Hexmines is a game of logic, where your task is to find a path through a minefield. For each position (hex) you step on, you are informed on the number of hexes in which there are mines. If you step on a mine, you lose. The game has more help in the built-in help boxes.
The game has basically the same rules as the game of Mines by Daniel Griscom, which is the Mac version of a SunTools game by Tom Anderson. The main differences are:
- Hexagonal grid.
- High score list, listing players who have won with the highest number of mines in the minefield.
- Auto-searching through empty areas (a feature also included in Daniel Griscom's version).
- Simple color graphics on color Macs. (Works on b/w Macs too.)
There are several other similar games. In some, the task is not to find a path but rather to locate all mines in the minefield, possibly within a time limit. (E.g. Bombs by Christer Ericson.) I prefer the path-finding problem in Mines, so that's how Hexmines work, too.
When you start a game, it may happend that the game fails to place all mines or to place the mines so a solution exists. In such a case, a message box shows up to inform you about the problem. Just try again.
Hexmines should work on all Macs using system 6 or later. With older system versions, the sampled sounds are replaced by beeps. Since the game saves its settings in the game file itself, it is not recommended to run it from a locked disk, including read-only file servers.
4. Final words.
This game started as one of my faster hacks. After I made Bikaka (Tetris™ on the hexagonal grid), I got the idea that perhaps Mines could be fun on a hex grid. After making the first version, I though it wasn't such a good idea after all and put it aside. Later, one of my friends claimed it was one of the best games on my Mac. I don't think he is right, but it encouraged me to polish it a bit more and distribute it.
The game is written in Think Pascal using the TransSkel library by Paul duBois.
Many thanks to the playtesters, including but not restricted to the following persons: Folke Söderström, Stefan Wrammerfors, Hans Persson, Eva L. Ragnemalm, Christer "Chrisp" Pettersson.
As stated above, the game is free, but I enjoy fan mail and bug reports. Send them either by E-mail to ingemar@isy.liu.se, or by ordinary mail to: