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TruthScape Minigame Secrets - Vinesweeper - Strategies for Success Playing Vinesweeper Alone or in a Group

The rabbits are usually considered the most annoying part of Vinesweeper, but they really aren’t the biggest challenge: that honor goes to the constant reseeding process. Since indicator numbers and cleared space get wiped out every time you flag a seed, you must carefully plan when and how you place those flags.

After trying out many methods, I’ve found that there are really only two basic strategies that work well in Vinesweeper. The first is to use indicator numbers, hole positions and known seed locations to try to reveal as big an area as possible of the field, and then place multiple flags at once. The second method, which I call “dig and flag”, is to open up a small part of the field, find a seed, flag it and then repeat after the area is reseeded.

I’ll now explain the pros and cons of both of these techniques.

This method is pretty much the same as how you play regular Minesweeper: you click a few times to open up part of the field, and use the numbers and patterns to locate one or more seeds. Then you use the numbers near these known seeds to figure out other safe places to dig, and continue the process. I describe how this works in my overview of finding seeds.

The big difference here, of course, is that unlike Minesweeper, you cannot actually place any flags to help you remember where the seeds are—if you do, the area gets reseeded. Thus, you must mentally keep track of which holes have seeds and which do not; some people find that fairly simple to do, while others do not.

You should start in area where there’s already one or two obvious seed locations, and use those to keep digging and expanding the field around you. Since you can only have 10 flags at once, you ideally want to figure out where exactly 10 seeds are located, and flag them all at once—and then watch for rabbits! After the flags are cleared, get them back from Farmer Blinkin and repeat the process.

The major benefit of this strategy is that most people find it satisfying: you are really solving part of the puzzle of Vinesweeper, by figuring out where many seeds are. This is also a more effective way of playing with friends than the other technique.

But there are also many downsides to this approach. First and foremost, it is slower than the “dig and flag” technique; I’ll explain why when I describe that method. Second, a large area of the field with obvious seed locations not flagged is a “noob magnet”—unless you are sure there is nobody else around, you risk having someone run up and undo your hard work by flagging your identified seeds. And finally, if you make a mistake, 49 squares will be reseeded, ruining the area you’ve solved.

If you do want to use this method, be sure to find a quiet place where you are less likely to have people mess you up. I generally prefer a world with few people on it, and I try to work in one of the far corners, well away from the farmhouse. Also remember to use the “Inspect” feature if you get stuck, so you don’t make a mistake and have to start over.

Remember that you do not have to flag all of the seeds at once; they will stay put even as the farmers begin clearing your flag. I’ve found it handy to take a screenshot before I start flagging, so I can remember where subsequent flags go when flagging many seeds at once.

This method is completely opposite to the “reveal the field” approach just described. I devised it in an effort to not only find a way to play without the constant reseedings getting on my nerves, but to actually turn them to my advantage. The idea is simple: open up a large area, find a seed in it and flag it; then, after part of the area is reseeded, repeat the process again. With a bit of luck, this can be done continuously, though you often need to move around a bit as new seeds are generated by the game.

The key to the success of this method is to open up a fairly large area of the field. Then you find a seed within this area, being sure that the seed is not within four squares of the outer boundaries of the open space. After flagging the seed, it will be cleared and the area reseeded. If the open space was large enough, the outer edge of the reseeded 7x7 area will lie next to some of the open squares, so you can then dig them again to try to open the space up once more.

In extensive testing, I have found that when a large open area is reseeded, usually one or two new seeds are added somewhere in the region, but the area as a whole retains a low “seed density’. This means it is easy to open it up again, find the newly planted seed, flag it and repeat the process, as shown in Figure 328.

There are several advantages of this method over trying to reveal a chunk of the playing field:

1. You usually find seeds more quickly than trying to completely dig up a portion of the board.
   
   
2. You get a lot of points when digging. Every time you dig in a relatively open area and a bunch of spaces show up, you get as many as 15 Vinesweeper points; in contrast, digging a single hole next to a known seed location only gives you 1 point. This adds up fast.
   
   
3. There’s much less opportunity for inconsiderate twits to mess up what you’re doing. You generally flag a seed pretty soon after finding it, so other players aren’t as tempted to steal them.
   
   
4. If you make a mistake, no big deal—you lose a few points and just start over.
   
   
5. You don’t have to defend a whole bunch of flags from the rabbits.

The only drawback of this method compared to figuring out the field is that it is less satisfying to keep reworking the same area over and over without ever really “figuring it out”. It’s also less suited to playing with a group.

The most important tip I can give you for this method is to always keep a big open area to work in. It can be tempting, when you see two or three obvious seed spots, to want to flag them all at once. But if the whole area gets seeded over, you will lose time trying to open up a working area again.

Which of the two approaches is best really comes down to your gaming style. If you want to get points as fast as possible and without having to worry as much about “noobs”, then use “dig and flag”. On the other hand, if you prefer a more relaxed style, enjoy the puzzle-solving aspect of the game, or want to play with a friend, “reveal the field” may be better.

Personally, I find that the benefits of “dig and flag” outweigh those of “reveal the field”. The most important factor is that I can get 15,000 points per hour with that method, where getting 10,000 with the latter approach is a challenge. I also get extremely pissed off when other players flag seeds I’ve cleared out, and like to avoid that scenario as much as possible. Naturally, as the saying goes, “your mileage may vary”. J

TruthScape Minigame Secrets - Vinesweeper - Strategies for Success Playing Vinesweeper Alone or in a Group