square one.

There are three different levels of gameplay –

Beginner

Intermediate

Advanced

The higher the difficulty level, the more is the number of squares in the game. More squares mean more mines, which makes the game complex, yet interesting.

At first, you may feel like Minesweeper is a game of luck, but that is not the case. Sure, luck plays a part, but it is to the minimum. The game includes hints and if you follow the hints, progression becomes fast and interesting.

Because you are playing against time, it is pivotal to be quick and at the same time, same as much of it as possible. Remember, as indicated on the board, the surrounding eight cells carry at least one mine.

If you successfully manage to click on a cell that does not contain a mine, then the adjacent cells are revealed automatically thus saving you time.

In order to win, you do not have to click on all the cells, but the right ones. To do so, you must learn about the game’s pattern. If you familiarise yourself with the pattern, you will find yourself clicking on the right cells, in the process saving a lot of time, and more importantly, winning.

History and Origin of Minesweeper

Minesweeper is an invention of Microsoft, and was launched in 1990. Every subsequent update from Microsoft came with this game preinstalled in it. Even before Minesweeper, a wind range of ‘mine’ games existed dating back to the early 1980s.

They were made especially for home computers with the most renowned version being Mined-Out made by Sinclair Spectrum in 1983.

Battleship and other paper games were large inspirations towards the invention of Minesweeper. The game was in development throughout the 80’s. Features like right-click to mark a mine and the numbers, which showed players nearby bombs, were added in the latter half of the decade.

With technological advancement, Minesweeper is available online today. The credit for this goes to Shep Poor, who developed the game in 2005 and is currently upheld by Free Video Game Project.

Shep Poor’s coding is said to be one of the best in the gaming industry judging by how well Minesweeper works today without it being modified.The only developments made are for the game to perform in its natural form in the modern-day browsers.

The free version of Minesweeper is available even to this day. Though it is not preinstalled in computers, it can be downloaded directly from the Windows Store to the PC. As a result, it continues to be one of the most popular games today. Its open source version known as KMines is free and operational in Linux and Windows.

Minesweeper Gameplay

If you are interested in playing games that involve one player, and are logic-based, Minesweeper is for you. Upon starting the game, the first thing you notice is a board with empty cells in it. This board contains ‘mines’ that are distributed at random.

Your objective is to unlock all the cells and when you successfully do that, you win the game. Each cell displays a number, which serves as an indicator as to how many mines are stationed adjacent to it.

The mine could be either above that number, below it, to the left, to the right or even in one of the diagonal cells. This data will help you segregate the safer cells from the ones that contain mines.

If you suspect a particular cell has a mine, you can click the right mouse button and mark it with a flag. Remember, the objective of Minesweeper is to open all the cells, at the same time avoiding the ones that contain mine. If you click on the cell comprising a mine, the game ends and you lose.

The board also has a happy face, which you can click to start a new game. Equally, you can press the spacebar button on the keyboard to start a new game. To the left corner of the screen, you will see the number of mines present in the game. The game is also played with a game timer, which you can find on the right corner.

How Many Variations of Minesweeper Are There?

Since the time Minesweeper game came into existence in 1990, there have been numerous variations invented to cater to a diverse audience.

However, there are three versions that are more preferred by gamers. Here they are –

Minesweeper Arbiter:

Arbiter is the most popular Minesweeper variation and does not require additional installation. All you need to do is download a 536 KB of data and you are good to go.

This game has numerous features that allow you to opt for different rules to save the game, personalise the counter as desired, generate statistics, and compete using different cheat modes, to name a few. It has multiple language menus – English, Japanese and Chinese – to engage diverse audiences

Minesweeper X:

As compared to Arbiter, Minesweeper X is much simple and comes with extra features in the form of custom graphics. This game, too, does not require installation and offers numerous challenges to gamers

ViennaSweeper:

Like the other two variations, ViennaSweeper does not need additional installation. The one feature that makes this variant interesting is that it allows players to host competitions on Scoreganizer, which is Minesweeper’s tournament page.

All competitors are required to download a separate version of ViennaSweeper, enabling the host to upload live results on their site

Some other less popular Minesweeper variants comprise the likes of MultiSweeper, Torus Sweeper, Mouse Control, Mamono Sweeper, Nonosweeper, etc.

An Insight into Minesweeper Online and How to Play

Minesweeper online has a distinct set of rules that are simple and easy to understand. The game has a board comprising cells along with randomly distributed mines.

Your objective is to open all the cells without clicking on a mine. The cells also don numbers, which indicate the number of mines stationed adjacent to it. You need to make a judgement as to whether or not these cells are safe to open.

If you suspect that a cell might be a mine, you must right click the mouse, which will prompt for a flag to appear. Once you successfully manage to open all the cells without clicking on a mine, you will Minesweeper. Clicking on a mine will end the game and you losing.

To play the Minesweeper game online, you essentially need to follow the below mentioned actions –

You need to open the squares/cells. To accomplish this, all you need to do is click the left mouse button or tap the centre of the touchpad on the laptop

It is also important to determine the mine cells and flag them. In doing so, you will refrain from clicking on particular cells as they are already flagged

The third important element in Minesweeper is the question mark. You can get this by either double clicking the right button on the mouse twice or by right clicking on the cell that you have already flagged. The question mark is used when you are unsure whether or not a particular cell is a mine

You can also clear the cells that you have marked. To achieve this, you must click on the flagged cell or the cell with a question mark. So, the chronology is – flag, question mark, clear

Since you are playing against time, it may be tempting to play quickly. However, when you do so, you become vulnerable to committing errors. To prevent this, the game’s features enable you to clear more than one square at a time.

