Minesweeper

At first, I was a bit skeptical at coming back to Minesweeper. I was aching for a good, old-fashioned puzzle, like sudoku, but I never really got around to finding one. Soon after, Minesweeper came to my attention again, but I was a bit wary to give it another chance, as my only experience with it previously was as a clueless child clicking boxes (which was no fun, I'll have you know.) But upon my return, I was pleasantly surprised!

The thought process in this early Microsoft gem is very similar to that of sudoku, which I was pleased to discover, but I found that Minesweeper is plenty of fun, whether or not I'm craving a puzzle! The gameplay is engrossing and addictive, causing a "one more round" type of mentality. However, it isn't without it's flaws. The one major downfall that I've found with this game is that it can't all be solved with just deep-thinking. There is always a degree of luck required, especially when you're pitted with a 2x2 square hiding two mines and two safe tiles, but there are multiple possibilities for their respective locations. On a couple occasions I have been forced to make a guess in a situation like that, and it is probably the biggest frustration in this relatively simple puzzler. However, that doesn't keep me away from sweeping out some mines, and it's worth wasting away some minutes (or hours) on if you're in need of a distraction!
An archived version of the game can be found at this link (as of 4/21/18): https://archive.org/details/win3_Mineswee
The version that I played for Android can be found here (as of 4/21/18): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=Draziw.Button.Mines
The recommended iOS version of the game can be found here (as of 4/21/18): https://itunes.apple.com/PK/app/id451931111?l=en

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