When I took over as design lead for Microsoft Minesweeper, my goal wasn’t to reinvent one of gaming’s most recognizable classics. It was to understand what made it timeless, identify where modern players experienced unnecessary friction, and explore ways to make the game feel faster, clearer, and more engaging without sacrificing its identity.

I led the design effort in partnership with BKOM Studios, collaborating closely with the external development team from concept through implementation. Together, we explored ways to modernize the experience while respecting the expectations of longtime Minesweeper players.

Auto-Chording

One of the features I’m most proud of designing was Auto-Chording, an optional interaction that streamlined one of the most repetitive parts of classic Minesweeper. Traditionally, once a player correctly flags a mine, they still need to manually uncover every remaining adjacent safe cell. I designed Auto-Chording to recognize those deterministic situations and reveal the remaining safe cells automatically, allowing players to spend less time performing obvious actions and more time solving the puzzle itself.

Because it challenged a core interaction that players had internalized for decades, Auto-Chording required significant advocacy before it was approved. We ultimately released it as an optional setting, allowing players to decide how they wanted to experience the game. Internally, it quickly became the preferred way to play for many members of the development team and Microsoft later highlighted Auto-Chording as a featured capability in the game’s store listing.

Minesweeper Arcade

Beyond refining the core experience, I also explored ways to expand what Minesweeper could be through a prototype called Minesweeper Arcade. Instead of treating every board as a traditional puzzle, Arcade introduced new rule sets that encouraged players to rethink familiar strategies.

One prototype featured large 2×2 mines that occupied four cells instead of one. At the start of each board, players were told how many large mines were hidden, creating a deliberate shift in player strategy. Early gameplay focused on identifying and accounting for these oversized hazards, while the second half naturally transitioned back into the familiar deductive rhythm of classic Minesweeper. The mechanic tested well internally because it changed the way players approached the puzzle without abandoning the skills that made the original game satisfying.

Although the prototypes ultimately didn’t ship, the project reinforced for me how a long-established title can be thoughtfully expanded without losing its identity.

Both Auto-Chording and Minesweeper Arcade came from the same question: how can we create new moments of discovery without undermining the elegance that has made Minesweeper endure for decades?