Rebirth 1991: Marrying the beautiful squad leader at the beginning

What game is Minesweeper?

He has never heard of such a well-known game as Minesweeper?

Yu Nian's eyes opened wider and wider, looking at Qu Fei in disbelief.

Suddenly, Yu Nian slapped his forehead.

He remembered that Minesweeper, a well-known puzzle game, was released by Microsoft on the Windows 1992 system in early April 4, along with three other games: Solitaire and FreeCell.

Initially, these mini-games were not installed to demonstrate the smoothness of the Windows game operating system, but to train the user's ability to operate the left and right mouse keys, making these actions very natural, and cultivating the speed and accuracy of mouse movement.

But what Microsoft never expected was that once these three mini-games were launched, they became popular around the world and became household names.

Yu Nian realized that instead of making other games, it would be better to compete with Microsoft for time and release these three games before Microsoft.

Once you have the copyrights of these three games, you can not only make money, but also give Microsoft a head-on blow, delaying the release of Microsoft's Windows 3 system, and maybe create opportunities for domestic computer companies, which is definitely a good thing.

With this in mind, Yu Nian explained to the confused Qu Fei: "Minesweeper is a game I made privately in my spare time last year. It was just a rough game. Now I think it can be done."

Qu Fei now felt that he was very satisfied as long as he could make games, so he quickly asked: "Tell me about the game Minesweeper."

"Mine clearance, as the name suggests, is to find landmines."

Yu Nian explained patiently: "To put it bluntly, the goal of the game is to find all the non-mine grids in the shortest time according to the numbers that appear on the clicked grids, while avoiding stepping on the mines. As long as the player steps on a mine, the game will be lost. .”

"This one……"

Qu Fei scratched his head and said with a puzzled face: "Is the game setting too simple? According to what you said, it doesn't seem to be difficult."

"Who says there can't be a market for simple games?"

Yu Nian smiled confidently and said: "Although this kind of game is simple to make, it is not easy to pass the level. To put it bluntly, as long as the game is interesting to play, it can occupy the market. Whether a game can occupy the game market depends on whether it is a big game. Production has nothing to do with it, you have to remember the concept.”

Yu Nian knew very well that the mini-games "Sheep Got a Sheep", "Cut the Rope" and "Hidden Guy" that became popular 30 years later all followed this route.

Since "Sheep Makes a Sheep" became popular, "Cat Makes a Cat" and "Donkey Makes a Donkey" appeared one after another, still following this similar route.

The key is that these game manufacturers have made money.

Qu Fei wondered for a while and said, "Do you really think it's okay?"

"listen to me."

Yu Nian said without hesitation: “In addition to the game Minesweeper, we will release another game called Solitaire, and the two games will be released together.”

Yu Nian originally wanted to make the mini game "FreeCell" together, but he realized that there were too many similarities and could easily arouse suspicion, so he decided to only release these two games for the time being. Even if they were similar, they could be easily explained.

After hearing Yu Nian's words, Qu Fei was confused again, "What's going on in the "Solitaire" game?"

"It's very simple, just like minesweeper."

Yu Nian explained patiently: "Divide the poker cards into multiple columns, use all the cards in the upper left corner to form four suits of cards starting with A and arranged in order from A to K in the upper right corner. This is considered a success. .”

"This one……"

Qu Fei hesitated and said: "Is the gameplay you mentioned too simple? Why does it sound simpler to me than Minesweeper?"

"These games are puzzle games, used to kill time. They may not look simple, but they are very interesting."

Yu Nian said with a smile: "Let's do this. Tonight I will make a rough sketch of these game rules and materials. After you understand them, let the employees of the development department develop them as soon as possible based on the materials I gave them."

"Row."

Qu Fei said: "Since you said that, I listen to you, but I feel that these games are not ideal enough to be put into the market."

"Believe me."

Yu Nian smiled confidently: "The results will definitely exceed your expectations, but these two games must be produced within ten days and then enter the market immediately."

"Are you in such a hurry?"

Qu Fei said in surprise: "Even for two simple games, it will take a while from development to perfection. Ten days, isn't it too stressful?"

"Ten days is the longest I can give you."

Yu Nian said with a serious face: "The game market is changing, and as time goes by, there will be variables. If the production of two such simple small games takes several months, it means that we are not strong enough to make games. In this case , just put the game aside."

Although he said this, Yu Nian knew very well in his heart that Microsoft would release the games "Minesweeper" and "Solitaire" in early April, and it was already the end of February, and the longest interval between them was only more than a month.

This is the first time that a game plug-in company has officially developed a game. It has neither mature investment channels nor familiar game partners. It only takes one month from putting the game on the market to market fermentation. This time is already very short, as short as one month. A small surprise would leave Microsoft behind.

You know, this era is not like 20 years later. Just spend money to find similar partners like "App Store" to launch online at any time.

So, this is a race against time, a battle without gunpowder.

Qu Fei didn't know Yu Nian's inner thoughts, let alone Microsoft's plans in early April, but Qu Fei knew the weight of Yu Nian's words.

From Yu Nian's words, Qu Fei felt an invisible pressure.

He knew that Yu Nian was serious this time.

Qu Fei really wanted to transform the plug-in company into a serious game, but he knew that the prerequisite was that these two small games must be completed within ten days.

Qu Fei nodded, with an unprecedented seriousness on his face, and promised: "Brother Nian, since you said ten days, then ten days. Starting from tomorrow morning, you will give the gameplay and materials to I, I will immediately instruct the development team to work overtime to develop the game, and I will never let you down."

"Okay, this is what I want from you."

Yu Nian showed a satisfied smile on his face and said: "As long as these two games can open up the market, we will have some experience in making games later, so we can go ahead and get started."

"Your words are like giving me a shot of blood."

Qu Fei suddenly became excited after hearing this.

Although I don’t think the two games proposed by Yu Nian can attract players in the game market, I decided to work hard with Yu Nian to give it a try. “Don’t worry, since I proposed making games, I will definitely make the games well, no matter whether the game is good or not.” It can make waves in the market.”