Tacticsweeper
A bite-sized roguelike take on Minesweeper. Each area brings dangerous new hazards like Proximity Mines and Laser Turrets - but you've got your own bag of tricks! Use powerful equipment to scan, sneak, disarm and blast your way through without losing valuable probes. Can you survive the onslaught of threats and clear all minefields?
v1.12 - Dark mines reworked! All dark mines now appear in a single row or column in each level.
v1.11 - Multiple flag icons + many bugfixes! Click anything in the infocenter panel or use the scroll wheel to switch flag icon.
How to play
Click a tile to fire a probe there, revealing it. Reveal every safe tile in a level to advance.
Right-click to flag a tile (usually, as a reminder that it's a mine).
Numbered tiles indicate the number of mines in the 8 surrounding tiles. If you fire a probe at a mine, or something else attacks it on the way down, you'll lose the probe. If you run out, it's game over!
Tiles with a + symbol indicate a nearby active structure in the 8 surrounding tiles. Fire a probe directly at a structure (or otherwise reveal it) to disable it, shutting down its effects and + tiles. All structures must be disabled to complete a level. Most structures have dangerous ranged attacks, so seek them out quickly!
After each level, you'll obtain a new upgrade or piece of equipment. Click the buttons on the right side to activate or switch to the tool you want to use.
Download
Development log
- v1.12 - Dark mine reworkJun 18, 2024
- v1.11 - Flag icons & bugfixesJun 12, 2024
- v1.1: Endless Mode & New Mines!Jun 04, 2024
- v1.01May 23, 2024
Comments
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Love this game.
Hate the mirror mines, though.
The luckiest randomization I ever got lol
Did a run again. got a new best of 47. the game was not being nice by giving me like 4 levels with 3 ultimines in a row at some point but I lived. (ultimines arent the main cause of probe loses so its managable but its still a pain)
for long runs you just have to really pay attention to stuff like numbers that dont add up because thats a sign of a mirror mine which is important to see. and you also have to just save armor kit for as long as you can because its the best way to deal with 50/50s at the end which most of the time are caused by mirror mine. (in the picture one of the mirror mines I have marked the other one I know because there isnt actually a double mine left. but that leaves 1 mirror mine that can be in 5 or 6 different pairs of mines. if you dont have armor kit for this you will suffer)
for long runs you also just kinda have to deduce where ultimines are based of the hazard warning (the 3 ultimine markings are actually correct its just a thing you learn to do) although this example isnt actually that bad there are ones that are harder to find. sometimes there even is a laser turret.
If u got to level 48, game should be pretty nice to you. I torn my arse and got to like 40 or smth.
I doubt the game is ever that nice... because I remember a lot of mirrormines and ultimines. (the usual pain) (from memory I have like 3 other runs that were 43 or 44)
Nah ik the game sometimes is an ass but I was talking about your record run.
ultimine+dark mines or double mines is butal.
There is a bug/feature that when you leave the game and press continue you start the level from the beginning (which is a huge advantage if you are about to lose a level). I think it should continue from where you left the game. Otherwise you can beat infinite levels which is unfair.
Is it possible to be unable to beat a level because of running out of disarms? Here all I have left is the Ultimine and one more space but I can't click the last space because the UItimine keeps destroying my probes.
After pressing a cell containing Ultimine, the stage can be cleared by continuing to press a safe cell while consuming Probe and accumulating Recycle.
Amazing!
amazing game maybe add in the duo mine and mirror mine into the end-able mode, and more abilities would be cool like a cheaper disarm with a big downside for not removing a mine
Hey all, thanks for continuing to play the game! I super appreciate all the constructive feedback and wild runs people have shown off. Just wanted to give a quick update that a Steam version is in progress - I'll make an actual proper announcement once things are a bit more decided, so expect more info fairly soon!
Oooh, very nice! Super excited to see where the game goes too!
Could you make a discord server for people who love this game, I've been trying to find one for a while
(100/10 game)
Good luck!
I can't get past level 7 no matter what ugh i tried for an hour and yet i still haven't beaten level 7 yet
U can identify real structures from trap mines with advanced radar,if a + shows on all sides except diagonals,it's a fake
Played like 10 runs, Pb at level 25. Great game, would like it to go to steam.
