Post by mvolution in Dragonsweeper comments

Viewing post in Dragonsweeper comments

Agreed - players and devs often see this slightly different. Essentially, it’s “guess” vs “no-guess” maps.

Many Minesweeper fans today prefer no-guess boards, while others enjoy the added challenge of probability-based decision-making. It adds another layer to the game. It’s a matter of preference.

In Dungeon Squire and Dragonsweeper, most maps don’t require guessing, but some rare tough seeds do, like this one. I actually enjoyed it, even though (or because of) some guessing involved. The fun is to determine the safest square vs the square promising progress, that is: risk vs gain. There wasn’t any 50-50 though, but more like 1:3 or better, which feels fair.

mchlnix273 days ago(+2)

I only play NG minesweeper. The frustration of working on a puzzle for 5-10 minutes, only to lose through no fault of my own defeats the purpose for me. I had long talks with other minesweeper fans to try and understand what the allure is. Sure, being able to do the probabilities correctly raises the skill ceiling a little bit, but if it doesn't lead to victory, then what was the point? What skill have you demonstrated?

There's not another human player who was simply better, so doing your best still has meaning, or it's not a very hard end boss in a video game someone has designed to be obtuse and a bit random. It's just bad RNG.

But like I said, it's just my outlook. Perhaps my expectation, that any given task should be solvable, or at least should've been if I was more skilled, is flawed.

mvolution272 days ago (2 edits) (+1)

I suppose those who like traditional (guessing) boards over NG, accept the risk of losing in order to benefit from the added meta games guessing-boards provide.

There’s 2 layers “meta games” added compared to NG.

analyse which fields got the lowest risk of a mine
analyse which field provides most “gain”, that is progress or meaningful hints

Often higher risk fields provide better gain, which makes it worth taking the risk.

It’s that added challenge that makes it fun (for me), even at the risk of losing the game without making actual mistakes. Nevertheless I also like playing NG, to me it’s just a different way to play 🙂

itch.io

Viewing post in Dragonsweeper comments