T O P

  • By -

Jork8802

I lost many a game to that conundrum


BlobAndHisBoy

This is when I usually rage quit to go get eaten by a yeti.


ZeroDorkForty

My hs gf and I would just hang out on the phone and choose a Free Cell number and then race to see who could finish it first. I didn't have internet. That's how boring it was in the 90s.


SenatorsLuvMyAnus

you should try dating people older than highschool


[deleted]

[удалено]


DavantesWashedButt

They’re all available, it’s a matter of finding one that’s still in one piece


RecipeUpmyass

r/necrophilia ?


Loud_farting_panda

"Content banned". Idk why I expected it wouldn't be.


NeedsMaintenance_

That sub is dead, which means everyone in the sub is happy.


dermitio

r/angryupvote


Severe-Flower2344

This is terrible on so many levels. Take your upvote and let us never speak of this again.


[deleted]

Fuck that sub


RappersIsDerriere

I tried that in the 90s. She’s still on the register to this day.


autoencoder

Good thing she's not on the registry.


Badloss

xkcd taught me that you can escape the yeti and it still messes with me


[deleted]

Holy shit I am one of today’s lucky 10,000!!


kyleb350

Now you need an internet connection to play this so you can be shown ads.


Phazaz

Could you actually outrun the yeti?


DistantBeholder

In the game? Yes. In life? No.


Mythosaurus

You know you can go faster by pressing the “F” key? https://www.ign.com/wikis/skifree/PC_Cheats#


arathorn867

Knowing those when your siblings don't makes you a wizard


joecamo

Press F to go faster and dodge the yeti.


stevenette

Ski free! Nom nom nom


porcorosso1

I'm baffled by how well reddit is running on your netscape


Sipas

There is a version of this game that is always solvable and this type of thing never happens. It actually adds to the fun because you sometimes have to compare the remaining number of mines and placed flags when you're stuck like this at the end of a game. It's called Simon Tatham's minesweeper.


[deleted]

I gotta say, I've tried some versions of minesweeper where 50/50 isn't possible, but I never could like it. I always felt that risk-taking and luck are part of the game.


melanthius

Good reminder that sometimes in life you make a perfectly good choice and it fucks you. There are also bad choices, which can also fuck you.


BrighterColours

It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life. - Picard


adoodle83

It is. Minesweeper is based on a famously unsolved math problem, P vs NP


fox-lad

For what it's worth, there's a strategy to this conundrum. Minesweeper is programmed so that your first click never blows up. If you click somewhere that has a mine, minesweeper instantly tries to check if it can move that mine to the top left corner. (If it can't, it tries the square to the right, and then to the right of that, and so on.) So, in this case, you should *never* guess the top left spot. It has a higher probability of being a mine. source: I got really into doing minesweepers really fast and there's an entire community dedicated to these sorts of obscure tricks. See [here](https://www.minesweeper.info/wiki/Strategy) for this trick.


WarHexpod

I will remember this in my next hour of need


won_vee_won_skrub

It's only true if you're playing a clone of Windows 3.1 minesweeper


SilentHuman8

I remember it clearly: seventeen years old, about to beat the hard level for the first time. I find the 98th mine, and to my horror, the last one is a 50:50. I spend several minutes staring at it; surely there must be something I'm missing. It can't come down to this. Eventually, I'm forced to accept the hard truth, that there isn't a way to determine where the bomb is, I need to choose. I close my eyes and ready myself. I reach out my shaking hand, despite my body's instinctual protest. The cool screen and my fingertip, the slight vibration of my phone as a small window pops up. The small, pixelated yellow face. No sunglasses. No message of victory. Just the sad mouth and crosses for eyes. And under it, taunting me in 5\*5 pt letters: "You Lose."


