Hexagonal Minesweeper Help

Hexagonal minesweeper is a challenging game of strategy and luck.
To learn how to use Help, press F1.

Introduction

How to...

What is Hexagonal Minesweeper?

When playing Hexagonal Minesweeper you are presented with a mine field, and your objective is to locate all the mines as quickly as possible. To do this, uncover the hexagons on the game board that do not contain mines, and mark the hexagons that do contain mines. The trick is determining which hexagons are which.

If you uncover all the hexagons without mines, you win; if you uncover a mine instead of marking it, you lose the game. The faster you play, the better (lower) your score. You can use the counters at the top of the playing area to keep track of your progress.

The counter in the lower-left corner of the playing area is a timer, which displays your playing time in seconds. The timer does not start counting until you uncover a hexagon.

The counter in the upper-left corner of the playing area initially indicates the number of mines hidden in the mine field. Every time you mark a hexagon as a mine, this number decreases by one, even if you incorrectly mark a hexagon.

Playing the Right-to-Left Game

Choosing "Right-to-Left" from the Options lets you change the object of the game. With Right-to-Left selected, instead of trying to uncover all of the hexagons that don't have mines in them, your objective is to uncover a clear path all the way from the right hand edge of the playing field to the left hand edge — as though you are actually trying to "cross a minefield."

In Right-to-Left mode, you cannot just go around uncovering any hexagon you please. You are only allowed to uncover the hexagons along the right-hand border of the playing field, and hexagons next to other hexagons that you have already uncovered. If you try to uncover any "out of reach" hexagons, the game will ignore your move. As soon as you uncover a hexagon — any hexagon — along the left-hand map edge while in Right-to-Left mode, you win the game.

Note that if you've already started playing a game and then turn Right-to-Left mode on (or off), the game will be re-started and all of the mines will be rearranged.

Keeping Score

Hexagonal Minesweeper scoring is simple. The counter in the lower-left corner of the playing area indicates your playing time. The faster you find all the mines, the better your score.

To see a list of your fastest playing times

• From the Game menu, choose Best Times.

Marking a Hexagon

Knowing when to mark a hexagon as a mine is the key to winning the game.

To uncover a hexagon

• Point to the hexagon and click the left mouse button.

To mark a hexagon as a mine

• Point to the hexagon and click the right mouse button once.

• Point to the hexagon and click the right mouse button twice.

• Point to the hexagon and click the right mouse button once.

• Point to the hexagon and click the right mouse button twice.

Playing the Game

The object of Hexagonal Minesweeper is to correctly mark all mines as quickly as possible without uncovering one. This section explains how to play the game.

To choose a skill level

• From the Game menu, choose New; or press F2.

1. To uncover a hexagon, select it using the left mouse button. If the hexagon contains a mine, you lose.
2. If the hexagon isn't a mine, a number appears. This number represents the number of mines in the surrounding six hexagons.
3. To mark a hexagon as a mine, select it with the right mouse button. To mark a hexagon you are uncertain about, point to it and click twice with the right mouse button. This marks the hexagon with a question mark (?). Later, you can either mark the hexagon as a mine, or uncover it.

Understanding the Rules of the Game

Follow these rules when playing Hexagonal Minesweeper

• The playing area is a mine field, simulated by a honeycomb-like grid of hexagons. Initially, the hexagons are all covered.
• To uncover a hexagon, point to it and click the left mouse button. The first hexagon you uncover in a game is guaranteed not to contain a mine. Continue to uncover hexagons until only those hexagons containing mines are still covered.
• If you uncover a hexagon that does not contain a mine, it either contains a number or is blank. If the hexagon cointains a number, N, then there are N mines in the surrounding six hexagons. If the hexagon is blank, there are no mines in the surrounding six hexagons.
• If you uncover a blank hexagon, the surrounding six hexagons are uncovered automatically because there cannot be any mines under them.
• If you know that a hexagon contains a mine, you can mark the hexagon.
• If you uncover a hexagon that contains a mine, the game is over and all mines are displayed.

To clear around a hexagon

• Point to the numbered hexagon and then click both mouse buttons at the same time.
• You are not allowed to clear around a hexagon if you have not marked enough mines in the surrounding six hexagons, or if you have marked too many mines in the surrounding six hexagons, or if the hexagon is covered. For example, if you try to clear around a hexagon labeled 3, and you have marked only two of the adjacent hexagons as mines, nothing will happen. Nothing would happen if you marked four of the adjacent hexagons, or if you tried to clear a covered hexagon, either.
• If you clear around a hexagon, and there is an unmarked mine in any of the surrounding six hexagons, it is uncovered and the game is over. This will happen if you fail to mark an adjacent mine correctly, or if you mismark any of the adjacent hexagons, when you clear.

Strategies and Hints

Helpful hints for playing Hexagonal Minesweeper

• If an uncovered hexagon is labeled 1, and there is only one covered hexagon touching it, that covered hexagon must be a mine. Mark it.
• More generally, if an uncovered hexagon is labeled N, and there are exactly N covered hexagons touching it, those covered hexagons must all be mines, and you should mark them all.
• If an uncovered hexagon already has the correct number of adjacent mines marked, clear around it.
• Try not to guess. If you can't figure out how to move, try approaching the area from a different direction or marking hexagons with question marks.