12 Year Old Kid Destroys Minesweeper's Oldest World Record!

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Despite being over 30 years old, Minesweeper is still one of the most active and competitive games around. Recently a young player has been demolishing world records, pushing the game further than ever before. He is so good some people don't believe it's even possible, accusing him of cheating...
Minesweeper competition rules: docs.google.com/document/d/1E...
Big thanks to Kiraa96, hcdenf, ralokt and thefinerminer for helping me learn more about minesweeper.
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[@karljobst]

« 40% OFF GMG Performance Blue Light Glasses: gmg-performance.com/pages/karl-jobst for the next 48 hours! » Minesweeper competition rules: docs.google.com/document/d/1E1VmjBsvjUo5Zj_SC4birVWDdN-xuJvCY5wIpnebNk4/edit?usp=sharing Big thanks for all of the support I received after my last video as well. You're a bunch of legends.

[@Timotheeee1]

lol these glasses are pointless just use flux

[@IveGotTheGap]

Just wait. I'll buy a pair of these and crush the minesweeper record

[@gabrielpvc]

Seems like a good product with a good price, but it is very weird that they don't sell glasses with correction. So it is not for me.

[@manabuhorikita969]

do you really think it's a question of genetic ? I definitly wouldn't say that it isn't, however I do also believe that you can also considere a lot of other factors even for motor skills, I won't enter the details however neurons can memorize the amount of Ca2+ that is received from the electrical impulses for specific movements what I mean is you can improve your speed with repeated training and maybe the threshold of capacity you have might not be bound to your genes, it might be bound to how early you learned something. If we're talking about reflexes, maybe other reflexes are creating this threshold you talk about, like for example how you move your finger for doing a click and how you move them in order to grab something, the movements even though they are almost alike the speed differ and there might be a lot of interferences. But that's just an idea, I don't have the knowlege yet to say if what I'm saying is true but I also beleive humans don't have enough knowlege yet to say if these performances are linked to genes directly... that's why I personnaly greatly prefer the term "talent" (also it's a little bit less fatalist and more optimistic in a way)

[@dakgnol9004]

It's a shame that these are useless for people who already wear glasses. It would be nice if they offered a clip-on variant.

[@clementtompel7558]

I still remember randomly pressing the blocks hoping it's not a mine

[@AxDhan]

ahhh the soviet technique

[@Sir_Isaac_Newton_]

@@AxDhan the naz1 technique

[@firestorm5371]

@@Sir_Isaac_Newton_ nope they used prisoners to get rid of them

[@AlexKunstar]

Yes, mine sweeper was more like Russian roulette when I played it 😂

[@goldenfox334]

@@AlexKunstar yep lmao. i just learned there is actual skill to playing it.

[@nineplusten]

I appreciate that Karl actually plays the games he makes videos about, rather than just reading about them. It sets him apart from some other creators.

[@SpaghettiEnterprises]

Yeah and how sometimes he engages with the audience with a challenge! Very cool imho :)

[@Collin0]

agreed

[@timesoldier810]

That's called riding the hype wave

[@spootot]

Speedrunners are built different

[@Ozhull]

Oh shut up, Jesus Christ

[@KalebSDay]

That old record holder is just mad he can't use being the best Minesweep player as a pick up line anymore.

[@backlogbuddies]

Getting into geopolitical stuff it might've been a race issue. A lot of Indians have issues with Chinese people these days. Down to dismissing a lot of historical evidence about China. Don't know the guy but him being beaten by a Chinese 12 year old might've been the biggest reason. I've seen it plenty with online gaming here

[@Cattus_Maximus]

@@backlogbuddies Jesus Christ that is some overthinking wtf

[@kennel878Xx]

@@backlogbuddies i think he's just mad his number 1 title was stripped from him to a 12 year old kid bro.

[@nixiontm]

@@backlogbuddies he's polish, not indian

[@jongyon7192p]

@@backlogbuddies TIL the prev wr holder was indian

[@Ryusagi]

Honestly, when you think about it, it makes sense kids are gonna break games, especially ones who's mechanics are simple but execution is complex and precise. You grow the most at that age. I wonder how much some kids these days could destroy some records if they only had the same focus as this one

[@Malamockq]

It's the same with Tetris. It used to be old guys who played the game in their youth who were at the top, now it's all kids.

