Standard PC games: who are the ILE kings?

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Prompted by the revived thread on pinball, I'm interested in finding out if I really am as terrifically good as I imagine at some of the computer games that generally come as standard with PCs. I am generally good at games and I don't know anyone with better scores on these, but this is a clever group with PCs (mostly, I expect) who must play these games some. Put me in my place!

So, my best at Space Cadet: 237,289,250. My best at Minesweeper (expert size): 66 seconds. My best run on Free Cell: 23 wins.

I can't think what to say about Solitaire, say...

― Martin Skidmore, Friday, 14 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

My best run on Frecell was something like 46 wins. Then I installed Windows98 and Freecell stopped work. I cried.

― Dan Perry, Friday, 14 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

woah woah: when did space cadet disappear from my pc? i once got a fantastic score, but i can't remember it now dangnabbit. so you're safe, martin. for now. but sleep light.

― mitch lastnamewithheld, Friday, 14 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Minesweeper is the sport of kings; nearly caused me to fail my Masters through providing a superb procrastination opportunity. Got 6 seconds on easy (but that is about luck and mouse click speed). The daddy level is the real test - think I once did about 130 seconds for it. Was so happy and pleezed with myself I couldn't do any more work that day.

― Nathan Barley, Friday, 14 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Nathan, do you wear colored trunks?

― mike hanle y, Friday, 14 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I miss asteroids! That's a GREAT game.

― Maria, Saturday, 15 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Minesweeper? Pah. It's all about Freecell (best -> 23 wins). Microsoft really needs to make some version of Mahjong (unless they already have since I'm still using 98).

― Vinnie, Sunday, 16 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Eh?? Wot are this Space Cadet game?? SEND SEND SEND!

― Sarah, Thursday, 20 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Then I installed Windows98 and Freecell stopped work.

Surely it already did this?

― N., Thursday, 20 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Sarah, Space Cadet is a pinball game. The most common, I think. The components come to something like 2 meg, I think - do you want me to email it to you? I don't want to send so many files of such size without asking.

― Martin Skidmore, Thursday, 20 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

one year passes...

Revive!

I used to play Solitaire, Minesweeper, and Tetris regularly when I was in high school, as my time wasting activity of choice. These days, it's going online that takes priority, but occasionally I will go back to Solitaire to see how I will do. On November 14, 2001, I managed to achieve this, which is the best score I've gotten since those regular Solitaire-playing HS days:

http://deanna.ladyinterference.com/ilx/solitaire.gif

Oh yes, and I think the best time I got on the "Master" level of Minesweeper was about 150, but that was back when I was playing it regularly. I highly doubt I'd get that low a time again.

― Tenacious Dee (Dee the Lurker), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 02:18 (twenty-two years ago)

No wait, I just found this Solitaire result from November 1, 2001, which completely trounces what I'd previously posted:

http://deanna.ladyinterference.com/ilx/solitaire02.gif

As you can tell, I kinda like playing Solitaire.

― Tenacious Dee (Dee the Lurker), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 02:31 (twenty-two years ago)

My best Mindsweeper time on easy was 6 sec.
My best Snood score on child was right above 20000

― A Nairn (moretap), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 03:13 (twenty-two years ago)

My best Minesweeper time on easy is like a minute. :(

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 03:38 (twenty-two years ago)

It's all about clicking the mouse really fast a couple times (randomly) and then making one quick descion and clicking again.

― A Nairn (moretap), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 03:40 (twenty-two years ago)

my dad can get 100 on expert minesweeper

― minna (minna), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 03:41 (twenty-two years ago)

I remember getting my Freecell streak at 30 or 40 before I reinstalled Windows.

― Leee Majors (Leee), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 04:02 (twenty-two years ago)

And my expert Minesweeper time was 251 or so.

― Leee Majors (Leee), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 04:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Wow, I'm not the only one who took captures of my best Windows games! Before I reformatted, I had one of a Hearts game where at the end my three comp opponents were all above 120 while I had a lovely 2.

― Vinnie (vprabhu), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 04:50 (twenty-two years ago)

When I play Solitaire I play the cumulative money version, and I don't know what those scores mean.

My best run on FreeCell is now 35 wins. I've given up trying to play Minesweeper with the rotten mouse I have (but no one is rivalling my 66, hurrah!), and pinball takes forever - if I can get started well, and I usually can, one game can last anything from 4 to 8 hours, and I don't have time for that. God knows how much longer it could last if things didn't start going grotesquely wrong at the highest levels, making me give up on it.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 13:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Wow, I'm not the only one who took captures of my best Windows games!

*nods* I loved doing that sort of thing back when I was playing those games regularly, and as a consequence have somewhere .clp (Clipboard) files with "Best Solitaire Game [number]" or "Best Minesweeper Game [number]", e.g., as the file names.

When I play Solitaire I play the cumulative money version, and I don't know what those scores mean.

