Microsoft Solitaire is a digital card game that has been included in almost every version of Windows since version 3.0 was released in 1990. However, another casual game launched by Microsoft in 1990, although not included in the Windows system, was equally popular.
We're talking about "Microsoft Minesweeper," which most people simply call "Minesweeper." The game is simple to play, but also difficult to master like most good, addictive video games. The gameplay is extremely simple. You can see a square matrix composed of buttons in the game interface, and some squares have mines. The object of the game is to click on every square that does not have a mine. Some clicked squares have numbers on them that show how many mines are near that square.
GameSetWatch said that although some simple games released before 1998 were similar in gameplay to Minesweeper, the work of Microsoft's Robert Dorner and Kurt Johnson was the game we know and love today. Johnson has said that he and Donner were inspired by another game when designing Minesweeper, but he claims to have forgotten what that game was.
The simple design of "Mine Sweeper" game, coupled with the use of logical reasoning to avoid hitting mines, is the perfect time-killing game. In 1990, this game was included in the "Microsoft Entertainment Pack 1" game software collection, which also included the Microsoft Windows version of Tetris. However, it was not until 1992, when Microsoft included the Minesweeper game in every version of Windows 3.1, that the game became very popular among PC users.
According to Business Insider, Microsoft co-founder and then CEO Bill Gates quickly became obsessed with Minesweeper. Microsoft product manager Bruce Ryan said Gates even uninstalled the game from his computer because playing it took up too much of his time.
Ryan said that once, his team created a macro for the game Minesweeper that clicked on a corner of the game grid and then reloaded the game. This macro keeps doing this until it finds a way to solve the game with just one click.
Ryan reportedly then sent Gates an email saying, "Sorry, you were defeated by a macro." Gates wrote back: "Can we still retain human dignity when machines can do things faster than people? We can't help but wonder whether he still thinks so with the rise of artificial intelligence."
With the addition of Minesweeper in Windows 3.1, and the release of several other Windows versions, the game continues to gain popularity. The game has also generated some controversy due to its title. According to TheCuttingRoomFloor, in 1999, a group in Italy came together to protest the game, arguing that it offended real Minefield victims. Microsoft has renamed the "FlowerFields" game for the Italian versions of Windows 2000, Me and XP, and now people are uncovering flowers instead of mines.
In the version of Minesweeper released for Windows Vista, Microsoft decided to hand over the development of the game to the third-party team Oberon Media. Windows 8 is the first operating system version that does not bundle Minesweeper games. Instead, a free version of Minesweeper was released as a downloadable app, which remains in use today. It includes not only the "classic" game, but also a story-themed "Adventure Mode" among other features and, unfortunately, some ads unless you pay to eliminate them.
Perhaps one day, Microsoft will reintroduce classic versions of Minesweeper and Solitaire without ads in future versions of Windows.