Not only that, but for it to have been done by someone as young as 12 is truly remarkable, and it should be exciting to see what he does next. Sub-30 seconds, as well as utterly destroying a 10 year-old record is a massive milestone for the speedrunning scene, perhaps the biggest barrier break after Super Mario 64's 14:59 16-star record from this year.
His overall time, which is his sum of best times of the beginner, intermediate and expert level grids is a world record of 40.47 seconds, a full 2.36 seconds ahead of second place, in a league of his own. Ju's intermediate time ranks second in the world, at a time of 8.76 seconds, a mere 0.25 seconds short of the record. His 0.28 second - yes, 0.28 second - clear time for a beginner level grid ranks 35th in the world, with the record being an absolutely impossible 0.09 seconds. On top of having the fastest time for expert level grids, he's also got some other incredible feats in the game.
All of these factors, plus an in-game timer, make Minesweeper a very appealing game to speedrun, hence the competition is very high. To be able to solve the patterns as quickly as he does is impressive enough, but to clear them without a single mis-click may be even crazier. His mouse precision is absolutely incredible as well. It's safe to assume that he's practiced enough to be able to recognize patterns based on the colors of numbers out of the corner of his eye and act on them through muscle memory, likely while analyzing other nearby patterns that he'll move onto next. He begins clearing out safe tiles surrounding the nearly uncovered numbers before you can even process what those numbers are. The pattern recognition skills that Ju displays in his world record run are honestly astounding. World Record, But Is Disappointed That It's Too Slow RELATED: Speedrunner Beats Super Mario Bros. The previous record that Ju had beaten was set when he was just two years old, and it is very unlikely that it will be beaten by anyone else any time soon. 1.7 seconds may not seem like much, but for a speedrun as short as this, and for a game as old as Minesweeper, a 1.7 second timesave is absolutely massive. On September 12, Ze-En Ju cleared an expert Minesweeper grid in a staggering 29.43 seconds, beating the previous record by a full 1.7 seconds. In this situation you have only one safe square, so you should open that square with a left-click instead of flagging the mine.Kamil Muranski's record time of a 31.13 second clear of an expert Minesweeper grid, a time which had stood uncontested since 2010, has finally been - not only broken - completely crushed by a 12 year-old named Ze-En Ju. Here is an example of ineffective flagging: This approach is faster than opening four safe squares individually using the left-click. In the example below, you mark a mine in a corner and then double-click on the circled 1 to open the surrounding four squares simultaneously.
The game became famous when Microsoft included it with Windows 3.1 but its origins go further back. The object is to open all safe squares in the quickest time possible. This action opens all squares surrounding a square with a number, if you have marked the number of mines around that number. Minesweeper is a logic game where mines are hidden in a grid of squares. If you play using flags, employ the “double-click” technique (press the left and right mouse buttons at the same time). It’s the same with learning patterns-after three years of playing Minesweeper a few hours a day, you don’t have to think about where the mines are when you see these patterns. At the beginning, it takes a lot of time to recognize every single letter, but after a few years you can read quickly, without any effort. Learning to read these patterns is like learning to read a language. For example, you’ll see the following combinations often. Play Minesweeper long enough, and you’ll learn where the mines are just by looking at the pattern of numbers. It’s difficult to click accurately if your hand is perspiring. Keep your hands warm, but if your hand starts to sweat while you’re playing, wash it (I wash mine every 10 to 15 minutes). They prevent cheating, count time to hundredths of a second, and automatically record replays.
When you’re ready, download a competitive Minesweeper app such as Minesweeper X. Also, make sure your desk can’t shake, and position your chair at a good level-too high, and you’ll have a hard time grasping the mouse. I’m using an old Logitech MX518 set to 800 dpi with the sensitivity at the third position in the Windows control panel and mouse acceleration turned off. Your mouse must provide solid control and accuracy. You can find his replays on his YouTube channel. Kamil Murański currently holds four world records in Minesweeper: Expert (31.133 seconds), Intermediate (7.503 seconds), Expert nonflagging (35.152 seconds), and Intermediate nonflagging (8.19 seconds).