Website archived by minesweepergame.com

Minesweeper Games (OS/2)

From MinesweeperWiki
Jump to navigationJump to search

This is a collection of minesweeper games for OS/2 (1987). This operating system was a collaboration between IBM and Microsoft, before Microsoft left to focus on the growing popularity of Windows. Early versions of OS2 actually came with Windows files for compatibility. Most of games were rediscovered at www.os2bbs.com or hobbes.nmsu.edu, both of which have large archives of games and shareware for the platform. Games were tested on OS2 2.1 installed on "Virtual PC" by Microsoft (the operating system is available on file-sharing websites). The term "PM" stands for Presentation Manager, and is the name for the Windowing system used on OS2 systems.

Games written for DOS (16-bit MZ EXE files) and early Windows (16-bit NE EXE files) also work on OS/2.

1990 - Bomb Squad

OS2-BombSquad(Syck).jpg Gary Syck (USA)
1990-12-13
Download: Bomb Squad
Single level is a 14x25 grid with 80 bombs. Only menu options are "New Game" and "About". There are no Highscores, chording or questionmarks but otherwise gameplay is standard. First click is not always safe, and timer does not stop when you win. Important thing about this version is it was released less than 2 months after WEP.

1991 - PM Mine

OS2-PMMine.jpg Princeton Windowing Systems
(USA)
1991-06-01
Download: PM Mine 1.0
Written for OS2 1.2 or later. Levels are 10x10 (12 mines), 15x25 (50 mines), 15x30 (90 mines) or Custom. Best 3 scores kept for each level. Standard controls but no chording and all mines must be flagged. Possible to lose on first click.

1992 - MineSweeper

OS2-MineSweeper(LissWarner).jpg Al Liss (USA)
Bill Warner (USA)
1992-04-19
Download: MineSweeper 3.1 1993-08-18
Download: MineSweeper 2.13 1992-07-22
Download: MineSweeper 1992-04-19
Game originally written by Al Liss but ported to OS2 by Bill Warner. Levels are 10x10, 15x15 and 20x20 and each can have a Low, Medium or High density of mines. The first click is not automatically safe. Highscore list keeps best 10 scores in total. Score depends on difficulty and time taken. Timer starts immediately. No chording or questionmarks but otherwise standard controls. Game has funny alerts you have to click, such as "I am prepared to die" and "I recognise the author's genius". Unfortunately the Highscore list appears after every won or lost game.

Note: Version 3.1 requires Warp 3, original release works on earlier versions.

1992 - MineField

OS2-MineField.jpg Chris Pratt
Paragon Systems
1992
Download: MineField
Written for OS2 with PM in the TopSpeed Modula 2 progamming language. A nearly identical clone of the original Minesweeper version for Windows, it even uses the original graphics. Interesting Helpfile calls squares "stones" and tells you to "step" on them, and claims you are on an undercover mission. Levels, controls and menus are same as the Windows version except there is no chording and the timer continues until all mines are flagged.

1993 - Mega Minesweeper

OS2-MegaMine(Petersik).jpg Andreas Petersik (Germany)
1993
Download: Mega Minesweeper 1.23 1996-08-23
Download: Mega Minesweeper 1.22b 1996-08-14
Standard 3 levels. Written for OS2 Warp 3 or later. Version 1.0 released in 1993 and written in C++. Versions include 1.2 (1995-06-09), 1.21 (1995-11-17), 1.22b (1996-08-14) and 1.23 (1996-08-23).

Note: Needs OS2 Warp 3 or later to run.

1993 - MineSweeper

OS2-MineSweeper(Charlap).jpg David Charlap (USA)
1993
Download: Minesweeper 1.2.1
Written for OS2 2.0 or later. Clone of Windows Minesweeper with same levels and controls (except F2 does not work). New features include Tournament Mode, where you can choose a game and play it multiple times, and Cheat Mode, where all mines are revealed. Custom allows up to an 80x80 grid. Version 1.2.1 released 1994-02-27 but original versions was in 1993.

1995 - Mine

OS2-Mine(Wansch).jpg Peter Wansch (Austria)
1995-07-22
Download: Mine 1.0
Part of the "Entertainment Pack for OS/2", clearly imitating WEP. Standard three levels with 10, 40 and 99 mines. Controls and gameplay are standard. Custom level up to a maximum of 30x50 with 990 mines. Timer starts immediately. Options are for questionmarks, safe first click, and sounds. Users can set their own sounds for various actions, such as starting games, clicking, explosions, illegal moves and won games. When a game is lost all mines are shown even if flagged during the game. Game written for OS2 Warp 3 but works on earlier OS2 2.X releases.