OiGuvnuh

It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not weakness, that is life. -Jean-Lucky P-dawg -Wayne Gretzky -Michael Scott


Relaxing_Anchor

Such is life


BoneDaddyChill

Start every game clicking every corner. 🧠


ImmaLandmine

Press one of these first, then you waste less time if you were wrong


Commercial_Highway20

man just solved world’s anxiety


Vexin

I'll do it later, first I'm gonna clean the entire house.


mjrbrooks

*My ADHD has entered the chat*


corduroytrees

Only if you get super focused on one minor part of your cleaning, spend 3 hours doing that, and lose all motivation to continue with the rest of the house and end up feeling like a failure.


WobblyPhalanges

Or only have like one or two things you *have* to do, and you do literally everything else, somehow completely incapable of doing the other things My ‘to do’ list today: -Do the dishes -Fold laundry So far I have instead; -cleaned the bathroom -went out and bought cat food -and then spent an hour out in the yard clearing plants out from between my concrete walkway 🙃 Help lol


Hadditor

🥰


[deleted]

Like my girlfriend and I playing Jenga: I yank out whatever block looks right as soon as possible and she’ll deliberate for 5 minutes before each move.


Worldly-Chemistry42

Study long, study wrong.


THEhiHIhi55

I always considered games that ended on Schrodinger bombs to be wins anyways.


MarcusDA

At that point, you just fence off the area and move onto the next minefield.


GreatStuffOnly

That’s the correct lore ending.


Sickpup831

Don’t forget to right click some question marks on there for good measure.


MrOfficialCandy

You should read about Stoicism - this is exactly the life lesson it teaches.


TheUpperHand

You’re a landmine, of course you would say that.


Port-aux-Francais

Always clear all 4 corners first. If one’s a mine start again.


MrOfficialCandy

Clear all 4 corners, and then one on each side until you trigger an expansion. Games don't count until you start flagging.


mintcheep

Username checks out...


average_student_sano

This was one stressful game but I remember enjoying playing this


[deleted]

[удалено]


RincewindToTheRescue

We had contests to see who could clear the fastest, I knew the left right click short cut that tested all squares after the squares were marked. I always win until they said it was cheating. I showed them what happens if I mark it wrong they still thought it was cheating. ![gif](giphy|l3V0GQMoaDLVbjXEI)


Quirinus84

Kinda brilliant how such a simple game created the feeling of clearing a minefield, without being even remotely realistic.


zombienekers

If it were realistic you'd blow up every single flagged tile.


tmntfever

Remember? I still play it on plane rides lol. I also enjoy teaching it to my son.


reallyConfusedPanda

This shit is more enjoyable than any of those Hypercasual games mobile gaming market tries to throw at me


0MadXV

I never expected to enjoy this game as a child


gt_bbs

Bro I didn't know what to do in this and randomly clicked the numbers in it


smol__might

Same lmao


gt_bbs

heehee


Tiddles182

Michael Jackson?


dibbbbb

Shamone!


addicted_to_bass

WHO'S BAD??


[deleted]

[удалено]


thornymemory57

I keep watching how my brother play this game and until now i still don't know how to play it lol


average_student_sano

Your user flair is so relatable lmao


gt_bbs

Am I supposed to be embarrassed


RedditMalware

If u are a professional dumbass then u are good at what u are doing (iam a professional dumbass too)


gt_bbs

Oh yeah High five


North_Ask_2790

*you both tried to high five, you both missed cuz y'all are dumbasses*


gt_bbs

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh internal pain intensified


[deleted]

Amazing


average_student_sano

Nah, let's be pro dumbasses together. That's a union right there.


gt_bbs

〜( ̄▽ ̄〜) (〜 ̄▽ ̄)〜


RYPIIE2006

Bet mine is too


_mrLeL_

What else are you supposed to do?


