Time for a new Shoebox game, and there's one particular game that's been outsmarting me this whole time.

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Minesweeper

For years I've been trying to figure out how to make a Minesweeper game work on a touchscreen.
The main issue with Minesweeper is that it requires a right click to place your flags.
If you only have one input, then your options are..

1. Add an ugly GUI and make the player switch between "dig/flag" modes before clicking a square.
or
2. Make it so a Long-Press digs.
Option 2 is likely the better option, but it can be slow and tedious.
Of course, you could switch it so that long-press = flag, but then you've always got the possibility of an incorrect reading, and the player inadvertently kills themselves when they know for sure there's a mine there!!

Nope. I just can't figure out a good way to do it.
No matter.

Let's start on a new Shoebox game, instead.

Something Else

The "Groups" section of Shoebox is looking a little minimalist, compared to the other sections, so I figured this week I'd need to make a nice multiplayer board game of sorts.
I pondered and wondered.
I started with the Popomatic dice spinner, added a grid, and placed a few objects randomly around the board.

Hmm...

I looked at the layout, and suddenly it all made sense. My mind leapt into gear, and within just a few short hours..



I'd created a multiplayer board-game edition of Minesweeper!!

It's not about "finding" the mines. It's about figuring out where they are, and avoiding them, whilst collecting the coins.
The player with the highest number of coins wins a round. If you step on a mine, you're dead. And if all coins are collected, you start another round.

It seems to work really rather well, and I've also added a single player mode, too, without the dice.

Today's task will be trying to get a half-decent AI player to work with the game..

Should be interesting.. !