‘One Square Minesweeper’ Is the Only Version of ‘Minesweeper’ I Want to Play

Even with thousands and thousands of individuals having fun with extremely standard titles like Fortnite or League of Legends, it’s exhausting to think about video games performed by extra individuals than Microsoft’s Solitaire and Minesweeper—the latter of which is lastly pleasurable for folk who nonetheless don’t know the right way to really play it with Tim Holman’s One Square Minesweeper. 

Although the sport itself has been round since a minimum of the Nineteen Sixties and was accessible on a number of pc platforms within the ‘80s, Minesweeper’s fanbase grew significantly when Microsoft included it as a part of the Microsoft Entertainment Pack 1 in 1990, after which made it a typical a part of the Windows 3.1 set up in 1992. Before social media and smartphones have been a dependable distraction from work, Windows video games like Solitaire and Minesweeper have been vital productivity-killing instruments in places of work and faculty campuses world wide. Both provided a problem that was normally far tougher than work being averted, however whereas Solitaire is sort of universally cherished by all given how comparatively straightforward it was to determine, Minesweeper wasn’t as intuitive to unravel.

The Minesweeper gameplay isn’t really that difficult. Players are given a clean grid of squares the place they use left or proper mouse clicks to defuse or flag hidden bombs utilizing clues supplied by numbers revealed on sure squares. The quantity on a sq. signifies what number of sq. hiding mines are adjoining to it, with the utmost quantity being eight. Players win by revealing your entire grid and flagging each mine, but when they by chance click on on one, all mines are detonated and revealed, and the sport is over.

It sounds easy sufficient, however following the numerical clues and correctly flagging each final mine is an actual problem, particularly as the scale of the grid will increase. I now perceive how to play Minesweeper, however it’s a sport I get little enjoyment from, and till this morning have by no means been rewarded with a sunglass sporting smiley face that seems when a sport of Microsoft Minesweeper is accomplished. If you’re in the identical boat, simply head on over to Tim Holman’s One Square Minesweeper which, because the identify suggests, will be gained with only a single click on. Full disclosure: I really misplaced Holman’s simplified model of the sport the primary time I performed it as I’d forgotten {that a} right-click is required to flag the sport’s single mine. It was a reminder that I nonetheless hate Minesweeper, however now that I’ve gained it as soon as I can strike one other merchandise off my bucket checklist and by no means should play it once more.