My best run! (I died next level)
Also made it to level 22 without using flags or getting hit
Did you use Salvage or Armor?
no just stealth
If this becomes a game on Steam, I'd love to see some achievements for it, especially for Challenge Runs. I'm currently in the process of at least trying to beat "Ultimine - Analysis Complete" without losing a probe or without placing any flags, just for added difficulty.
Add Blue Flags that you can use to mark spaces where there isnt/you don't know when there is a mine, but you don't want to land on them. Maybe make it so you can add number marks to them too.
Why's a battery here, if it doesn't power any structures? XD
maybe for attacking agacent structures
This is a fantastic game! I've sunk several hours into it already, and my best run so far lost at level 33. The ideas are all incredibly creative, and Endless provides very nice challenges.
I do have an idea that could be quite interesting though - how about an option to change the size of the play field? For the first levels, it would seem easier due to the lower mine density (either the same or slightly increased mine counts), but then you start realising that things like Laser Turrets and especially Ultimines become even more threatening with how many cells they can hit. And then, in Endless, the maximum amount of each mine can slowly increase over time, really piling on the difficulty... I feel like a lot of more interesting scenarios could arise when playing with, for example, 15x15 boards.
Very excited to see where this game goes regardless!
I... I don't know what to say...
I managed to get rid of all mines...
Proximity jackpot. XD
I don't understand the Cryo Mine
I revealed it, but it still damaged my probes?
Only revealing the Cryo Building will disable. Revealing the mine itself doesnt disable.
Very awesome game!
Highest level I've hit is 42! Mirror mines are the death of me. They mess me up so bad lol. Would love to see some item to help me out with mirror mines.
I also noticed that armor doesn't always prevent damage. I guess it makes sense considering armor layers. Maybe further down the road we could upgrade it so it takes more than 1 hit? I'd love to see upgrades for existing items, from 1 scanner to 2, additional armor, lower cooldowns.
The game could use some QOL features that a lot of minesweeper games have like double clicking numbers to open surrounding tiles. Also please return to the probe after disarming. (EDIT: Maybe also unequip/cancel with right mouse button outside the field?)
I hope we get to see larger fields, custom modes, etc. Maybe a hex mode? I got 160 hours in Hexcells Infinite lmao
Also please get this on steam ASAP, I'd pay just for the automatic updates and maybe some achievements?
double clicking numbers to open surrounding tiles could never work. you use probes remember. if you could double click a number that would:
A. the probe is on the tile you shoot so how would the hitbox even work.
B. allow you to open multiple tiles which could have multiple mines while only using 1 probe.
(although I dont make the game so who knows).
(also how would a hex mode even work with ultimine and laser turret.)
Just played through this update, and it's really cool. Now I can test myself with how far I'll be able to go no-hit. :3
By the way, will this game have different languages? I just wanna give this game to my dad to try, but he doesn't know English.
Oh, and I just got this lucky radar use. XD
(Yes, I'm trying to no-hit as far as I can and no, I'm not using Stealth, it's just that there are no other choices except Salvage and Armor)
Upd: level 17 is my highest no-hit run.
Level 17 no-hit is absolutely wild, congrats!
Language support is something I'd *love* to have in the future, but it's unfortunately pretty far outside the scope of this project right now (especially since it wasn't planned around that initially). It is something I'll be keeping in mind though.
Amazing game. The darkmine rework was a brilliant idea.
My biggest ask is if it can switch back to probe after using a remove mine charge. I accidentally waste a charge quite often and my friends had the same problem.
I would like to see some more crazy things in endless mode. Im talking 8 mirrors, multiple batteries, multiple mortars, almost full row dark mines or 8 ultimines. Get each level a personality and cause some wow moments. Endless doesnt have to guarantee fairness, though of cause it ideally shouldnt be completely impossible. I say loose the restrictions in endless and let the randomness create unique and memorable levels.
Also i i would like an animated symbol on the cell just probed when it triggers a proximity mine. This is because i often think so long about my next move that i forgot i triggered the proximity mine. The animation should stick around until the explosion.
Another thing, i would like to be able to shade cells, so that i can shade off cells that can/cant be mirrored. So a tool where i can shade both revealed and hidden cells, and can act as an extra layer to flags.
Also i will mention that the game is a lot more fun with the powerups Salvation and Info Table, as both allow playing a lot faster durring simple situations. And the info also makes it easier to appriciate the personality of a level. There is no problem now, but if you ever add more power ups, keep an eye out to not make it suboptimal picking these fun increasing powerups.
