Neggsweeper: A Pro's Guide

Except Neggsweeper. Because, if we’re being honest, who actually knows how to play this game? By the end of this guide, you should not only be able to understand the basics of Neggsweeper, but be on your way to being a Neggsweeper master!

INTRODUCTION

When you first start Neggsweeper (either by visiting the Games Room and searching for it, or by simply typing “Neggsweeper” into the Search bar), you’ll see that it costs 30 Neopoints per game—this may seem pricy, considering all Flash games are free—but you’ll soon find that that 30 Neopoints is quickly made up when you start winning games (and believe me, you’ll win like crazy). You can only win 3,000 Neopoints per day but after that, it’s completely free to play!

You’ll also see that there are three levels: easy, medium, and hard. The difference between the levels is grid size, so it’s always best to start off on the easier level before trying your hand at the hardest level.

The point of Neggsweeper is to clear the grid of the gray Neggs without touching a bomb. It’s not as difficult as it sounds, and I’ll be providing different examples so it makes sense!

SCORING

Any time you start a new game, you’re presented with a fresh grid of gray Neggs. The very first step is to a pick a Negg, any Negg! There’s always the possibility you’re going to pick a bomb, which is more likely in the middle of the grid, so I always start with picking the four corners of the grid.

If you look above the grid, you’ll see there are two words: Remaining and Jackpot. Remaining tells you how many normal Neggs you have left, which really comes in handy when you’re playing on Hard or if you run into a situation where there’s different scenarios for bombs. Jackpot is the amount of Neopoints you’ll receive if you win the game (you only get Neopoints if you successfully clear the grid, so keep that in mind!). There are occasions where you’ll find special Neggs that add to the Jackpot, but there’s no indication of where these special Neggs are (or if they’re even on the grid) so cross your fingers for these guys! For each gray Negg you successfully clear by left-clicking, you get a point. If you clear a larger section of multiple Neggs, called an island, you’ll get more points! You will notice when this happens because you’ll get a message that says something along the lines of “You cleared 30 spaces on one turn! 30 additional Neopoints were added to the jackpot!”

Blue Negg – 50 points

Purple Negg – 100 points

Rainbow Negg – 150 points

Crystal Negg – 300 points

Fish Negg – 500 points

HOW TO PLAY

You select a corner of the grid. You clear a large section (O), and see a number next to a gray Negg (G). What does that mean? What that means is that square is touching a bomb on one of its side. Each Negg has 4 sides and 4 corners – top left corner, top right corner, bottom left corner, bottom ride corner; top side, bottom side, left side, and right side. Continuing with our scenario, you encounter this:

OOO

1??

OO?

Using what you know, there’s only one possible place the bomb could be touching – on the right side.

OOO

1BX

OOX

Because the one is only touching one gray Negg, that’s the only place the bomb could be. What would you do if you encountered this?

??OO

?11O

OOOO

It may seem intimidating, but if you break it down, it’s so simple to find the solution! We know that the top row has two gray Neggs and there are two open spots, the second row has one gray Negg – two successive 1’s – and one open spot, and the third row is completely free of Neggs altogether. That means there are only three potential bombs. How do we know which of the gray Neggs it is?

Because both of the numbers are 1’s, that means there is only ONE single, solitary bomb these numbers are touching. Because the third row is free of Neggs, the bomb obviously isn’t there. How about the first row?

If you look at the first gray Negg, you might think it’s possible. But how do we know it’s not? Because only the first 1 has access to that Negg, not the second 1. If this were the bomb, then the second 1 couldn’t be a number, it would have to be an open spot:

BXOO

X1OO

OOOO

Now what about the second gray Negg? If you notice, the first1 has a side that accesses that Negg and the second 1 has a corner that accesses that Negg:

?XOO

?11O

OOOO

The first 1 touches it with its top side and the second 1 touches it with its top left corner. This is the bomb!

XBOO

X11O

OOOO

To flag a bomb, you simply hold CTRL and left-click on the bomb. Be careful and make absolute certain you hold CTRL, otherwise you’ll select the bomb and end the game on yourself! The purpose of this is to ensure you’re keeping track of the bombs and don’t make a mistake!

Now, if the grid were to read like this, then there’s a potential for two answers:

??OO

?21O

OOOO

The reason is because the 2 is touching two gray Neggs that the 1 has no access to, meaning the 1 would NOT be compromised if the top left Negg and center left Negg were bombs.

BBOO

?21O

OOOO

XBOO

B21O

OOOO

In cases like this, the only viable option is to make a guess. Unfortunately, there will be times in Neggsweeper where after you’ve cleared the grid as much as you can, you’ll be left with two gray Neggs that could go either way.

TIPS AND TRICKS

Always pay attention to the numbers. The grid speaks to you—the intent is to not lose, but to keep things at a normal level of difficulty. That’s what all games are for, right? If you get stuck, it’s possible you’re not gleaning all the information that’s available to you. Keep your eyes open.

Read how many Neggs are Remaining, and do the math to see how many bombs are left.

Practice only ever equals success. The more you play, the better you get.

Don’t click many Neggs at once. If the page is in the middle of loading, you may accidentally select a Negg you didn’t intend to! Rushing never helps anything.

Have fun! If you get frustrated, it’s better to take a little break. The game mechanics are easy to handle and the game itself gets easier over time. Just make sure you pay attention. Good luck!