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Minesweeper thermodynamics

(oscarcunningham.com)
206 points robinhouston | 2 comments | 01 Sep 25 16:14 UTC | HN request time: 0.401s | source
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AtlasBarfed ◴[04 Sep 25 13:12 UTC] No.45126881[source]▶
There are other squares to click on on the other side of that "probability wall" that might reveal more info at a lesser danger percentage.
replies(1): >>45127007 #
OscarCunningham ◴[04 Sep 25 13:23 UTC] No.45127007[source]▶
Yes, (original author here) in fact all the cells outside this region have an even better safety probability of 80.1%. I think the best move might be to start fresh in a new corner.
replies(1): >>45128550 #
1. modeless ◴[04 Sep 25 15:43 UTC] No.45128550[source]▶
Hmm, but how likely are clicks on random squares to reveal more safe clicks? Seems likely that even if you hit a safe square you might still not have any safe moves. The goal ought to be to create more safe moves for the next turn, to reduce your chance of dying over the whole game, not just in the current turn. I wonder what that analysis would look like.
replies(1): >>45133318 #
2. AtlasBarfed ◴[04 Sep 25 23:16 UTC] No.45133318[source]▶
In the given example, if you click two squares down from the 3 in the 2-3-4 at the bottom, if you get a 3 it may reveal a 3 that will open up all the spaces around it. Which in the process may reveal what kind of 4 it is.

If you click on the square three to the right of the top 1, if that shows a 1, then a lot of surrounding squares can be revealed and again you may "walk up" to a more definitive mapping of the bombs.

I'm not even sure those are the optimal examples, but when I minesweeper it was for speed.

The real advantage, especially at this stage of the puzzle, is that those squares might quickly lead to another big field to be revealed.