A few days ago, Microsoft announced the ugly sweater for Christmas this year. Unlike previous super-large Logos, this year it uses one of Microsoft’s most classic games “Step on the Mines” as the theme. Even if Microsoft removed the built-in playground in windows 8, “stepping on the mine” has officially entered history, but this game is still an artifact of childhood and work to kill time in many people’s minds.
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However, where did this game come from? What kind of story is behind it?
Stepping on landmines is not just a small game?
Stepping on landmines is aOriginal game developed by Microsoft itself, Co-created by Robert Donner and Curt Johnson, and debuted in 1990 as one of the games in the Windows Playground. Actually, it hasn’t changed much since its release.
The game screen is not as fancy and vivid as Solitaire, and it requires less attention when playing the game. Therefore, in the era when Facebook was not invented, this game can be said to beThe best partner for salary thieves of the year。
But in fact, Microsoft has built a “playground” in the system. The main purpose is not just to let users pass the time for leisure and entertainment, but toTrain users to operate the mouse。
The computer just appeared in the 1990s, and for most users, the mouse is a new invention that has never been seen before. Check if there are mines by clicking on the square, and right-click to plant the flag. Because the square is small, it can train the user’s mouse positioning stability; in addition, since the game requires frequent use of the left and right buttons, the smoothness of the left and right button operations can also be cultivated.
Such a very repetitive but interesting little game canLet the user unconsciously, achieve the effect of practicing using the mouse.
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What are the versions of Landmine Stepping
The difficulty of the game is divided into three types: elementary, intermediate and advanced, and players can also set the number of squares and mines by themselves.
In the Windows XP version, if the box that the player clicks for the first time happens to contain a mine, then the mine will be transferred to the box in the upper left corner. If there is a land mine in the upper left corner, it will be changed to its adjacent square, so that you can ensure that the player will not die directly at the first click.
In 2001, Italy’s “International Landmine Banning Campaign” (International Campaign to Ban Winmine) Think this gameOffended landmine victimsFor this reason, they released another game called “Winflower” as an alternative to stepping on landmines, and tried to persuade Microsoft to switch to this game in Windows 98. Therefore, in subsequent Windows Vista and Windows 7 games, flowers are used instead of landmines.
Landmine World Contest
This little game loved by many people after Windows 8, Microsoft removed it from the built-in system. I originally thought that this game would become history silently and gloriously, but unexpectedly it produced the “Landmine World Championship” and even a world championship!
“World of Minesweeper” is an online minesweeper competition that started at the end of 2015. The number of seconds it takes for each player to pass the level will automatically be added to the ranking. The faster the completion of the second, the higher the ranking.
If you want to count the world records seriously, then you definitely need a set of specifications to ensure that these games are completed under fair conditions.However, the built-in mines in the Windows system have various problems such as repeated map loops or inconsistent grid counts as the version is updated. Therefore,Records are not recognized。
In 2020, a Chinese teenager named Ju Zeen completed an expert-level mine stepping in an astonishing 29.43 seconds.A full 1.7 seconds faster than the previous record holder。
The 2021 annual world rankings can be seen on the website. The current fastest record for the primary level is 0.851 seconds, the intermediate level is 7.96 seconds, and the advanced level is 29.461 seconds. The current highest record for Taiwanese is a netizen named PTTACG fans, who set a record of 1.087 seconds on the leaderboard of the elementary level.
Image source: minesweeper online screenshot
Even if stepping on landmines has been removed from the Windows system, you can still relive childhood memories online or in the Microsoft Store. If you think you are a master of landmine stepping, you can also go to Minesweeper Online to challenge the fastest legend!
Reference materials: TechRadar, Yahoo gaming e-sports
