Comparing Tametsi with Minesweeper, Hexcells and Patterna.

[artzpiip]

I did a comparison by comparing Minesweeper, Hexcells games, Tametsi and Patterna.

By Minesweeper I mean classic Minesweeper. For Hexcells, I mean all three Hexcells games. I also unified terminology (especially in Patterna where tiles care called nodes and edges are called connections) for the sake of simplicity.

Here goes...

Playing fields of Minesweeper can have several hundred tiles maximum, Hexcells and Tametsi, it's about 400, Patterna about 100 tiles.

In Minesweeper, the playing field is always rectangular and tiles are always squares. In Hexcells, Tametsi and Patterna, the overall shape of the levels vary. In Hexcells, the tiles are always hexagonal. In Tametsi, the shape and size of the tiles can vary a lot although square and hexagonal tiles are the most common. In Patterna, tiles (called nodes in this game) can be connected to very bizarre ways.

Accidentally flagging non-mine tiles as mine tile in Minesweeper and Tametsi isn't counted as a mistake, unlike in Hexcells and Patterna. Consequently, Hexcells Plus, Hexcells Infinite and Patterna have mine tiles that sometimes contain additional clues.

In Minesweeper, there are situations where you have to guess. All levels in Hexcells games, Tametsi and Patterna can be solved through logic.

In Minesweeper, making a mistake makes you start a new board. In Hexcells, making mistakes makes you receive less hexes (that you need to progress), in Patterna and Tametsi, you can continue but the levels completed with mistakes are shown. In Patterna, you also receive less points when you complete the level with mistakes. Patterna has an optional hardcore mode in random levels that present you a new puzzle should you fail.

In Minesweeper and first Hexcells game, all the non-mine tiles hold clues, In Hexcells Plus and Infinite, Tametsi and Patterna, non-mine tiles don't always hold additional clues.

All games have total mine clue that acts as an area of influence that encompasses all the tiles in the level.

All games have surrounding tile clues. Minesweeper, Tametsi and first Hexcells game only have the 1-tile radius clues. In Hexcells Plus and Infinite, mine tiles can sometimes have 2-tile radius clues (but not 1-tile radius clues). In Patterna, revealed tiles can contain 1-tile, 2-tile and 3-tile radius clues.

Hexcells and Tametsi have line clues. Tametsi can have only one line clue per line. Hexcells can have more than one line clues per line. Patterna and Minesweeper do not have line clues.

Minesweeper and Hexcells don’t have custom area of inflence clues. Tametsi and Patterna have. In Tamentsi, custom areas of incluence cannot overlap. In Patterna, they can but custom areas are limited to 4 per puzzle. In Patterna, custom area clues aren’t necessarily revealed from the start.

In Patterna, mine tiles can have connected mine tile clue that shows how many mines have to be connected.

Minesweeper and Tametsi don’t have clue modifiers. Hexcells and Patterna have. The clue modifiers in both games indicate whether the mine tiles are all connected or are separated into at least 2 groups.

Patterna has one-way edge influence clues. No such clues exist in Minesweeper, Hexcells or Tametsi.

Both Hexcells and Patterna support special condition puzzles although there are only handful of official levels that take advantage of it (although many custom levels have special condition puzzles). Minesweeper and Tametsi don’t support special condition puzzles.

Levels in Minesweeper are always random. Levels in Patterna and Hexcells Infinite can be both random and handcrafted although Patterna has more customization options on random levels. Levels in First two Hexcell games and Tametsi are all handcrafted.

Classic Minesweeper doesn’t have level support. Tametsi has basic but difficult custom level maker, Hexcells has custom level support but loading levels is rather clumsy (you have to ctrl+c the level set and then load it). Patterna has fully-fledged custom level support.

In Minesweeper, Hexcells and Hexcells Plus, you can’t save your progress and finish the puzzle later. In Hexcells Infinite, Tametsi and Patterna, you can.

Presentation of Minesweeper is minimal and there are no sounds. In Tametsi, there are a few basic sounds. Both Hexcells games and Patterna have sounds, often musical in nature.

Anything I missed?

[Tudwell]

You clearly put some time into this, and I appreciate your interest. I can't be impartial about the comparison between the games, so I won't comment on them; maybe someone else will share their thoughts later.

[BlueRaja]

Don't forget about Squarecells and Delete

[Hammershaft]

I loved hexcells but this has provided more varied, interesting, and dificult challenges with its well thought out unique board configurations and mechanics. Hexcells does have more polish and visual flair that makes it a more casual and relaxing experience, but I think most seasoned players will prefer the greater depth that this provides.

[Hammershaft]

Edit: also, the mine sound scares the ♥♥♥♥ out of me in Tametsu