# The &kmines; Handbook

## Introduction

### Gametype:

Strategy, Board

### Number of possible players:

One

&kmines; is the classic Minesweeper game. The idea is to uncover all the squares without blowing up any mines. When a mine is blown up, the game is over. Numbers indicate how many mines there are nearby.

## How to Play

### Objective:

Locate all the mines hidden on the minefield.

&kmines; Game Board

To play &kmines;, you need to use the mouse and its three buttons to uncover or to flag the squares (with two-buttoned mice, clicking the &MMB; is generally achieved by simultaneously pressing the &LMB; and the &RMB;).

Clicking the &LMB; on your mouse will uncover a square. If there is a mine there, it will detonate, and the game will be over. If there is not a mine under the square, the square is cleared and if there aren't other mines nearby, the square will disappear including any nearby squares without mines. If there are mines nearby, a number will appear showing how many neighboring squares contain mines. For each square (excluding edge and corner squares), there are eight neighboring squares.

&LMB; clicking a flagged square is safe and does nothing.

The &RMB; will mark a square as containing a mine (by placing a red flag on it). Clicking the button twice will set it as being uncertain (by placing a question mark on it). The uncertain tag can be useful when you are puzzled about the positions of mines. The &MMB; will clear the surrounding squares if the right number of squares is already flagged. It is very useful since it is much quicker than uncovering all individual squares. Make sure your flags are correctly placed, if not, you might detonate a mine.

## Game Rules, Strategies and Tips

### Rules

- All the mines have to be cleared before a player can win a game.

- The player cannot know the exact location of the mines before the game is over.

- If a mine is detonated, the game is over.

- Numbers will indicate nearby mines.

### Strategies and Tips

- Use the numbers to find out where nearby mines are.

- Place flags where you suspect there are mines. Note that even though the indicated number of mines goes down when you place a flag, there might not be a mine under the flag.

- Think before you click, a wrong click could detonate a mine.

- When you suspect that a square contains a mine, work around the square to uncover any numbers which might help.

- Try to clear the board as quickly as possible, the less time you spend, the higher your score will be.

## Commands/Keyboard Shortcuts

The following sections briefly describes some menubar options.

### Menu Items

&Ctrl;N Game New

- Starts a new game.

P Game Pause

- Pauses the game time. Click on the menu item again to make the game resume. Note that the board disappears when the game is paused as it would be unfair if you could search for good moves without the time pressure.

&Ctrl;H Game Show High Scores

- This shows you the high score (the shortest time) for each difficulty level.

&Ctrl;Q Game Quit

- Quits &kmines;.

Settings Difficulty

- Lets you set the difficulty level from a sub-menu.

  There are three default levels of difficulty: Easy (9x9 squares, 10 mines), Medium (16x16 squares, 40 mines), and Hard (30x16 squares, 99 mines). There is also a Custom level settings.

  If you select Custom, then the settings you have configured in the Configure - &kmines; dialog will be used.

Additionally &kmines; has the common &kde; Settings and Help menu items, for more information read the sections about the Settings Menu and Help Menu of the &kde; Fundamentals.

### Default Keyboard Shortcuts

The following table shows you the default keyboard shortcuts.

### Keyboard Shortcuts

Key Combo | Action
&Ctrl;N | New Game
P | Pause
&Ctrl;Q | Quit &kmines;
F1 | &kmines; Handbook
&Shift;F1 | What's This? help
&Ctrl;H | Show High Scores

These shortcuts can be changed by selecting the Settings Configure Shortcuts... menu item.

## Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change the way the game looks?

Yes, click on the Settings Configure &kmines;... menu item.

Is there a way to add more mines and squares?

Yes, the easiest way is to use the drop down box in the lower right corner.

## Game Settings

The game settings can be configured by selecting the Settings Configure &kmines;... menu item. A dialog will appear.

On the General page, you can configure the following game settings.

Use '?' marks

- When checked, allows using the question mark symbol to mark the squares of uncertainty. The mark on the square can be switched by clicking with &RMB;.

Allow &kmines; reset

- When checked, allows you to reset &kmines; game when it is impossible to do anything but guess and your last guess is wrong.

Disable score on reset

- When checked, allows you to disable scoring on reset.

Explore with left click on number cells

- When checked, the &LMB; click on a number cell will have the same effect as the &MMB; click.

On the second page, you can set the theme. Select a theme from the list. Each item in the list shows a small preview left to the theme name. A selection is immediately applied.

On the third page, you can set the height and width of the board and the number of mines in your custom level.

## Credits and License

&kmines; Copyright 1996-2007

## Authors

- &Nicolas.Hadacek; &Nicolas.Hadacek.mail;

- Mikhail Kourinny

- Mauricio Piacentini mauricio@tabuleiro.com

- Dmitry Suzdalev dimsuz@gmail.com

Documentation copyright 2000 &Nicolas.Hadacek; &Nicolas.Hadacek.mail;

Documentation updated for &kde; 2.0 by &Mike.McBride; &Mike.McBride.mail;

Some changes for &kde; 3.2 by &Philip.Rodrigues; &Philip.Rodrigues.mail;

&underFDL; &underGPL;