Thanks for the great feedback, we definitely agree on general design philosophy.
It originally switched back to probes after disarming, and that led to players losing probes b/c they expected the disarm to stay equipped haha. I'll add this an option in the settings menu so everyone can choose their own preference.
Endless already tries to focus on one or two mine types per level (since full random selection would feel even more same-y), and letting that focus be a lot more extreme sometimes would be really cool. That said it's REALLY easy to overdo it, so you'll probably see some gradual progression towards that idea instead of any sweeping (lol) changes.
Ah, maybe i would make the opposite mistake if it switched back to probe :D. It is possible that the solution is to make it more clear what is about to be used then, but will have to try and see.
Sounds good with the endless levels focusing on a few types. What i would like to see is the limit on how many of a particular type that is allowed to be pushed up, especially if that mine is chosen to be what the level focuses on. Something like a large ammount of ultimine, batteri or even mortars could completely change the gameplay and feel refreshing.
Regarding automatic tool switching, one I'd really like to see is automatically selecting the flag tool when you click a flag type in the top right
People with actual mice (rather than a laptop trackpad) are more likely to also have the control to scroll to the flag type they want, so I think automatically switching is a reasonable default (additionally, flagging a tile does not reveal hidden information and is therefore a fundamentally reversible action; I accidentally lost a probe earlier to forgetting to switch to the flag tool)
I think FreakzWasTaken's idea that the solution is to make it more clear what is about to be done is definitely the right approach, could I suggest putting a preview of the active tool (perhaps at 60% opacity) in the cell when preparing to take an action (i.e. a semi-transparent probe/disarm/flag icon in the cell currently hovered
Why is that a mine? Shouldn't that be an imitation? Or doesn't it need to be empty and just adds to the count of the radar?
The mirror doesnt reserve the opposite space. Anything can be in that cell. If that particular cell would be empty, it also wouldnt be affected by the mirror. Only the 8 cells around.
Thanks!
I lost 1 probe in 34, 2 in 42.
And then the other 6 in 43.
I honestly dont know how I should have survived that. (3 ultimine, 2 laser turrets and a battery. also like 3 other buildings. a bad start that didnt destroy either laser turret or battery or shows an ultimine after using powers.) (minesweeper rng just is like that sometimes I suppose)
Spoilers for endless
Was enjoying it a bunch.. Then a mines stop making any sense and just made me lose from 6 probes
Can we please have a clear explanation on which side it mirrors. I was fully expecting a diagonal mirror beacuse it's the only thing that make sense given the example. But then here it just opts to mirror right to left??
What am I missing
It does diagonally mirror (so it mirrors through the center point).
I am not sure what you mean by it mirroring right to left in this case because it seems to be working normal to me. (there also are 2 mirror mines in that level you just havent found one yet that might be where you are having a problem)
this is a 50/50 situation where its either 1,3 from the bottom left or that from the top right. depends which one the last mirror mine is in. you just need to save up something to deal with the 50/50 that will realisticly happen.
It is always diagonal/across center yeah - the visible mirror mine is mirroring here (notably not affecting the center 3).
well I found a level in endless with a single dark mine. considering the dark mine rework should you really be able to find levels with just one dark mine?
That... is a very good point that I did not think about lol. Will fix!
Any way to tell mirror mines without upgrades and without making a 50/50?
Disarming the last mine type didn't make the system log scroll down?
And it preventing me from getting Structure protection is really annoying. Not even Salvage lets me get data!
Wish the mine-flag selector only selected amongst available mines once you have the number teller thing.
...
The final mine type, are the mines the description mentions, always regular mines? Or is that just coincidence?
Well I happened to see the dark mine update very early. Played a quick round untill endless to see what the change does. Its a good change. You most of the time find at least 1 dark mine which is enough that you can just play around the fact that anywhere in that row or collum can be dark mines. And if you dont find a dark mine you can at least be confident in where they arent and it will most likely work from there.
Happy to see dark mine become something other then complete rng suffering.
Game is super fun! The scroll to change flag icon is way too fast for my trackpad, so maybe slow that down. Also hotkeys to switch between flag and tile mode would be nice or to change flag symbol
Insanely fun game to play, good job! The only thing that confuses me is dark mines. What causes them to be revealed on the map exactly?
