2022-03-02
there are a few interesting differences across minesweeper clones. beyond the style, the direction flags point, and the dimensions and mine counts of different levels, there are gameplay-changing variations.
so far, i have encountered 2 distinct win conditions for minesweeper: 1. reveal all non-mine cells and 2. mark all flags correctly. i have spent over 200 hours experiencing each. this might seem like a minor difference since the bulk of the gameplay stays the same, but there are significant differences that led me to create different strategies when i play them, to the point that i get messed up and become inefficient for the first few minutes after switching between versions of minesweeper. in the early days of playing with these different win conditions, this inefficiency was even more promiment.
in this mode, you don't have to flag cells at all. one of the minesweeper games i play even rewards you differently for playing nf - no flags, where you keep track of the mine positions only in your mind. in normal gameplay, novices usually flag all mines, but the more experienced leave many mines unflagged, saving many clicks and movement, and therefore, much time.
for example, mines in far corners don't even need to be grazed by a cursor for you to win, if the cell-revealing algorithm/mine positions were kind enough to clear all necessary cells for you. i always do this when playing, vigilant of my efficiency, and my times are significantly lowered because of this.
by its nature, you have to reveal every part of the puzzle and can fully deduct where every mine is if it's not at a weird probability spot. so 100% of the mines if you're lucky, about 95% otherwise. in other words, almost all of the gameplay requires total deduction.
in this mode, you need to flag every mine. the game has an option of waiting for you to have the correct configuration of flags, or immediately killing you when you reached the minecount and have an incorrect config. i have only played on the latter.
here, there is no concept of not flagging, and all time-saving strategies based off flagging are useless here. however, they can be repurposed into time-saving strategies based off cells. this requires you brain to switch into a different gear, and can take some getting used to.
you can theoretically win a game without seeing any numbers. a pure field of grey tiles, the only intruder being small red flags. i often flag possible places for mines without wasting time fully deducing where they are or even checking if it's right after i place it down. this has led to countless game overs, but has often led to quicker wins as well. i always have to move to corners and flag them though.
i switch between games that use different win conditions very often, and i usually notice how i try to clear all cells when i don't need to, or flag mines despite knowing it uses up time just due to the muscle memory involved playing minesweeper earlier.
there are a few other notable differences across minesweepers that have important effects on gameplay.
in windows 7 and g*ogle minesweeper, you need to click your middle mouse button to chord. chording is when you click on a number and try to reveal the 8 cells around it, and it only works if that number has the correct number of flags surrounding. this is a vital part of minesweeper that makes up most of my clicks, since it saves many, many clicks that would've revealed only 1 cell. it should be said that in nf, chording can't be utilized but amazing times have been reached.
because these versions use the middle mouse, i developed a positioning of 3 fingers on my mouse to play minesweeper for a while, when i previously had a 2-finger setup - until my middle mouse button broke from all the chording, and reverted back to 2 fingers.
yes, purely due to minesweeper. it was 99% of why i clicked middle mouse at the time. for about a year or two, i continued using this broken mouse because i didn't feel like buying a new one and stopped playing win7 and g*ogle minesweeper, and was also unable to rotate in blender later without alt+left mouse. until my friend decided to gift me a mouse. i still chose what mouse i got, the g305, but i wouldn't have bought one for years if not for them.
the main versions i play just let you click on a number with your left mouse button, which is obviously designed for more longevity, so i don't have to worry about breaking my mouse this time.
i haven't addressed mobile versions of minesweeper until now, because they're genuinely bad to play. g*ogle requires you to hold down a cell for a while to consider chording, mobile demoncrawl makes it easy to lose because the game thought your long-press to flag was a a tap to reveal, etc. even simon tatham's mines, with its cute, spammy arrow key controls, is clunky. i spent a considerable time playing mines and finishing demoncrawl with these controls, years ago, and i do not want to touch them or mobile minesweeper ever again.
in most minesweepers, there is no method to flag multiple cells at a time, so you have to painstakingly right click each one individually. however, in one of the main ones i play, which has win condition #2, you can drag over cells with the right mouse button to flag all of them, and you can unflag by dragging over the flags (this can be done in the same stroke). this is especially great and satisfying for cells around 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s, and 7s. those long horizontal or vertical chains of 3s that would've taken 8 clicks, each staggering your movement, are now one fluid stroke. see a 7? now you can just draw a smooth circle! so awesome! honestly, this is the most fun part of minesweeper. my cursor is a paint brush and i flit around the canvas, making deliberate and fluid strokes as i solve.
while writing this on my phone and laptop, i listened to: sodaboy64 - deadcatz, panchiko - sodium chloride, kurahashi yoeko - tomodachi no uta, pup - dvp, mass of the fermenting dregs - oneday, ringo deathstarr - god's dream, dashboard confessional - standard lines, imogen heap - loose ends, omori - pranked., undead corporation - make me crazy, fujin club - gourmet travelogue, jeff rosenstock - the rudie of breathing, arcade fire - my body is a cage, hyakkei - mahou no jyuutan, yui - again, dorian electra - sorry bro (i love you) - recovery girl remix, chouchou - lunaria, toby fox - dating fight!, tricot - potage, keiichi okabe - song of the ancients (atonement), car seat headrest - bodys, lemon demon - prelude to presents, daniel olsén - forest ghost, æther realm - she's back, joji - like you do, toby fox - save the world, hannah - bobby, onumi - succubi, lemon demon - soft fuzzy man, camellia - tsukitourou, and five pebbles - kiss
from my playlist on shuffle
update 2022-05-10 changed link to be relative
2022-07-11 renamed
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