When I was growing up I was no good at paying attention in class unless I was doing something else on the side, but I also grew up at a time when most electronics weren't allowed in schools. If I had homework from other classes I'd do that, but once I ran out I would play Minesweeper on my graphing calculator. I developed a love for the game that persists even now, and includes games based on it, too. During a recent NextFest, I tried the demo for one such game that got me interested, and its final product is here now. Infinity Sweeper is a roguelite take on the classic puzzle game that I was pretty excited to jump into, and I'd like to tell you about.
Visuals and Music
I won't have too much to say about the soundtrack, it does the job of avoiding silence but isn't so obtrusive it distracts you from the game, and it's not unpleasant. That said, it's also nothing particularly noteworthy, which is okay since it's also not a focus of the game.
The visuals of the game are fairly simple, it is based on Minesweeper after all, but I think they do what they need to very well. The numbers telling you which tiles have mines are color coded so you can tell them apart as a glance, and the upgrades you can unlock have unique icons based on their effect and colors based on their rarity. The traps are purple to set them apart from the special tiles you've unlocked, as well. When you're hovering over a numbered tile, it will also highlight every adjacent tile that hasn't been revealed, adding another aspect to the game's fantastic visual clarity that makes it easy to tell what you're looking at, without having such a high contrast to things so as to be straining to look at. My only real complaint with the visual effects is that the game has a lot of screenshake that I feel isn't really necessary, but it can be disabled in the settings so it isn't really a problem.
Gameplay
I'm going to focus primarily here on what sets this game apart from Minesweeper. If you aren't familiar with the standard Minesweeper game, you can check out my guide on how to play it. This game is a roguelite, and on its surface has more or less the same gameplay as its inspiration. The first thing that's different is that you have three hearts, and each time you hit a mine, you lose one, rather than losing the game entirely like in the standard game. Every fourth game you will also have to face a "boss" fight, that consists of a Minesweeper game, often on a larger grid, that has a time limit. The better you do in the three games leading up to it, the more time you'll have available for the boss.
The biggest thing that makes Infinity Sweeper unique isn't the bosses or the multiple lives, though. It's the roguelite aspects of it. Every round you'll earn coins that you can spend on new tiles, permanent effects, or single use cards. The tiles can appear randomly on the grid, and when revealed, will have some effect. Permanent effects are always active, and the cards can be used for their effect once. The effects of all three can include things like gaining a higher score or more coins, preventing traps from functioning, regaining hearts, revealing extra tiles, and more. You can only hold so many cards at once, and have limits to the amount of permanent effects and tile types, but you can always sell them in the shop too, so if you run into one that's better than one you've got, you can still get it.
Not all of the random items are positive, however. Every time you defeat a boss, you're given three choices. Each one will add a positive permanent effect, and a trap to your game. The traps are similar to the tiles you unlock in the sense that they take effect when revealed, but their effects hinder rather than help you. They can limit what you can see, destroy positive tiles, and even cause you to lose points, coins, or even hearts. Some cards and effects can mitigate traps, but unlike the things you buy from the shop, you can't fully get rid of traps, they'll always have a chance of appearing once they get added to your game.
This cycle of gaining coins, getting and swapping upgrade, beating bosses, and getting new traps to deal with keeps up until you lose all your hearts, and I think it's a blast. As much as I love Minesweeper, I'll admit that it quickly gets repetitive, and if it weren't my only option in class back in the day, I probably wouldn't have played it nearly as much. Infinity Sweeper keeps things interesting enough that I don't even get too upset when I fail a run since it means I'll get to see something different next time!
Conclusion
The game has a relatively simple idea behind it so there isn't a ton to say, but it executes it fantastically and manages to be a refreshing take on Minesweeper. There's a decent amount of variety in runs thanks to the different passives, tiles, and traps you can run into. And if you want to see how you stand against other players, there's a daily challenge you can do where those three are set in stone and there's a leaderboard to compete on. This game manages to take Minesweeper, which I find a decent enough way to pass the time, and turn it into something that's a lot more interesting and quite a lot of fun. If you like puzzle games, you should definitely give Infinity Sweeper a try; I'm really glad I did.
VERDICT: Recommended
Reviewed on PC
Review Copy was Provided
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