

This pattern is, admittedly, a lot less useful. If there were a mine in the third space, it would conflict with the second one. This is because the first two spaces must contain a mine by the first clue, which means both the first and second ones are already guaranteed to be satisfied. When a 1-1-X are sequential against a wall and against the edge of the grid, the space under the third clue, marked here with a question mark: Unfortunately, I found myself unable to generate a true 1-2-2-1 case in a reasonable amount of time, but here is a valid position anyway that demonstrates the point. Whenever you find a 1-2-2-1 pattern against a wall, you know that the two squares under the 2s are mines. Usually, these are by reduction from surrounding mines. Yes, the 1-2-1 pattern does chain.Īlso note that it is very rare to actually encounter a 1-2-1 specifically.

The first position was honestly just dumb luck. Vista Minesweeper lets you 'replay' failed field.
MINESWEEPER CREATION DATE WINDOWS
Minesweeper as a whole remains largely unchanged from Windows Vista to Windows 7. therefore, the 1-2-2 matches the 1-2-1 pattern, implying there are two mines in front of it. Other differences include Freecell-like player statistics, tooltips, annoying dialog boxes and so on. In the third case, we know that there is a mine next to the two by the one and corner in olive-green. Note again that in the second case, the 2-3-2 are all adjacent to a known mine, which means they need 1-2-1. In this case, as an extension of 1-2, the mines must be underneath the ones. This is an extension of the 1-2 pattern, in that two of the pattern exist side-by-side. One of the frequently-encountered patterns along walls in Minesweeper is the 1-2-1 pattern. Note that in the second case, since there is a mine next to the 3 and 2, they need 2 and 1 mines respectively, matching the 1-2 pattern.

This is because there can only be one mine in the two spaces adjacent to the 1, which means the second mine must be adjacent to the 2 in the final space. Whenever you see a 1 next to a 2 against a wall, you know that the space opposite the 2 is a mine. Note: if you have a mine incorrectly marked, this will cause you to lose the game - but then again, you would have anyway. You will primarily use this trick to identify patterns quickly through visual recognition of shapes. If you need two mines, and two squares are highlighted when you use this trick, you know they're both mines. You should always use this to clear spaces, unless you are guessing.Īdditionally, you can use this to check visually if all the spaces surrounding a clue are mines. On the Windows version of Minesweeper, if you click on a clue with both your left and right mouse buttons, if all that clue's mines have been identified, then the game will remove all the other surrounding unknowns. when a pattern is in a corner or has another unknown near it. Patterns do not work when there is interference from adjacent clues or unknowns i.e.Patterns that work on horizontal walls obviously work on vertical walls, and vice versa.A two by itself next to a convex corner always indicates two mines.A one by itself on a corner always indicates that there is a mine.This is important in patterns like 1-2-1 3-2-3, for instance, also works if there are two mines next to each 3, since they both need 1 mine to be solved. Remember that the number of remaining mines is the clue number minus the number of surrounding mines.
MINESWEEPER CREATION DATE FULL
The full and up-to-date code is published on GitHub.Ĭell. I would appreciate your comments and any kind of positive and negative feedback.
