Minesweeper
The Windows classic, intact: numbers tell you how many mines touch a square, and the rest is deduction and one guess at the start.
Minesweeper has been on office computers since 1990 and the rules have never needed changing. Click a square; if it is not a mine it tells you how many of its eight neighbours are. From that single piece of information the entire board can usually be solved.
The skill is pattern recognition rather than luck. Certain number arrangements have forced solutions that experienced players read instantly, and the fast times come from recognising those without stopping to count. The opening click is a genuine guess, and occasionally a board comes down to a real coin flip at the end, which is the only part anyone complains about.
Controls
Left click to reveal a square, right click to flag a mine
Tips
- Start in a corner or an edge. Fewer neighbours means fewer unknowns in the first deduction.
- Learn the 1-2-1 and 1-2-2-1 edge patterns. They have forced answers you can place without counting.
- Clicking a satisfied number reveals all its remaining neighbours at once, which is where the speed comes from.