Intro
Welcome to the Grounded Wren Minesweeper clone!
Minesweeper is an old game, going back to (at latest) the
Windows Entertainment Pack in 1990 with many variations
created thereafter. I first played Minesweeper on my Grandmother's computer, which I think was running Windows 98. Along with 3D Pinball Space Cadet
,
it was one of my biggest computer timesinks while I was a young child.
Minesweeper sadly no longer comes installed on Windows computers, and in searching for a way to play online I was unable to find a version that worked well
with screen readers, or even with good keyboard navigation. So, I made my own clone!
Gameplay
Minesweeper is a puzzle game where the goal is to identify, or flag
, all of the mines on the board. To do so, you may dig
squares to reveal
how many mines they are adjacent to, or a mine if you are unlucky. If there are no mines adjacent to a square you dig, all adjacent squares will also
be dug automatically, cascading outwards until there are mines nearby. Based on the information about adjacent mines, you can try to deduce where the mines
are hiding.
Controls
You may take actions on each square which has not been dug. The three main actions are dig
, flag
, and mark unknown
.
You may switch between these actions using the Mode
selector.
This game may be operated with a mouse, a keyboard, or both. With a mouse, left-clicking will act on the target square, double-clicking on a dug square
will dig all adjacent squares which are not flagged or marked unknown, and right-clicking will cycle the mode. With a keyboard, the minefield behaves as
a Data Grid. All keyboard shortcuts are available to review
by pressing Alt+S when the minefield is focused.
Other Notes
This clone departs from classic Minesweeper in a few notable ways. First, there is no timer, since I've found that aspect to detract from my enjoyment.
Second, games are generated with a mine rate percentage rather than a fixed number of mines.
Third, your first dig action is guaranteed to have no adjacent mines.
One important feature to call out is that the game state is saved automatically to your browser's storage. This means you can close and re-open the page
without losing your progress.