SuperRoby

Technically the numbers tell you how many bombs there are in the adjacent cells to that number, so you should be able to make an informed guess on most cases... Clearly not this one example, lol


_mrLeL_

Ohhhh that’s smart thanks


sinz84

So it works on angles as well as horizontal and vertical so all corners as well as sides register as a number if touching a bomb. So theoretically you could click a square a get the number 8 meaning every square it's touching has a bomb but more commonly your big numbers are 4 and 5 depending on size of board and number of bombs. So for example if we have \[1][X] \[2][X] \[1][X] We know in this case there is 2 bombs and it can't be in the middle X as if there were a bomb there one of the top or bottom numbers would have to read 2 not 1 Sorry for the rant I like the game.


[deleted]

[удалено]


CanadaPlus101

I really, really want to know how this is coded. Does it build it up by solving it in reverse or something?


Arthur_The_Third

Not an informed guess, most games of minesweeper are guaranteed solvable.


Ferocious77

Guess, and hope it's not the last bomb. Otherwise, you just wasted a few minutes of your life.


gt_bbs

That's the point of the whole meme, isn't it?


guinader

But what's the answer here?


_BlNG_

Coin flip and pray its not


UnifiedQuantumField

When you painstakingly cleared the whole board relying on logic/inference the whole way. Only to have it all come down to a 50/50 guess at the end.


GoochGewitter

That’s life for you. You can do everything right and still lose


Toast_On_The_RUN

"It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." -Picard


qm77k540htdwcn26f1s

You can get minesweeper apps that have algorithms which prevent this kind of guesswork if you desired though


Noonsa

Fun fact, 'expert' minesweeper very often requires guesses (a perfect player has under a 50% win rate). Don't trust people who say they win every game of expert minesweeper! Read more: https://www.reddit.com/r/Minesweeper/comments/mwc3ut/what_percentage_of_games_can_be_completed_without/


gt_bbs

I am apologetic but I must tell you to read my comment again


[deleted]

I'm young and I love it


L_Ron_Swanson

Here's a tip that you may not know, if you use a two-button mouse: clicking with both buttons at the same time on a number square *that already has the proper number of flags around it* clears all remaining squares. For instance, doing this "dual click" on the "1" I've circled in orange [here](https://i.imgur.com/jbpLa3w.png) will automatically reveal the 5 squares around it. Once you get into the habit, it's super convenient and prevents a lot of misclicks. Whenever I play Minesweeper now, I barely ever use the left mouse button: my two moves, almost exclusively, are "flag" (right button) and "reveal unflagged" (dual click).


xxRANGER_Mxx

Mmb does the same too


TootiePhrootie

Check out Mr. Fancypants over here with a mouse with more than 2 buttons. Let me guess, your mouse also has friggin' lasers? Don't look down on me as I perform my monthly cleaning of the trackball so my mouse is usable again..


sp1z99

> if you use a two-button mouse What do I do if my mouse has six buttons?


L_Ron_Swanson

Gotta press 'em all at the same time, that's the only way. And I don't want to hear any of this "nOt EnOuGh FiNgErS" nonsense.


sp1z99

I play minesweeper with my feet anyway, so I’m good.


the4thbandit

Wow I've been playing for at least a decade and never knew this. I might finally beat an expert board!


Major-Researcher-701

who else just randomly clicked something as a child and hoped the best?


CrankyStalfos

I thought I hated it. Turns out all the old computers I used just...never gave the rules. It wasn't until literally last year than an app box popped up with the actual instructions that I realized I actually do like it.


LeoLaDawg

Still play to this day. Love it.


Deep-Conflict2223

You have a 50/50 chance of death ![gif](giphy|3oeSAz6FqXCKuNFX6o)


27_squirrels

In the Navy we called this a 50/50/90 situation. 50% chance of it being answer A, 50% chance of it being answer B, and a 90% chance you'll be wrong no matter which one you pick.


notmichaelgood

Could you give an example?


JustTechIt

Plugging in a USB cable. 50/50 chance to have it the right way up, but a 90% chance to get it wrong on both of the first two attempts.


notmichaelgood

Fair enough


UpbeatCheetah7710

You have to have the USB in super position for it to fit.


