Mineswifter (Minesweeper‪)‬ 4+

I played the free version and it was so brilliant I felt bad not paying for it so I did. I haven’t even tried it yet but based on the other reviews, I’m sure it will be great. The one game I played so far on the hardest mode available was solvable but not easy. I got stuck at a few points and questioned whether it was really solvable but decided to try and logic it out and figured out that I could.

I found the flagging and uncovering function to be a tiny bit clunky but apparently that’s customizable in the paid version so I’m sure I’ll manage. It was nonetheless a clever scheme and the biggest issues were the limitations of the phone rather than the app. I’ll try the pinch to zoom and see how I like it.

It is refreshing to be able to play minesweeper and devote your full intelligence to the puzzle instead of just clicking through a 99 mine field that will inevitably rely on guessing right at multiple points. This app is a gem.

It’s hard to find fault here. Minesweeper is a simple game that’s been done many times, but knowing that every level can be completed without guessing has made me stop and think longer, learn new patterns, and play more often because I don’t feel like the board is rooting against me.

Add to it the fact the the interface is pretty much a perfectly polished app - graphics are great, pinch-to-zoom works, and the options for how to flag mines vs reveal spaces is customizable makes it hard for me to even suggest improvements.

My problem with minesweeper was always that you’re forced to guess. Imo, that should never be the case in a puzzle game. This variation did exactly what I wanted out of minesweeper.

If I was able to request one change to this app, it would be to add an ability to place “dummy flags”. When nothing on the board is jumping out at me as a guaranteed bomb/free cell, I’ll place down some flags as a “non-commital guess” and see what the board looks like with that permutation. Sometimes, I’ll reach a paradox that proves the starting “guess” can’t be possible so I know a flag cannot be there and can uncover that cell.

Occasionally though while doing this strategy, I’ll missclick somewhere on the board (which is easy to do with thumbs on a touch screen) which can cause my “non-commitall guesses” to be committed. Which can result me in losing the game off a missclick.

If we had a way to place “dummy flags” that have a different colour and/or shape (maybe a question mark), we could use this strategy for visualizing the board in different possible configurations without being at risk of a missclick losing the game.

Thank you!