1996 - OS/2 Minesweeper

OS2-Minesweeper(Reeder).jpg Gordon Reeder
1996-03-10
Download: OS/2 Minesweeper 1.0
Controls are left button to open or chord, right mouse button to flag or questionmark a sqaure. Author describes game as "Minesweeper with an attitude". Sometimes a rock appears instead of a number, giving you less information about mines. There is also one unexploded bomb, so if a chord does not open a square that should have opened, avoid it. If you click on this square you have to defuse it by pressing certain buttons before it explodes. There is also a gopher that moves mines and a cheat option to peek at mines but might detonate mines. The game has three levels and remembers the best score for each level.

1996 - 3D Logic Minesweeper

OS2-3DLogicMinesweeper(IsarSoftware).jpg Paul Reid (Germany)
Isar Software
1996-03-18
Download: 3D Logic Minesweeper
Game Review: OS2 Ezine
Written for OS2 2.1 or later, authors claim it is based on a 1989 DOS version called Mine that was never released. All games are solveable, as a solver plays each game first and rates its difficulty before you play it. You can choose the range of difficulty. Games start with an opening. Each game has 3 layers. Help functions include telling you the amount of mines in the current layer, or showing you the mines. Custom options allow you to toggle sound, play in 2 or 3 dimensions, change grid sizes or mine density, and choose difficulty range. In Learner Mode you never lose, but are asked to retry. Games can be saved on exit and restarted.

1997 - Mine/2

OS2-Mine2(Bruestle).jpg Michael Bruestle (Austria)
1997-12-23
Download: Mine/2 1.0
Written for OS2 Warp 3 or later.

1998 - XBomb

Main Article: XBomb

XBomb-Squares-2.2.jpg Andrew Bishop (UK)
Dave Ulrich (USA)
1998-02-17 (original 1994)
Download: XBomb 2.1 (OS2)
Link: Homepage
Link: Linux Versions
Original version was written by Andrew Bishop (UK) in 1994 for X11 using a UNIX operating system. Dave Ulrich (USA) ported version 2.1 on 1998-02-17 to use X11 running on OS2 Warp 3. This requires Xfree86 to be installed on the OS2 system. It has the standard three levels but you can play them with squares, hexagons or triangles. Controls are left mouse button to open cells, middle to chord, right to flag. See Linux Versions for original version, and visit the main article for more information. Picture is of the original version being run on KDE.

1998 - MineSweeper

OS2-MineSweeper(Japan).jpg Unknown (Japan)
1998-03-27
Download: MineSweeper
Standard three levels and controls (except no questionmarks of F2). Timer and Mine counters are in a seperate window. No Highscore lists. Interesting that when game is lost flags are replaced with mines.

1999 - Mine Sweeper/2

OS2-MineSweeper(Zaharov).jpg Dmitry Zaharov (Russia)
1999
Download: Minesweeper 1.4a
Download: Minesweeper 1.4
Written for OS2 2.0 or later. Started on 21 Aug 1999 with last release just after 7 Nov 1999. The program uses the names Mine/2 and Mine Sweeper/2. Standard three levels. No chording, questionmarks or F2. Timer starts immediately and stops when all mines are flagged. No Highscore list. Interesting behaviour, is that finding an opening removes any flags incorrectly placed on empty squares.

NOTE: Yuri Epstein used the sourcecode for this game to write PM Mine.

2002 - PM Mine

OS2-PMMine(Epstein).gif Eugene Fomin (Russia)
Yuri Epstein (Russia)
2002-06-16
Download: PM Mine 1.1
Link: PMMine
Written for OS2 Warp 4 or later. First version written by Eugene Fomin, final version by Yuri Epstein. Identical levels and controls as Windows Minesweeper except no questionmarks and you can chord with the left mouse button. A new Kamikaze level has been added where players try to complete Expert with 116 mines and higher. Final version allows new games to start by clicking anywhere on the grid. Version 1.01 written 2002-06-16 and 1.1 written 2002-06-26.

NOTE: Dmitri Zaharov allowed the sourcecode from his Mine Sweeper/2 game to be used for this project.