Minesweeper expert mode: impossible game?
 

I have tried and tried countless number of times, but the Minesweeper expert mode game has been unconquerable for me. I have finished the beginner and intermediate mode but the expert mode victory still eludes me. The hints and tips given in the help file are totally inadequate.

I may be a bit dull here, but have anyone completed expert mode in MineSweeper? Any hints or suggestions?

Note: I have always come within 3 or 4 mines of victory and then blow them all up!!

umm, i assume you speak of the mine sweeper that comes with windows?

well ... perhaps you need more experience .... try beating beginner mode in less then 30 seconds (i think my record is something like 10-15 seconds)

then try expert mode and see if you gotten any better

optionally (and if your faith permits you to)... you can try to become more clairvoyant and see if you can use psychic powers to tell you what is a mine

and there also exists a possibility that the game is rigged completely (which wouldn't surprise me, compared to some other things they have done)

Well, I actually did hit the beginner mode off in 11 secs in one attempt.

The fastest time I recorded in the intermediate mode is 65 seconds.

But the expert mode seems to suddenly become so difficult! There is at least *one mine* that is so elusive that I sometimes think the odds of winning this game become next to impossible.

I have cracked my head (in my spare time, of course ;)) trying to break it down, but I haven't been able to so far.

Well, I suppose I'll keep trying...

Edit: Actually the Win2k version of minesweeper seems to be slightly easier! Or is it just my illusion? In Win2k version, I could record higher speeds in beginner and intermediate than in the Win98 version. I haven't yet seen or played any version of minesweeper for Linux.

kmines

I couldn't find KMines in my installation. But GnomeMines is just fine.

yea i noticed that also, seems the clock runs at a different speed, i did beginner in 2 secs once, usually do expert around 150-200, there was a website where a guy did expert in around 60 or 70 i think.....can be done

Minesweeper fastest time clocked 88 second for expert mode
 

i clocked 88 sec for expert mode. so far i have not seen any faster record, please tell me if there is any. i am constantly clocking between 90+ to 120 sec on average for expert mode. i don play many intermediate games so no record to show. beginner game is just purely on luck, i ever clocked 3 sec.

it's all about practice.

It's definitely beatable, but if you rush, you probably will fail :) I haven't tried to get a good time in the intermediate/expert levels, but the easiest one goes trough in about 12-15 seconds, depending on the start. Not that I play it every day, but sometimes for fun.. (the Windows version I mean; on Linux there's always a lot better things to do even when there's nothing to do).

I've also heard rumours of how you can cheat in minesweeper (see if there's a mine under the cursor without clicking), but if you did, why would you even play -- for the fun of clicking? ;)

Just keep trying, patiently, and eventually you will win. In some cases you can win by measuring the places of the mines based on the numbers, but in some cases the game might end up in a situation where you just need to guess. That's easier than thinking, of course.

EDIT: yeah, I won the game in 1 second, but that required setting up the biggest game field available with the least mines - one click beats the game. Playing minesweeper for killing time is all right, but playing it for the records is..umm..well, take a look out of the window and you should see.