The KMines Handbook

# The KMines Handbook

Nicolas Hadacek `<hadacek@kde.org>`

Michael McBride `<mmcbride@ematic.org>`

Anton Brondz `<dinolinux@gmail.com>`

Developer: Nicolas Hadacek
Reviewer: Lauri Watts
Revision 4.0 (KDE Gear 21.04) (2021-07-11)

Copyright © 2000 Nicolas Hadacek, Michael McBride

Legal Notice

KMines is the KDE version of the classic minesweeper game.

List of Tables

4.1. Keyboard Shortcuts

Chapter 1. Introduction
Introduction

# Chapter 1. Introduction

### Gametype:

Strategy, Board

### Number of possible players:

One

KMines is the classic Minesweeper game. The idea is to uncover all the squares without blowing up any mines. When a mine is blown up, the game is over. Numbers indicate how many mines there are nearby.

Chapter 2. How to Play
How to Play

# Chapter 2. How to Play

### Objective:

Locate all the mines hidden on the minefield.

To play KMines, you need to use the mouse and its three buttons to uncover or to flag the squares (with two-buttoned mice, clicking the middle mouse button is generally achieved by simultaneously pressing the left mouse button and the right mouse button).

Clicking the left mouse button on your mouse will uncover a square. If there is a mine there, it will detonate, and the game will be over. If there is not a mine under the square, the square is cleared and if there aren't other mines nearby, the square will disappear including any nearby squares without mines. If there are mines nearby, a number will appear showing how many neighboring squares contain mines. For each square (excluding edge and corner squares), there are eight neighboring squares.

### Note

left mouse button clicking a flagged square is safe and does nothing.

The right mouse button will mark a square as containing a mine (by placing a red flag on it). Clicking the button twice will set it as being uncertain (by placing a question mark on it). The uncertain tag can be useful when you are puzzled about the positions of mines. The middle mouse button will clear the surrounding squares if the right number of squares is already flagged. It is very useful since it is much quicker than uncovering all individual squares. Make sure your flags are correctly placed, if not, you might detonate a mine.

Chapter 3. Game Rules, Strategies and Tips
Game Rules, Strategies and Tips

# Chapter 3. Game Rules, Strategies and Tips

## Rules

- All the mines have to be cleared before a player can win a game.

- The player cannot know the exact location of the mines before the game is over.

- If a mine is detonated, the game is over.

- Numbers will indicate nearby mines.

Strategies and Tips
Strategies and Tips

## Strategies and Tips

- Use the numbers to find out where nearby mines are.

- Place flags where you suspect there are mines. Note that even though the indicated number of mines goes down when you place a flag, there might not be a mine under the flag.

- Think before you click, a wrong click could detonate a mine.

- When you suspect that a square contains a mine, work around the square to uncover any numbers which might help.

- Try to clear the board as quickly as possible, the less time you spend, the higher your score will be.

Chapter 4. Commands/Keyboard Shortcuts
Commands/Keyboard Shortcuts

# Chapter 4. Commands/Keyboard Shortcuts

The following sections briefly describes some menubar options.

## Menu Items

Game → New (Ctrl+N)

  Starts a new game.

Game → Pause (P)

  Pauses the game time. Click on the menu item again to make the game resume. Note that the board disappears when the game is paused as it would be unfair if you could search for good moves without the time pressure.

Game → Show High Scores (Ctrl+H)

  This shows you the high score (the shortest time) for each difficulty level.

Game → Quit (Ctrl+Q)

  Quits KMines.

Settings → Difficulty

  Lets you set the difficulty level from a sub-menu.

  There are three default levels of difficulty: Easy (9x9 squares, 10 mines), Medium (16x16 squares, 40 mines), and Hard (30x16 squares, 99 mines). There is also a Custom level settings.

  If you select Custom, then the settings you have configured in the Configure - KMines dialog will be used.

Additionally KMines has the common KDE Settings and Help menu items, for more information read the sections about the Settings Menu and Help Menu of the KDE Fundamentals.

Default Keyboard Shortcuts
Default Keyboard Shortcuts

## Default Keyboard Shortcuts

The following table shows you the default keyboard shortcuts.

Table 4.1. Keyboard Shortcuts

Key Combo | Action
--- | ---
Ctrl+N | New Game
P | Pause
Ctrl+Q | Quit KMines
F1 | KMines Handbook
Shift+F1 | What's This? help
Ctrl+H | Show High Scores

These shortcuts can be changed by selecting the Settings → Configure Shortcuts… menu item.

Chapter 5. Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions

# Chapter 5. Frequently Asked Questions

5.1. Can I change the way the game looks?
5.2. Is there a way to add more mines and squares?

5.1. | Can I change the way the game looks?
| Yes, click on the Settings → Configure KMines… menu item.
5.2. | Is there a way to add more mines and squares?
| Yes, the easiest way is to use the drop down box in the lower right corner.

Chapter 6. Game Settings
Game Settings

# Chapter 6. Game Settings

The game settings can be configured by selecting the Settings → Configure KMines… menu item. A dialog will appear.

On the General page, you can configure the following game settings.

Use '?' marks

  When checked, allows using the question mark symbol to mark the squares of uncertainty. The mark on the square can be switched by clicking with right mouse button.

Allow KMines reset

  When checked, allows you to reset KMines game when it is impossible to do anything but guess and your last guess is wrong.

Disable score on reset

  When checked, allows you to disable scoring on reset.

Explore with left click on number cells

  When checked, the left mouse button click on a number cell will have the same effect as the middle mouse button click.

On the second page, you can set the theme. Select a theme from the list. Each item in the list shows a small preview left to the theme name. A selection is immediately applied.

On the third page, you can set the height and width of the board and the number of mines in your custom level.

Chapter 7. Credits and License
Credits and License

# Chapter 7. Credits and License

KMines Copyright 1996-2007

Authors

- Nicolas Hadacek `(hadacek AT kde.org)`

- Mikhail Kourinny

- Mauricio Piacentini `(mauricio AT tabuleiro.com)`

- Dmitry Suzdalev `(dimsuz AT gmail.com)`

Documentation copyright 2000 Nicolas Hadacek `(hadacek AT kde.org)`

Documentation updated for KDE 2.0 by Mike McBride `(no mail)`

Some changes for KDE 3.2 by Philip Rodrigues `(phil AT kde.org)`

This documentation is licensed under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

This program is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License.