Competition Story and Results

I recently wrote a story about the Minesweeper competition for the office newsletter. I got sick of everyone asking where I'd been and then going "Huh??" when I told them. But I figured I'd share it with everyone here too so they can get a feel for the thing. :)

This winter our coworkers R. and M. took part in the grueling Road of Life Marathon. It turns out they are not the only masters of stamina. Last weekend, I participated in a marathon of a different kind: the first officially Microsoft-sponsored Minesweeper Competition.

For those of you who don't know, Minesweeper is one of the basic games included on Microsoft Windows software, along with games like solitaire, hearts, and free cell. It was invented in 1989 by Microsoft programmer Robert Donner and has been included with Windows software since version 3.1, with an ever-growing following. The game is a grid of squares under which are hidden bombs. The object of the game is to identify which squares are bombs and clear the rest as quickly as possible. Open squares have numbers in them to help locate the bombs: ie, when a square has a "1" in it, it means that square is touching one bomb; you have to figure out which one. If you don't have it on your computer already, give the game a try here:

http://www.allcleanhumor.com/games//minesweeper/index.shtml

Minesweeper players have been comparing stats for quite some time and three years ago held the first tournament in Budapest. This year Microsoft agreed to sponsor prizes for the winners of Budapest III.

I've played Minesweeper for a long time without taking it too seriously, but when I got an email about the competition, I knew I had to take part. When else would I get the chance to meet other "sweepers" while taking in a beautiful city? I registered, started practicing, and began emailing others who would be attending. Soon I was in Budapest, waiting in the meeting spot for the competition to begin.

The point of the competition is to see who can complete 5 intermediate level games and 5 expert level games in as little time as possible. This is done by having everyone play for 3 hours and then adding up the best win times for each player. Prizes are awarded to those with the lowest combined times. If you don't finish 10 games, you are penalized with a score of 999 seconds for each unfinished game. To be eligible for the competition, you must have an expert level score of less than 100 seconds and an intermediate score of less than 30 seconds; median scores for the competitors were around 60 seconds (expert) and 20 seconds (intermediate). 23 people came from far and wide to compete. There were competitors from Canada, Germany, Russia, France, Poland, Hungary, Denmark, South Africa, Albania and Malaysia, to name a few, as well as myself and one other competitor from the US.

The competition took place in a classroom in an old university. The computers filling the room were linked to a program that compiled scores and posted them live online as well as on a giant screen at the front of the room so everyone could keep track of their standings as they played. Each competitor found a computer and plugged in their own mouse, adjusting speed settings as necessary. Some played warm-up games, others didn't want to jinx themselves and merely surfed the web instead.

As starting time for the competition approached, a nervous buzz began settling over the classroom. People adjusted their monitors, had soda at the ready, turned on their iPods. After a brief discussion of the rules, the score tracking program was turned on at 1:30 PM. The competition had begun!

Immediately the sound of a thousand clicks took over the room; it was a gentle sound, almost like rain. Aside from the mice, there was complete silence, until people started shouting out their scores. "Yes!! 47!!" came from the front, followed by ooos and ahhs throughout the room. There were grumbles of frustration as well, even an occasional swear word; there is a chance factor to the game, so sometimes you have no choice but to guess, causing an otherwise good game to end badly. About 2 hours in, there was one exclamation of shock that turned to joy; the Russian competitor couldn't believe his own eyes when he saw that he'd set a new in-competition world record. For a brief second the clicking stopped as everyone paused to look at the score board; as the scores updated, there were cheers and applause at the sight of his 42-second expert-level score.

As time marched on, some who had completed the necessary 10 games took breaks, stepping outside for fresh air or snacks before coming back to see if they could get better times. Others, like me, struggled valiantly to complete games. Whimpering and hair-pulling increased throughout the room as time ticked away, as some players still had not completed the necessary number of games. In the last minutes, there were a few shouts of joy as the tenth game was finally won; I was not so lucky. I was luckier than one other, who only completed 8 games; I completed 9, and so, I came in 22nd out of 23.

After time was called, contesters sighed and put down their mice. There was much admiring of scores- including the German winner's incredible overall time of 311 seconds (my total time, with the penalty, was 1520) - then group pictures were taken, followed by award presentation. Poor saps like myself got a certificate; 4th, 5th and 6th place each won a new high-tech mouse; and those in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place received a mouse, Windows Vista software, and a golden cup. After the competition, the competitors bonded over dinner and bowling. At least I was not the second-worst bowler there. We finished the day by walking back to town, exhausted but happy.

For those of you who would doubt that exhaustion could arise from a computer game, I challenge you to spend three hours frantically clicking your mouse while your adrenalin is pumping. At the end of the competition, my hand was cramped and shaking, my eyes were watering, and I was starving. But even with my poor placement, the workout was well worth it. The competition was fun, I learned a lot about how to improve my game, and I met a group of really interesting people. English was a second (if not 3rd or 4th) language for nearly everyone there, but we had no problems communicating and had a great time. It was one of the best multi-cultural experiences I've had, not to mention getting to spend time in an incredibly beautiful city.

This August there will be another competition, this time in Vienna. If you're a player or become one soon, I highly recommend you attend! It was definitely one of the coolest things I've ever experienced.