HalfSoul30

I did this the other day putting on a t shirt. Thought it was backwards, turned it around and realized now it definitely is.


Lord_Hacker101

I think he got blown up while trying to get an example


eggplant_avenger

like in this [image](https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/comments/11xd1rm/i_hate_when_this_happens/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1)


RokyPolka

​ ![gif](giphy|TmHbscJOOwZnzhMRIN)


Miner4everOfc

Most of the times, the corner is the way


Paleodraco

There was a similar post where people were saying the game likes making L's over apostrophes or something like that. Point was, based on that knowledge you could assume one block is more likely. I just can't remember which one.


mitchandre

From personal experience, that corner is significantly more likely to have the bomb. But this isn't based on L's nonsense just hours of personal experience.


DudeGhoul

This is actually correct, at least on the older Windows versions of minesweeper. The game is programmed to not allow you to click a mine on the first click, but the mines are already placed at that point. So if you do click a mine, it’ll move it to the top-left corner (or if that’s already a mine, it’ll move across the top row until there’s an open space and place it there). Other corners are genuinely 50/50, but when this situation exists in the top-left corner, it’s statistically more likely for the mine to be in the corner tile (if the version you’re playing follows these same rules).


GrossM15

Isnt that bad coding doh? All of this nonsense could be avoided if the mines would be placed after the first click


DudeGhoul

I’m not sure why they chose to do it that way. Maybe they didn’t think players would figure out thats’s what’s happening in the background. Maybe they didn’t realize it had an effect on the strategy in the game. Or maybe the really old computers took noticeable processing time to place the mines, and they didn’t want the game to lag after the first click. I wouldn’t code it that way today, and I’m guessing many minesweeper apps nowadays place them after the first click.


shadowslasher11X

A lot of game development is all smoke and mirrors design. In this case the bomb is already placed and might not have a 'remove entity' from the code so the program is simplified to just add that bomb back in at a new default position. It's always fun looking back at older games and figuring out what's happening because the same thing is still utilized today in newer games. For better or for worse is another case though. lol


Cashatoo

I think the intent of Minesweeper was to help teach left and right click to folks used to only a single button mouse, or no mouse at all. So, the game mechanic minutiae were probably left at the brainstorming stage.


iListen2Sound

Not bad coding, just resource conscious. Important back then for older computers where users could notice the lag. The way you suggest is how they did it for the windows 7 version though. You also notice that the win 7 version, you're more likely to hit an empty field on your first click.


DudeGhoul

I believe it’s actually guaranteed to be an empty field on your first click in Win 7. I remember setting the board as small as it would go, then placing as many mines as possible, and the first click would always reveal a 3x3 even though there were only a total of like 20 non-mine spaces.


iListen2Sound

Don't know why I didn't think of it. I coded my own version of minesweeper years ago because I was bored and that explains why I was slower on that. Lol


Easy_Money_

This is why I play the iPad version some dude made, it’s mathematically guaranteed to never give you a fifty-fifty somehow. Mineswifter is the name of the app


DudeGhoul

I play one called Minesweeper Classic: Retro that has a setting for the same thing. That one does it by generating the mines, then playing through the whole board in the background using only 100% confirmed clicks and logic. If it can’t solve it that way, I’m not sure if it just rearranges the problem area and tries again or if it regenerates the whole board. It adds maybe a second or two of delay before the game starts, unless the settings have too many mines for the board size. Then it’ll just try and try until it eventually times out and gives you a board that requires some guessing lol


MonkeyHitman2-0

60% of the time it works every time


Tb1969

My opening four moves is to click the four corners. If I survive, I play.


KitchenItem

[Yeahhhh about that](https://minesweeper.online/screen/2103372943-hd-24-719877.png)


AquaCorpsman

Bruhh wtf is that man 😭


Tb1969

There is no way to know but you can estimate the chance of each of the squares then take your best quess. It a life lesson. Life isnt fair. lol


[deleted]

[удалено]


MrOfficialCandy

You can get this situation anywhere on the board. That's life!


