Minesweeper

Click, flag, clear

Minesweeper is the puzzle game included with Microsoft Windows from 1990 onward, in which players click squares on a grid to reveal numbers indicating how many adjacent squares contain mines.

The goal is to uncover all safe squares without detonating a mine.

For many computer users, Minesweeper was their first encounter with logic-based puzzle games: I finally beat Minesweeper on expert difficulty. (Lowercase minesweeper is the naval vessel or the game generically.)

game

grid

Framework of intersecting lines

  • clickBrief sharp noise
  • revealMake something visible
  • flagCloth symbol or signal

tile · bomb · safe · danger · chord · mark · beginner · intermediate · expert · timer

Categories
Opposites
gameplay mechanics

MinesweeperQuake

Early 3D shooter franchise

first-person shooter · arcade game · Space Invaders · Asteroids · Call of Duty

mine interaction

Minesweeperminelayer

Ship deploying underwater explosives

saboteur · demolitions expert

game complexity/cultural status

MinesweeperWorld of Warcraft

Massively multiplayer fantasy RPG

Civilization · The Elder Scrolls · massively multiplayer online game · Final Fantasy · role-playing game

Family

minesweeping

Familiarity
Top 200,000
Profile
Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G