# Minesweeper #325 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 8, 2000, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356 "2000-11-08T19:56:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356/1 "2000-11-08T19:56:18Z")
WOOHOO!!! I just finished my 325th game of Minesweeper on Expert mode. I have a screenshot of every single game I’ve beaten so far too! How much of a loser am I? ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356/2 "2000-11-08T20:07:08Z")
I bow before your superior analytical problem solving skills! I have only beaten it a couple of times, mostly because I’m lazy and like to take chances opening up corners. Another fun and mindless option is to set it for the maximum size and minimum number of mines. Then you see how fast you can stop the clock. I can regularly get 1-2 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356/3 "2000-11-08T20:07:34Z")
Let’s see, Minesweeper is 10 points on the loser scale. Expert mode adds just 2 points per game, but saving your games is a 5x bonus. So: 325 x 12 = 3900 x 5 = 19500. That’s on a 100 point scale. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356/4 "2000-11-08T20:07:37Z")
Yeah, but what’s your best time? 114 seconds here, but I haven’t played for a long time. (For the record, 41 seconds Intermediate and 10 seconds on Beginner. I usually play the Expert game, but sometimes fire up the smaller ones for a quickie.) ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356/5 "2000-11-08T20:16:54Z")
Damn. My best is 119 seconds. You just gave me a new reason to play now. Gotta beat that 114!!! ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356/6 "2000-11-08T20:20:33Z")
I’ve hit 7 on beginner, but I just got lucky. Now, is that 325 games in which you’ve completely cleared it? Man, you are a dork! ---
**Author:** ![Nen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Nen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nen)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356/7 "2000-11-08T20:20:33Z")
**c\_goat** , you’ll have to beat 97 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356/8 "2000-11-08T20:28:55Z")
Yep… that’s 325 cleared games. 97 is tough. I’ll beat it though… I just gotta get lucky. ---
**Author:** ![SouthernStyle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@SouthernStyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SouthernStyle)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356/9 "2000-11-08T20:43:02Z")
Anyone posting these incredible times should also tell us what equipment and operating system they’re using. Minesweeper on some of the older PCs consumes enough resources that clock updates are routinely missed. One coworker used to place times in the 20 to 40 second range due to the missed clock updates. ---
**Author:** ![Zumba\_The\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/779978/32.png) [@Zumba\_The\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zumba_The_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356/10 "2000-11-08T20:54:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MikeG \* > \*\*I have only beaten it a couple of times, mostly because I’m lazy and like to take chances opening up corners. > \*\* I am glad to know that I am not the only one who does that. I open all the corners first. If the corners aren’t clear the game isn’t worth playing. ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356/11 "2000-11-08T20:55:01Z")
I’m on a Pentium II 450 running NT 4.0. 32MB of ram. I don’t think I’ve ever had a missed clock update. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356/12 "2000-11-08T21:04:07Z")
There used to be a minesweeper cheat. If I remember correctly you could type “xyzzy” before you clicked on your first tile and the pixel in the upper left hand corner of your screen would blink on or off depending on if you were over a tile with a mine under it. Can anyone confirm this? So, c\_goat, what’s your strategy? First of all I turn off the question mark icon. That thing caused me more problems than it helped. I don’t remember by best score. I haven’t played much in a few years. It was in the 120’s I think. ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356/13 "2000-11-08T21:07:26Z")
There is no strategy. After beating it 325 times you recognize certain patterns and can make effective use of the double-button-click. It also takes a good start, where a bunch of tiles open up on your first click. Plus you get better at taking wild guesses based on what you see more often. ---
**Author:** ![don\_Jaime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b4bc9f/32.png) [@don\_Jaime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_Jaime)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356/14 "2000-11-08T21:25:28Z")
4 seconds beginner, 78 seconds intermediate, have to go home and check for expert. It takes too long to play at work. Boring game in some ways, but you CAN win it consistently. Unlike, say, Solitaire or Free Cell. ---
**Author:** ![SouthernStyle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@SouthernStyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SouthernStyle)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356/15 "2000-11-08T22:02:06Z")
Can’t win consistently at Freecell? I quit playing after winning my 300th consecutive game. The game has 32,000 deals. All but one of them are winnable. ---
**Author:** ![Zumba\_The\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/779978/32.png) [@Zumba\_The\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zumba_The_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356/16 "2000-11-08T22:10:56Z")
Like SouthernStyle said FreeCell is very consistently winnable. I am not as good, but I tend to win 8 out of 10 games. Took me a couple of days to get the hang of it though. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356/17 "2000-11-08T22:23:59Z")
I hate playing Minesweeper with the roller-ball mouse - it KILLS my speed… My I was voted down by the family… alas ---
**Author:** ![Phobos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2000, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minesweeper-325/40356/18 "2000-11-09T16:26:11Z")
I’ve played it on several computers so I don’t recall my best scores. But on my current computer, my scores are… beg - 11 sec (I think I’ve had 9 sec before) int - 50 sec (I think I’ve been in the 39-47 range before) exp - 139 sec (I think 127 is my best…not sure) how many man-hours have we wasted? 🙂