42. It wasnt even because of darkmine or ultimine.
Dark mine honestly isnt that bad just annoying. like realisticly it will take my salvage and I pretend it doesnt exist and it most of the time works. (that doesnt mean its a good thing it exists)
Ultimine is funny. If i get hit by ultimine thats my own fault. (you would expect ultimine to rng kill you but it really doesnt if you have a plan)
It would be nice if analyzer prioritized some buildings.
something like: battery > cryo cell/mortar > the other stuff
(this is obviously based on my own prefrence of what buildings to destroy. except for battery. cryo cell depends because with 8 cryo mines its insane)
fk I just got 40 you are my enemy now
Great game wish there was more variety per playthrough or a global leaderboard for endless though.
EXCELLENT game. Fun mechanics that really make you think, easiest mistake to make is to go too fast, something that is highly punished. No complaints here.
really cool game, I was waiting for a game like this of minesweeper, got to 35 or more, I was surprised when in the infinite mode you get introduced with the BATERY, DOUBLE MINES and more things, it makes it more fun and difficult, it nearly scared me the double mines 😂.
BUT, one of the problems is that sometimes I don't have all the powers in infinite mode or they have too big coldown for a really difficult level with 8 WAYS MINES(1 or 2 of them) a BATERY and more (it's how I died 😅), I would like a way to BOOST or IMPROVE the powers in the infinite mode, or maybe get more PROVES so I can try more so if I get to a luck mines based situation (yeah, is how I died, 1 "double mines", 1 "8 way mine", 2 "mines" and all suronded by the yellow mines, so it was imposible to survive because of the coldown of the powers and the bad luck I got).
And if you can pls make that the "best move power" is capable to detect mines or structures that attack from far away, so it is more helpfull, and sometimes the + structure takes damage when I press for the first time and deletes my "shield power" and sometimes it is anonying or funy. And the "Terrain map" power make THE MINES THAT I MARKED more visiblenstead of marking the ones that I didn't mark, and it kinda anoys me.
Maybe a "git gud" for me. But it is really fun to play, for anyone reading this, try it its worth the time and play.
[I don't try to say bad things to the game, I tried to say maybe how to improve it, so sorry if it sounded kinda agresive 😥]
If anyone is wondering how I got so far is a strategy of using the mine detector "terrain map", then using the 3x3 detector and then using the mines eliminator to get blank spaces and have a lot of the board free.
Once done that use stealth to desactivate all the structures that you can see (caution with the fake or "trap" mines, they have a + radious not like structures that have a 3x3 radious, so they are easy to confuse [counting that you have the advanced radar, beacause advanced radar only works on mines, what is a really cool and usefull]), once got some mines and structures look what is left and use shield (¡¡If it's necesary!!) and logic to look for mines (double mines in corners are really easy to detect, they have a 2 instead of a 1).
One way to detect 8 WAY MINES is using the "alert power", but for me is really difficult sometimes to understand.
maybe you can use shield to implode into mines and then use the "mines eliminator power" so you have a bigger cleared board. But it is too risky and I don't know how exacly the shield works (like, does the shield works for 5 turns giving you inmortability or does the shiel last for "5 turns" and every explosion makes you lose one shield turn? I don't undersand it).
The shield lasts 5 turns, but can only block one attack each turn (unlike every other form of protection which all give you invonrablity). if you are being attacked by multiple things in one click, the shield will not protect you. It always ticks down, even if you don't get attacked that turn.
Great game. made it to 34 where I died (not my first run obviously I will probably try to get a higher round).
Not a new thing to say but dark mines are just a thing where the game can decide you die.
Then there is the thing that shows you the best spot to target is. which is kinda inconsistent. like it just pretty much always chooses a building if there is one which makes sense. but then which building it chooses just kinda is whatever it feels like when some buildings are more important to kill then others (battery being the most important one). although this is just a small thing and not that important.
Amazing Game! However, I feel like the dark mines are a pretty annoying feature, as they have near to no counterplay. What about changing them so they count as 2 mines instead of 1 instead?
this game is so fun, in this level i basically figured out everything after just using my probes once, the only thing that was wrong was the mortar which i placed one down from the correct spot
you can scroll to change your flagging tool!
nice, got to 19, where mirror mines got introduced
you should probably make it easier to tell which flags were placed and which ones were mines already there, and maybe make it so flags take off the counter as well