Negg Sweeper is a clone of Mine Sweeper, the popular puzzle game that comes stock on Windows-based computers. Game cost is 30np per play; maximum allowed winnings per day is 3000np (as of 10/02). The object of the game is to clear the board while marking and avoiding the hidden mines. Left mouse click on a space to clear it; use shift+click or control+click to mark a space as a mine.
Negg Sweeper has three levels of difficulty to from which to choose. They are:
EASY
Size: 9×9 (81)
Mines: 10
Ratio: 1:8.1
Starting Points: 50
Lg. Space Bonus: x1
Min. Points Poss.: 121
My Typical Score: 200
MEDIUM
Size: 12×12 (144)
Mines: 25
Ratio: 1:5.76
Starting Points: 100
Lg. Space Bonus: x2
Min. Points Poss.: 219
My Typical Score: 425
HARD
Size: 14×14 (196)
Mines: 40
Ratio: 1:4.9
Starting Points: 150
Lg. Space Bonus: x3
Min. Points Poss.: 306
My Typical Score: 1000
WHICH DIFFICULTY FOR ME?
Remember, each game costs 30np, and you may score a maximum of 3000np per day playing Negg Sweeper. If you play Easy every time, and your score is similar to my average, you’d have to play about 15 games (without losing any) to reach the maximum daily payout. That will cost you 450np, bringing your actual winnings down to 2550np. Playing on Medium would require about 7 games, would cost you 210np, and bring your total win to 2790np. Obviously, the best game cost versus winnings potential is Hard difficulty, which requires just 3 games played, costing 90np, and winning you 2910np. However, Hard is called that for a reason; the ratio of mines to total spaces is 1 in 4.9, meaning for every not quite 5 spaces, 1 is a mine! Your odds of losing the game and your 30np are very high! Playing on Easy, on the other hand, more than doubles your total cost to play versus what it costs on Medium. My advice: Unless you are at either end of the spectrum–_very_ good or _very_ bad–at this game, play Medium.
MINES
If you uncover a mine, your game ends. You do not win any points and you lose the 30np it cost you to play the game. Always immediately mark spaces that are likely to have mines under them! This will prevent you from accidentally clicking on the mine and losing. Also, get familiar with how many mines each level of difficulty has, and keep track of the mines you’ve marked as you play.
BLANKS
Blank spaces have no mines adjacent to them. If you click on a blank space, it will clear that space as well as any spaces around it that are also blank, and it will keep clearing until it reaches walls or numbered spaces. On Medium and Hard, you receive bonus points for clearing large areas of blank spaces. However, numbered and blank spaces can have hidden bonus neggs under them. These range from 50-500 bonus points. It’s a very good idea not to click on a space you’re pretty sure is blank until you’ve clicked all the numbered spaces immediately adjacent to your mines. This betters your odds of finding bonus neggs. Why? Because clicking blanks clears blanks _and_ numbered spaces. You will not receive the extra points from a hidden bonus negg if it was cleared automatically from clicking on a blank space.
As a side note: Bonus neggs tend to be progressively more plentiful and larger on Medium and Hard. Hard usually has 500-750 bonus points hidden on it. Medium often has about 200. There are bonuses on Easy, but they rarely amount to more than a 50 or two.
NUMBERED SPACES
As you click around the board, you will uncover numbered spaces. These will be marked with anything from a 1 to a 8. The number indicates how many of the spaces immediately adjacent to that space have mines under them.
CORNERS
Each corner space is on a 4-space grid. If you click the very corner, and you uncover a 1, you have three space left touching that 1. If it were your first move, and no other spaces had been cleared, your odds of clicking a mine on your next move are 1:3. Be careful in corners! Try to come at them from the middle of the board.
WALLS
Walls are a 6-space grid. If you click a wall space, and you uncover a 1, one of the five spaces left touching that space has a mine. Your odds are 1:5 that you’ll click a mine on your next move. These are better odds than the corners, but still not as great as out in the middle of the board.
MIDDLE
In the middle of the board, you’re working with a 9-space grid. Every number, mine, and blank has 8 spaces immediately adjacent to it. This basically means that whatever number you uncover, your odds of hitting a mine are whatever in 8. Start looking at the board–with the exception of the walls and corners–in 3×3 clusters, with the number you’re scrutinizing as the center of that 3×3. This helps immensely with spotting that you’ve already found all the possible mines in an area, especially tricky spots where 2’s, 3’s and 4’s are grouped together! – thetvdiva@yahoo.com