Minesweeper Genius modernizes a classic computer game

You remember that old puzzle game you probably played to pass the time at work or school, right? No, not Solitaire! We're talking about Minesweeper.

The goal in classic Minesweeper is to clear the board without detonating the mines that lurk underneath the tiles. In order to do this, players received clues when they clicked on squares, which took on the form of numbers. The numbers indicated how many mines were adjacent to that square.

Minesweeper's objective was always simple, but much easier said than done, especially in the larger boards. Minesweeper Genius takes this classic and challenges you even further.

Minesweeper Genius is almost like a combination of Minesweeper and Sudoku. You'll have to help Aristotle sweep the minefield to escape the aliens trying to conduct experiments on him. Each grid has a fixed number of rows and columns. At the start of each row or column is a number that indicates how many mines are in hidden away in that line.

Using your puzzle-solving skills, it's up to you to determine where the mines are and guide Aristotle to avoid them. To move him, just tap on a tile adjacent to him, but hope that there's no mine! You can long press a tile to flag it, which indicates that you think there's a bomb there.

As you progress, special tiles get introduced, allowing you to jump ahead a space or shift tiles around in the line. Minesweeper Genius procedurally generates all levels, so you never get the same puzzle twice. You're able to earn up to three stars on a stage — get them all if you don't blow up. With iCloud save, you can start from one device and pick up where you left off on another.

While I was never great at Minesweeper, I often played it on my old computers when I had time to spare. It's often challenging and made me think before every move. With Minesweeper Genius, I found it to be fun and charming, but not as demanding as the original. This is still a good little game to pick up in your spare time though.

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Christine Chan

Christine Romero-Chan was formerly a Senior Editor for iMore. She has been writing about technology, specifically Apple, for over a decade at a variety of websites. She is currently part of the Digital Trends team, and has been using Apple’s smartphone since the original iPhone back in 2007. While her main speciality is the iPhone, she also covers Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac when needed.

When she isn’t writing about Apple, Christine can often be found at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, as she is a passholder and obsessed with all things Disney, especially Star Wars. Christine also enjoys coffee, food, photography, mechanical keyboards, and spending as much time with her new daughter as possible.