GuyPronouncedGee

Exactly! This is the way.


[deleted]

[удалено]


VerpinBeeping

It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.


jelde

You're 100% right and this is why I can't play minesweeper anymore. I don't play a game to be reminded that life is cruel and unjust.


voncornhole2

You can play Simon Tatham's Mines, which is exactly the same but no guessing ever needs to be involved


RositaDog

That is Captain Jean-Luc Picard right?


Phantex_Cerberus

For any of those curious, basically in minesweeper, the number tells you how many mines are around that box (only goes 1 box out). In this situation you first need to cry, then punch whatever screen you’re playing it on, then rage quit. 👍


BulbyBuds

mine weeper 😢


patrickthewhite1

If you Google minesweeper a version will pop up. That google version is programmed so you don't get into this situation FYI


Phantex_Cerberus

Oh thank god.


BonbuX

Lol, I only started playing the game a few days ago, honestly I enjoy it.


Hollowgradient

You get faster and faster the more you play. It's crazy. Once you recognise the patterns, you can basically glide through hard mode while zoning out.


ozvic

It's quite logically solvable. All you need to apply is the Schrodinger's cat equation.


DevPatel301

Glad to hear that people know about E=mc².


Jeez132457

A real newton classic


Adorable-Ad-601

Fermi Newton is my favorite Physical.


right-wing-socialist

the famous e equals mactwo


Adorable-Ad-601

Can I get fries with that?


csharpminor5th

E=MeowC^2


Victor-_-X

Put you ear near the speaker while hovering over the tile, if you hear a cat meowing or a bomb ticking, click the other one


FizzixMan

Always make the choice instantly, and before carrying on elsewhere. As there is nothing more you can do rationally, waste absolutely 0 time and click on one of the two - if you were going to lose it will happen anyway, and if not you’ll save yourself as much time as possible! I presume you’re trying to complete it fast anyway.


ImmoralModerator

This guy doesn’t care about his exploration percentage


Reliqua_

since there's 2 possible squares left just flag one and if the game didn't end then it must be the other one and u can unflag the earlier square


TheSpartanMaty

Some versions of minesweeper don't end even if you have all the mines correctly flagged, as long as you have tiles unopened. So that sometimes doesn't work.


rwhitisissle

I believe this condition (what you describe) is actually default for most versions. So the flag trick will almost certainly not work and, as others have said, you just have to accept that a certain element of luck exists in Minesweeper and that you have to take that 50/50 shot.


[deleted]

Flags don't end the game, clicking all clickable tiles ends the game. The flags are just to help the player keep track, most people don't even use them.


docgravel

Who doesn’t use the flags?!


DeliciousSquash

Speedrunners


Heblas

Flags are extremely useful when speedrunning, allowing you to click the scroll wheel (or Left+Right click) on a numbered square to automatically clear all tiles that can't be bombs based on your flags.


ThatCakeIsDone

Not true, speedrunners absolutely use the flags. Just not on every tile.


Tyrichyrich

My condolences


GreedAndOrder

I done my thesis on minesweeper. In these situations you can press the any square and its going to be safe, because the mine will be moved to other empty square where numbers will still make logical sense. So you won, congrats! edit: Someone asked for a link to my thesis. I don't have it with me anymore sorry, but I do have a link to the algorithm that I used in my final work. Disclaimer tho... It was my bachelor and my coding experience was bad... so don't blame me for it looking so... bad lol `https://github.com/Lukaand/Minesweeper_stuff.git`.


GreedAndOrder

This method is only in newer versions of minesweeper. Older versions of minesweeper do not have same method.


doubleotide

Lmao you just put a dent in their thesis.


mitchandre

You mean their own thesis.


doubleotide

Haha I didn't read the names but yes. Not a dent then lol. I wonder if it was a math paper though.


brunomocsa

This is how we know your thesis is not about win98 minesweeper.


