Minesweeper is the kind of game everyone's played at least once in their life. Or 57 times simply because, hey, it's there. When you combine zombies and the very familiar logic puzzle you get Zombie Minesweeper, a game from Frogtoss Games that is exactly what it sounds like: minesweeper with zombies chasing after you. Your job is to carefully move across the minefield, planting flags to mark dangerous tiles while you aim for the detonator at the end. Reach it and it won't be your brains splattered across the place.
Tap the grid to move the main character forward. When she gets close to squares they'll reveal numbers, those vital little things that tell you just how many kabooms are nearby. You can deduce which squares most likely contain mines and plant a flag there, marking it as a no-no square. But keep moving, as plenty of zombies burrow up from the ground and give chase. Fortunately you've got more than just speed as your weapon and can pick up items like timed bombs or a shotgun to help deal with your undead pals.
Instead of sitting and staring at the screen, trying to determine which tile to uncover next, Zombie Minesweeper puts some pressure on you to keep moving forward. It's an interesting twist on the very familiar formula, but it's extremely well-balanced and never feels too much like an action game or too much like plain old minesweeper. The power-ups are a nice touch as well, rounding out the experience and making it one of the best efforts to combine logic puzzles and shotguns we've ever seen! Check out the browser version for eight demo levels that show off speed- and puzzle-oriented set-ups, then grab one of the mobile games for the full experience.
NOTE: This game was played and reviewed on the iPad 3. Game was available in the North American market at the time of publication, but may not be available in other territories. Please see individual app market pages for purchasing info.
okay -- you have to decide what you want the right-click button to do -- it has to EITHER bring up the right-click menu, OR it has to allow shooting at the zombies.
Letting it waffle back and forth means that the player, while paying attention to the game, ends up leaving the page on a regular basis...and with no save, you get to start all over again.
AWESOME game, with great potential, ruined by a stupid programming error.
[I'm sorry, but I take responsibility for that error. Unity requires a special embed parameter when the right-click context menu should be disabled (for instance when the game is using it instead). I have disabled the context menu now, so that problem should no longer happen. -Jay]
I gotta hand it to the folks that made this: just about the only thing I can think of that would be worse than being chased by a horde of ravenous zombies would be to be chased by a horde of ravenous zombies through a minefield.
thanks, Jay -- that fixed it -- really, really fun game, and no ragequit!
I absolutely love this game. It is the first enjoyable minesweeper mashup I have EVER played, primarily because the two ideas being brought together actually make sense as far as gameplay and story (albeit a wee bit silly).
The sound effects are good, too. And as an added bonus, the zombie forest creatures make characteristic movements that are absolutely adorable... like when the blood-covered, stump-legged bear cleans his face with his paw. Awwww :3
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