Introduction
Minesweeper is a classic game that everyone knows. However, most people don’t know the different ways you can play it. This blog will detail the different ways you can play Minesweeper and how you should use each version of this game
Title of content: 6 Clever Hacks for Getting Your Tiny Apartment Ready For A Dinner Party Label for this section: Introduction
What this section does: Introduces the rest of the blog post
Outline of the post:
Blindfolded
- Blindfolded: You can’t see any of the board, but you know what colors are in each square.
- Blindfolded-but-you-can-see-a-single-row: You can see only one row (or column) at a time, but the entire board is displayed for an instant before it disappears.
- Blindfolded-but-you-can-see-the-entireboard: You can see all of the tiles on your current move at once, and then they disappear when you remove your blindfold.
5×5 board, one mine
This is a very interesting way to play minesweeper. The board is 5×5 and you have one mine. You can see the entire board for an instant and then it’s gone, or you can see a single row of the entire board for an instant.
This is an extremely difficult way to play because you have no idea where your mine is on this large board!
No flags
In this game, there are no flags. There are also no numbers that aren’t mines. This means that you can only click on numbers or squares that are already marked as being safe to click on. You can’t click on any squares that you haven’t marked as being safe before; these will be considered “undefined” and will not be allowed to be clicked.
In case it’s not clear yet: an undefined square is one where you have not yet determined whether or not it is a mine or not. In the standard Minesweeper game, the number of undefined squares at any given time is exactly equal to zero (0). For example, if I have clicked all of my non-mine tiles and then I decide which tile to go for next by clicking one next to one of those tiles without knowing whether it contains a mine or not (e.g., because there’s another mine nearby), then this new tile becomes defined as either containing a mine or not containing a mine—the moment I click on it in order determine which!
Flip game (1/3 chance of losing)
For the first time, you can play a game of minesweeper that has an equal chance of winning or losing. Sounds odd? It is!
To play this game, you will need the following:
- A computer with internet access
- Minesweeper installed on your computer
- A calculator (optional)
No clicks at all
The next way to play is by not clicking on any tiles at all. This can be a little tricky because you have no idea where some of the mines are, but it’s also pretty fun! You can use the numbers on a tile to help determine where they are, or you could use the colors. I suggest using both together in this situation.
Blue stones, green stones (2/3 chance of losing)
You are playing a game of minesweeper. In this game, the board is divided into blue stones and green stones. The blue stones are safe to click on; the green stones contain mines. Each time you click on an empty square, it flips over and becomes either a blue or green stone (with equal chance). You win if all of the squares are revealed without hitting a mine.
10 mines, but the possibility of seeing a single number for those 10 for an instant and then it’s gone (1/3 chance of losing)
There are two ways to see a single row of the board. One way is that you can get a single number on any one of your 10 mines, and then it’s gone. The other way is if there’s at least one bomb in your column, but no bomb in your row or column.
In both cases, it should be clear that you’re likely losing this game unless you can solve the puzzle without taking any further moves (which would mean no bombs).
This method does have some advantages over playing normally: You get to see a larger portion of the board for an instant, and it helps eliminate guesses about what numbers might be present since they’ll stay in their respective squares until they’re moved or uncovered by another move. But these benefits aren’t really worth it considering how long it takes to solve each puzzle with this method (and how often I lose while doing so).
You can see a single row of the entire board for an instant (1/3 chance of losing)
One of the most interesting aspects of this game is the fact that you can see a single row of the entire board for an instant. This gives you a glimpse at what’s ahead, but also makes it so that if you don’t want to use up one of your three instant hints, you don’t need to!
When this option is available, it will show up as an icon in the corner of your screen. You can tap on that icon and then tap on any cell in any row or column in order to reveal everything underneath that square (including any mines). Once you’ve done this, all other cells will be covered again by red squares until another time when they are uncovered by being selected or revealed via an instant hint.
You can see the entire board for an instant and then it’s gone (1/3 chance of losing)
This is called the “blue stones, green stones” version. It’s meant to be challenging, but also fun and frustrating in a way that makes you want to keep going. In this version, you can see the entire board for an instant and then it’s gone (1/3 chance of losing). The game still plays out like it would in any other minesweeper game; however, this version makes it more challenging because you are constantly trying to figure out what could be hiding under those “green squares”.
Conclusion
Well that’s it for now! I hope you enjoyed my blog and learned some things about how to play minesweeper.