Minesweeper-O-Rama - Minesweeper Scores


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Minesweeper Scores

A faked time on an Intermediate Game

inesweeper scores are a funny thing. If you play long enough, you'll eventually get a score that you're proud of, or that you think is pretty good. So, naturally, you'll want to show other people, and also compare your scores to theirs, to see how you rank. It's this sharing, however, that introduces problems.

Minesweeper scores are notoriously easy to manipulate. Of course, the easiest way to tell people your score is to email them - but anyone could be lying. So, you could send them a screen-capture of your score on the winning Minesweeper game or the "Best Times" screen (see right). But screen-captures are easy to alter in Photoshop (or other graphics program). Not to mention the fact that cheats (see below) exists to change scores. So, what is there to do?

Within the hardcore, official Minesweeper community, the some people will take your word for it, and some require a video of you playing the game that got you the low score. For me, though, since there are so many ways to cheat, I keep my scores only to give myself a goal to beat. I know I don't compare to most of the players out there, so I content myself with trying to improve my own times.

However, I was curious as to how I compared. So, I went out an looked to see what the best scores where. There doesn't seem to be one official record website, but I did find these:

	Beg.	Int.	Exp.
World Record (Dion Tiu, Australia)	1	11	39	(as of 5/2005 - more)
Pretty Good Times	7	40	99
My Best Times	7	49	144	(as of 5/2005)

In case you're wondering, it looks like getting a "1" on the Beginner game is pure luck. Since every Minesweeper game is different, if you play enough, eventually you will clear the entire board on your first click. I have yet to see this.

Cheats & Cracks
Not that you really need to, but there are a lot of ways to cheat at Minesweeper. Some of them are codes or tricks to use while playing, and some are ways to change game settings. None of these will really improve your overall skill, because you're cheating, but they still can be fun. Note: The information below was located, and then verified, using a variety of websites on the internet (mostly those on the MineLinks page).

Pause the Clock
All Versions	Hold a left-click on the face. This pauses the timer until you solve the next situation, then you can slide off the face and resume.
Win3x/95	Hold both mouse buttons so the face opens its mouth. While doing so, press and release Esc, then release the buttons. To restart the timer, minimize then restore the window, or start a new game.
Win95	Leaving the game stuck at 999 seconds will eventually start the clock over, which will count up to 86.
Mine Locator
Win3x/XP	After opening Minesweeper, type xyzzy, press Shift+Enter. A white dot will appear at the top left corner of the computer screen. When you are over a mine the dot will disappear. (If you can not see the dot, use a darker background.)
Change Your Times
Win3x/95/98	In Notepad, open winmine.ini and change names and scores.
WinXP	Enter the registry, navigate to ...\winmine. Double-click on the values you wish to change and save. (Since editing the registry can really mess up a computer, I will not be more specific here - if you know what to do, do it. If you are unsure, don't even attempt this.)
Add Sound Effects
Win3x/95/98	In Notepad, open winmine.ini and add the line "SOUND=3".

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