MonkeySweeper: Mines puzzles

The pitch

Welcome to MonkeySweeper, a fun puzzle game where you need to use numbers and your thinking to find the hidden monkeys. The game is simple to play. Look at the numbers on the board and try to understand what they are telling you. Open the tiles you think are safe and keep going until you find all the monkeys. But be careful, one wrong move can change everything. Some puzzles will be easy and quick to solve. Other puzzles can make you think for a while before you know what to do next. There is no need to rush. Take your time, look at the board and find the correct move. If you like Minesweeper, you may already know how the number clues work. If you enjoy Sudoku, you will also like using logic and looking for small patterns to solve the board. MonkeySweeper is made for people who enjoy quiet puzzle games and want something they can play anytime. You can play a quick round when you have some extra time or stay longer and try to solve harder boards. Every game is a little different and sometimes the answer is right in front of you. You just need to look a little closer. Find the safe tiles, follow the clues and discover where the monkeys are hiding. Make a mistake? Thats okay, try again and see if you can do better next time. So, are you ready to find the monkeys? Start playing MonkeySweeper and see how many puzzles you can solve.

Controls & how it runs

Open safe tiles. Numbers show nearby hidden monkeys. Use numbers to find monkeys. Avoid monkey tiles. Reveal all safe tiles to win.

Getting a run going takes exactly one press: Press start, up top, and the game boots inside this page — nothing downloads in the background and no form wants your details before the first jump. The cabinet is drawn for a portrait (upright) screen and listens to mouse, keyboard or touch, whichever the game prefers. This cabinet stands tall: it was built for portrait screens, so a phone held upright gives it the frame it wants — though it will squeeze politely into any window. Given a fullscreen button, use it — scores look better at full size, that's just science.

Pro tips for arcade cabinets

• Treat your first run as a scouting mission. Arcade cabinets hide their cruelty in the second minute, not the first — learn where the difficulty spikes before you start chasing numbers.
• Small scores compound. Grab the easy pickups on every pass instead of gambling the whole run on one heroic line; heroes respawn, banked points don't evaporate.
• Watch the edges of the screen. In classic arcade design the next problem almost always enters from somewhere you weren't looking — build the habit of scanning the borders.

MonkeySweeper: Mines puzzles — quick-fire questions

Does MonkeySweeper: Mines puzzles cost anything to play?

Not a token. The cabinet is free from the first run to the five-hundredth — no wallet, no sign-up, no toll booth hiding three levels in. The adverts around the page are what keep the floor's lights on.

What sort of game is MonkeySweeper: Mines puzzles?

It stands on our Arcade row — that's the family it plays most like. The pitch above is the publisher's own rundown of what it throws at you and what it hands back.

Can I play MonkeySweeper: Mines puzzles on my phone?

Happily, yes. It runs inside the browser on phones and tablets the same way it does on a computer. This cabinet stands tall: it was built for portrait screens, so a phone held upright gives it the frame it wants — though it will squeeze politely into any window.

Do I need to install anything first?

Nothing whatsoever. MonkeySweeper: Mines puzzles is an HTML5 game: hit the start button and it boots on this page, and shutting the tab sweeps the cabinet clean behind you.

Before you wander off

Personal best banked, or still chasing it? Either way the full Arcade row is powered on and waiting — The main floor: 415 cabinets of pure arcade stock — the quick, the loud and the gloriously unfair. If it beeps, flashes and dares you to beat a number, it lives on this row.