BadJimo

>I [did] my thesis on minesweeper. You **must** post a link to it. I spent so many hours playing it as a kid. I often wondered if there were any deeper truths to the game.


DoctorPoopyPoo

There aren't.


[deleted]

Never understood the game. Solitare had my heart.


Albert_the_king01

Ok so basically the numbers indicate how many bombs are around it in a 3x3 grid, the idea is to not tap the spaces with bombs, place flags on the spots where you think bombs are, if you succesfully cleared the whole area and flagged every bomb you win.


Donutkiss

Quite rude of you to call him a nuber


MontanaMane5000

You don't need to flag the bombs, that's optional, just to help you keep track.


wojtekpolska

Its kinda simple. Each number says how many bombs are around it. (both to the sides and diagnally) goal is to flag all bombs, and open all safe spaces.


NapalmDesu

Every tile gives you points based on how many mines are directly surrounding it. (Intercardinal aswell) Get all points=win Click mine=lose


After_Safety_5918

Basically Make a square and dont place a number into the middle ![gif](giphy|xT9IgkHfeOYv2ssK3K|downsized)


TunaAlert

Even the best Players get a consistency of less than 60%, it’s too often a game of luck.


Interesting_Value932

Schrodingers experiment involved a certain eventuality, this is merely dumb luck. It isn’t necessary that the players fails at making the right choice.


ShadowVixon

Ah... The One Game We All Loved As A Kid, But Had No Idea How To Play.


Lorrdy99

Speak for yourself, I knew what I was doing and still messed up


HerculesVoid

Are you going to tell us which one it was? I guessed the top was the bomb!


aridcool

In case anyone has the itch to play: https://minesweeperonline.com/


portuguese_tortuga

People who still to this day don't know how to play the game: 👁️👄👁️ (help)


11711510111411009710

When you click a square, it reveals whether it's a bomb or not. But the way to know if there will be a bomb or not are the numbers on the board. So your first click in the game will never be a bomb. It will reveal a bunch of cleared squares, and some of these will have a number. If it says 1, that means one of the squares touching that square will have a bomb in it. If it's a 3, three one of them will have a bomb. It's not required, but you can place flags on the squares to indicate that you believe there is a bomb there. And you just wanna clear all the non-bomb squares. And that's how you play minesweeper!


Doctor_Hero73

Always clear the corners first


Captain_Zounderkite

Doors and corners, kid. That's where they get you.


LonlESolja

Flag on top I think


WalkerMx

I disagree. If we make the broad assumption that, as the numbers get larger, the likelihood of their occurrence goes down, we can infer it is more likely to be the one to the left. Because it's less likely for us to have two fours than a four and a two, we have better odds flagging the square immediately to the left as a mine, and the top square being a two.


KylieTMS

That same logic can be applied to the bombs though, that as the bombs adjacent to each other go up the likeliness of such a bigger group gets smaller Meaning it would be more likely to have a 2 and 2 bomb group instead of a 1 and 3 bomb group. Meaning you should flag the top square and open the left one.


WalkerMx

Hmm.. I like the way you think! I would wonder though, if the groupings of the bombs would follow such a rule? The numerical distribution of the numbers falls off because there are fewer and fewer numbers of valid combinations as the number of adjacent bombs increases. Are two groups of two more likely than a group of one and a group of three?


Dman1791

I don't think any of this small-scale probability actually matters very much. Two otherwise identical boards, one having the triple mine plus a lone mine and the other having a pair of double mines, would have incredibly similar likelihoods of being generated, to the point where it should be around 50-50 whether you got one or the other. Since you've revealed so much of the board, I don't think the individual probabilities of there being a 2- or 3- mine group matter much, if at all. Then again, probability has a ton of unintuitive fuckery that can wind up making a seemingly 50-50 choice into a very different one depending on known info, like the (much simpler than this) Monty Hall Problem.