For instance, if you have a cell with 1 marked on it and you have already flagged one of its adjacent cells, all you have to do is click the 1 and all adjacent cells will open up. Conversely, if you have a cell with 3 marked and only one cell is flagged, the other squares will not automatically open. This is to ensure that you do not accidentally click on a mine, ending the game

Rules of Minesweeper Game

Before learning the Minesweeper rules, it is important for you to know that a lot of practice goes into mastering this game. Since a lot of luck is needed to thrive here, you might end up feeling frustrated at times, only wishing you had given up sooner.

However, that is the beauty of it, as overcoming the challenges brings the most joy. Plus, there are different difficulty levels in which you can participate to further test your resolve.

Minesweeper is a learning process and involves studying varied patterns.

The first cell/square you click is completely random. So, it may or may not be a mine. Your game may or may not end in the first click itself

The timer starts as soon as you click the first square

Numbers appearing on these squares indicate how many surrounding mines are there. The mine can be located in either of the 8 cells around that square. Your job is to identify which square contains the mine and not click it

If you suspect a particular square of containing a mine, you can flag it by clicking the right button on the mouse

You can click the mouse one more time over the flagged square to add a question mark to it. It is an indicator to you not knowing whether it is a square or a mine

If you click on a mine, the game ends

You can revive the game, but at the cost of 10 rubies. If choose to revive your game, there is a penalty in the form of 5 seconds getting taken off from the timer
The game will end not when you have flagged all the mines, but when you have opened all the squares

To make the game more challenging, you can alter the difficulty setting

Play Minesweeper for Free

One of the best aspects of Minesweeper online is that it is free. It is one of the many classic games available to play for free online. Furthermore, you get the game in its original state, giving you an impression of playing it like they used to back in the day.

Many sites even offer the option of customizing the board as per your gaming preference. For instance, you can add or remove the number of rows and columns or increase or decrease the number of mines. The size of the board can be zoomed in or zoomed out for better vision.

As per your expertise, you can adjust the difficulty level, which is beginner, intermediate or expert.

If you are new to Minesweeper, make sure to go through the rules to get a gist of how to manoeuver and play well. There are many strategies that you can incorporate in your gameplay to perform good consistently.

Tips and Tricks to Master the Minesweeper Game

Like any other game – online or offline – getting to know the rules of Minesweeper is the first step towards winning it. This game is played by one person with the aim to clear the squares while ensuring no mines are detonated.

Minesweeper is a mixture of strategy and luck and can be difficult to win if you are not well-versed with its rules.

Once you familiarise yourself with the rules, the below tricks can help you wade through the challenges that this game possesses –

There will be moments in the game where you will be forced to make a guess. Make sure that you click on the square with the least risk factor

Play slow when you are a beginner because figuring out the pattern requires patience

Though the board is blank in the beginning, it is pivotal that you make the best move to start, as it paves way for an easy road ahead

If marking a mine does not help you figure out the closest safe squares, do not mark it

Avoid the corners before opening the squares at the centre of the board and around them

Try locating cells that open up multiple squares instead of just two or three squares

If a mine explodes, make sure to note elements like how many mines you have flagged and the time taken to reach at that stage. It will serve as feedback for your future games

How to Win at Minesweeper Game?

Patterns play an important role in winning at Minesweeper game. When the game starts, you get a clean board with squares on it. To start, you must click a random square; preferably, opt to click one in the centre or a corner. You will either get a cell with a number or a mine or an empty cell.

In case you get a cell with a number, the pattern comes into play.

Now, there are two patterns you should be aware of – 1-2-1 and 1-2-2-1.

In the case of 1-2-1, it is usually the cells around 1s where the mines will be placed. In the case of 1-2-2-1, more often than not, the cells surrounding 2s will have mines.

Here’s how the pattern works:
When you click a square and a number, for instance 1, is revealed, your focus should be on the eight adjacent cells around the ‘1’ because in one of those cells, there is a mine. These cells are the easiest to clear.

When you click a square and the number revealed is 2, you must focus on the eight adjacent cells around it. However, know that two of these cells carry mines.

So, make sure to work through the cells that you are confident about, as it will prevent clicking one that carries a mine. And that is basically how you avoid the mines and win at Minesweeper.

Ludo vs Minesweeper

Ludo Game and Minesweeper are two games that many people played growing up. The former, however, used to be played in person, whereas Minesweeper was always a computer game. Thanks to technology, Ludo is accessible online today.

Both games are quite different from each other. In Ludo, the goal is to move the coloured pieces around the board and eventually into the designated space titled ‘Home’.

The game begins for a player when they roll a 6 on the die. 4 players can play Ludo at a given time. The objective of Minesweeper is to click different squares that are safe while avoiding “mines”. Clicking on a mine ends the game. It can be played by only one player at a time.

One of the areas where players find similarity between the two games is they are both strategic with a hint of luck.

Also Read - Ludo Cash Game | Ludo Game Download

Carrom vs Minesweeper

Carrom Game, like Minesweeper, is strategic game, and can be played in partnership, too. The objective of this board game is to pocket all the coins using a striker. The coins in play have allotted points.

The player scoring the most points is declared as the winner. In comparison, Minesweeper is a logic-based game that involves strategising. Learning the different patterns can be highly beneficial to master the game regardless of the difficulty level being played.

8 Ball Pool vs Minesweeper

Like Carrom, the objective of 8 Ball Pool is to pocket all the balls in order to win. In this game, two types of balls are used – solids and stripes. Two players competing are allotted a design each and they must pocket the balls belonging to only that design.

The 8 ball must be the final ball to be pocketed. The player, who pockets the 8 ball before solids/stripes, loses the game. Minesweeper requires the player to be cautious like in 8 ball pool, as one mistake can cost them the match irrespective of how close they are to victory.