Minesweeper. A pastime for some, an incomprehensible nightmare for others. The Windows version is by far the most popular, not to mention its direct responsibility for the loss of millions of productive hours. Well... let's say someone had the brilliant idea of creating the world's largest Minesweeper, with more than 38,000 mines distributed across 24 screens.
A little history
There are complicated games, difficult games, games that torture our minds... and then there's Minesweeper. How can something so simple become an envoy from Hell? Honestly, we don't know. History tells us that Minesweeper, specifically the Windows version, began its reign of terror in 1990, being a port of the OS/2 version back then. From then until the debut of Windows 8, Minesweeper was part of Microsoft's operating systems, but its mission to make players suffer never deteriorated. The problem is that there comes a point where we must guess. Even if the odds are 50/50, the game seems to delight in stabbing you in the back. A seemingly perfect game can be ruined in seconds... although I've also seen the opposite happen, with boards opening completely thanks to a couple of well-placed clicks.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/xJ_HQL2Keu0The world's largest Minesweeper
Why is Minesweeper news? Because someone decided to make the world's largest. The company is called CineMassive, and it specializes in manufacturing and installing multi-screen digital walls. The 'experiment' consists of a total of 24 panels, reaching a combined resolution of 11,520 by 4,320 pixels. In the hardest mode, the heroes who decide to face this monstrosity must avoid (and at the same time locate) 38,799 mines, with no margin for error. Needless to say, none of those responsible ever came close to finishing the game, and we suspect that will apply to everyone. The simple fact of subjecting the potential success of a game with nearly 39,000 mines to a 50/50 decision makes the whole challenge absurd.
Still... absurd doesn't mean impossible. On the web we've seen incredible demonstrations of skill, including things like playing Tetris at maximum speed with transparent pieces. If this giant Minesweeper would at least allow you to save the game to continue later... who knows? The detail is that CineMassive will only let a maximum of ten people play, and that just eliminates possibilities...
