Review:
This is my second Boss Fight Books read. I wasn't sure if the author could manage to wring an entire book out of Minesweeper and make it interesting besides, but he did it. The book started off by looking at the precursors to Microsoft's Minesweeper and then moved on to Microsoft's journey with the game, including the worry on the part of executives and others that it wasn't "serious" enough for Microsoft's business-focused reputation. Employees playing games when the could be working? The horror! Imagine what it could do to productivity! The author then looked at the relatively small but devoted competitive Minesweeper community that sprouted up, and the issues around determining the "best" Minesweeper players.
It's been a long time since I last played Minesweeper. I never would have imagined that there was quite this much to the game's story. I had no idea that it (and Solitaire, which Orland discussed some) caused so much worry about workplace productivity. I definitely hadn't realized that there was ever a player community devoted to Minesweeper, although I suppose it makes sense - whenever people really like something and have a way to find other people who also really like it, you'll end up with a fan community.
This wasn't quite as enjoyable as the Silent Hill 2 book, but I was expecting that, what with Minesweeper's lack of a story (unless you count the "exploration" variants and whatnot). Still, I thought this was a pretty good read.
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