Um, I have no earthly idea! I know they take away a great many points if you have to go through the main stack again, and that a lot of points are awarded for putting cards in the four other stacks, but I don't know exactly how points are accumulated.

The only thing Dad knew how to do on the computer was play Solitaire, so when he would play it on the computer he would play it Vegas style (the "cumulative money version"). He was really good at it, too. He also happened to be the one who taught me how to play Solitaire in the first place. I'm not a gambling type of individual, though, not even virtually, so I didn't feel comfortable with Vegas style scoring.

― Tenacious Dee (Dee the Lurker), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 13:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I *was* proud of my 23 at Freecell (now confirmed at 24, as I fell at the 25th, grrr), but I am concerned for all the poor people on here who take this all far too seriously, so instead I am going to rejoice in my mediocrity and laissez-fair attitude. Thank you, geeks, for putting things in perspective!

(about 315 at master Minesweeper, fwiw)

― Markelby (Mark C), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 13:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Having said that - Dee, what is the technique for Solitaire? I just can't do it, basically, so I must be missing something. Is it simply putting cards of a different suit on top of other cards? Cos I am good at Freecell which seems much harder and more skill based. So what's it all about?

― Markelby (Mark C), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 13:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Most people suck at Minesweeper because they don't know about using the left and right mouse buttons at the same time to clear multiple squares.

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Of course you can cheat and edit the scores in the ini file.

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:17 (twenty-two years ago)

My best score on Space Cadet is only 20 million. What am I doing wrong? What's the best tactic?

― Jonathan Z., Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:24 (twenty-two years ago)

I play Vegas style cumulative score and been up thousands. Honestly. Sadly, in Vegas there is no such game. I've seen somewhere that there are positive expected value strategies for the Windows rules game. Moving from the home row down I think gives the player a big advantage.

Solitaire, that is.

― Colin Saunders (csaunders), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 21:01 (twenty-two years ago)

WHo has xp and is playing spider solitaire? Fuck, I had to take it out ov thee computer, b/c I sat and played it for a whole day straight!! I got so I cd win regularly in medium (2 suite) mode, but w/four suites, it's a killer. It's the most ev0l digi-ctrack like thing since I discovered collapse at shockwave dot com.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 21:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Don't tell people about the left+right button minesweeper trick. That's the only thing that still gets me dates!

― Chris H. (chrisherbert), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 05:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Tips for big pinball scores: learn to hit those three targets in the middle. Knock them all down, then again in 30 seconds, then again in a further 30 seconds = free ball, but the big thing is that you then have a full minute to knock them all down again for another free ball, and continue indefinitely.

Also learn to hit the right hand chute repeatedly - again, you have 30 seconds after each success to get another light. 3 lights = post making it hard to lose balls down the middle, four means the side out channels get lit, and you get an extra ball if you go down there.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 21:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Colin Saunders = "Vegas Style"

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 21:31 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

Okay, I have a new PC with a nice new mouse, and can't resist posting this - sorry to brag!

http://img142.exs.cx/img142/6058/minesweeper.jpg

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 30 January 2005 20:57 (twenty-one years ago)

goddamn

― beanz (beanz), Sunday, 30 January 2005 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

I think there was another thread where someone posted a list of world records for this. I'd love a reminder, to know if I'm getting at all close. I can still hardly believe I got that score!

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 30 January 2005 21:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Okay, searched myself, and dammit I am one second off the world record! http://metanoodle.com/minesweeper/subworldrecordsexpert.html

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 30 January 2005 22:12 (twenty-one years ago)

ooh still, congratulations!

― teeny (teeny), Sunday, 30 January 2005 22:19 (twenty-one years ago)

how do they verify record

― Reviewer: Sir Potomus (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (ex machina), Sunday, 30 January 2005 23:14 (twenty-one years ago)

It's called honesty, something you noise dudes wouldn't know a thing about!! hrumph!!!

― Andrew (enneff), Sunday, 30 January 2005 23:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Hahahah ZING.

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 31 January 2005 00:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Martin, that is /amazing/.

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Monday, 31 January 2005 03:18 (twenty-one years ago)

I still housed your Freecell run.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry's Ever-Decreasing Sense Of Geek Worth (Dan Perry), Monday, 31 January 2005 04:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Indeed, and I haven't played it for ages - when you can win 35 games in a row it does get a little boring, I think. So I doubt I'll ever challenge you on that.

I still don't know how I got that Minesweeper score.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 31 January 2005 12:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm guessing equal measures of luck, skill, and pact with Satan?

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 31 January 2005 15:59 (twenty-one years ago)

five months pass...

Let's all come clean: Minesweeper is pretty easy. Just learn the both buttons trick. It plays the game for you. Though good luck getting Martin's score. That's just crazy.

― Chris H. (chrisherbert), Sunday, 10 July 2005 06:49 (twenty years ago)

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