[@xaviorprime9203]

You can see this the most in Osu! The number 1 player right is is like 14 lol. The game is simple but requires a lot of precision and complex keyboard tapping

[@IRmortalwombat]

It's the same with literally anything. Name a sport and the best ever is around my age (33)Messi/Ronaldo..Federer/Djokovich/ Usain bolt, Magnus Carslon, Eddie Hall/Thor, Judd Trump, Tyson Fury, LeBron James. Michael Phelps etc etc etc...these sports have been perfected over centuries and often take physical aspects too to be good at however video games have been around for such a short time that the old timers haven't had as long to perfect them so the younger generations just absolutely destroy. Learning something at an early age is key...please someone who is more articulate put my point across

[@xaviorprime9203]

@@IRmortalwombat No you dont get it, the point above verily stands and it is true that children are able to dominate at simple tasks that requires complex execution. Its very evident when you especially look at games like chess. Why arent it dominated by little kids? The rules of it just aren't enough for kids to easily pick up. Whereas look at things like rhythm games or maybe tetris, the very best of the best are litterally all teenagers

[@IRmortalwombat]

@@xaviorprime9203 I think I understand what youre saying but I'm not explaining my point thoroughly. Games are dominated by teenagers however they have a massive advantage of being brought up on the technology that only a small percentage of adults were brought up on 20 years ago. It's a bigger playing field nowadays and they have the advantage of better technology...(being able to re watch gameplay, slow it down, practice certain sections they're not good at over and over) It's not because they're teenagers It's just a result of modern advancements

[@ChosenPlaysYT]

I was the “minesweeper guy” in my school with people always asking to see me play it etc. Best I ever got was 68 seconds on expert and I can’t imagine getting lower. Now I would probably be around 2 mins since I don’t play much. Getting sub 30 is truly one of the most amazing gaming feats IMO.

[@gorillachronicles]

So you were twice as fast as Karl in school

[@noone3367]

so you have good chances to win the competition, go for it !

[@jama211]

@@gorillachronicles so good!

[@Unstrict]

I had one 44 second time after 4 years of playing in highschool

[@Unstrict]

@@gorillachronicles but i also have no life and an aptitude in this subject so it makes sense

[@blackdragoncyrus]

I spoke with Melanie Griffith yesterday, she was terrific. I didn't expect to see a Minesweeper video.

[@imaxvi]

I spoke with Melanie Griffith yesterday, she was terrific. Nice reply👍

[@osuplaeyurreallygood]

@@imaxvi ???

[@somebodystealsmyname]

😂

[@StarKnight54]

Underrated

[@QueenAvana]

MEMES ^^

[@felixmerz6229]

See, getting accused of cheating when you're not has always been gaming's most satisfying compliment, but getting accused of cheating by the world record holder because you're so many level above him is just a whole different beast.

[@ItsRayful]

Not only accused, but he sat his ass down to write an entire book about how right he was.. lmao

[@disguisedcat1750]

@@ItsRayful it is understandable though.. I mean I am not an expert at the game, I just really enjoy it, and I think the kid is technically throwing. Taking chances left and right. He must have replayed so many times it is almost unfathomable. But that is what it takes.

[@smbcollector]

Minesweeper is so fun. The little smiley face was an ingenious addition since it makes the game feel more inviting and less lonely.

[@PianoKwanMan]

And when the face makes an oooo :o face is even better

[@Parallax2137]

"Start>Programs>accessories>games" That sentence filled my heart with warmth

[@jcaesar19871]

Mine was primarily Solitaire, and Space Pinball.

[@Parallax2137]

@@jcaesar19871 same. I was too stupid of a kid for minesweeper

[@KibblezanBitz]

Triggered an Anton Ego moment.

[@zacariasdelalcazar8873]

@@KibblezanBitz lol you remember that movie, huh...

[@zacariasdelalcazar8873]

Yes sir! For me the greats were Spider Solitaire and Pinball.

[@migueldelmazo5244]

The 12 year did not "start in 2nd gear" or grow a horrendous mullet for 30+ years, so he's already a winner in my book.

[@MadJak91]

But you were not there!!

[@eVaSpArTaN714]

@@MadJak91 I was there with Griffith

[@floods5072]

You're not taking into account the human element!

[@Sinn0100]

Oh give him time. It's very possible a mullet is forming and we just don't see it yet. After that all he'll need to be a top competitor is a contract with Gamer Fuel and maybe a sponsorship from Ubisoft. ;)

[@Sinn0100]

@@MadJak91 Trust the Cacodemon.

[@chriswelcome8102]

I've been on that website for Minesweeper daily because of this video. So happy to be able to play it on a computer again. One thing I noticed that JZE did that is even more impressive to me than beating the world record for the expert time at 29.46 seconds is his NF (No flags) time of 34.72. There is only 1 other person with a sub 40 at 39.19 and everyone else is at 43s. The kid is just a prodigy

[@MilesLupine]

Considering how fast the runs can be, making risky calls at times to play extra aggressive makes sense. Plus the luck to get the boards needed to get the records with the skill kinda creates an interesting balance.

[@shadowdemon2272]

I once beat easy mode in like 2 seconds because the first 3 tiles I clicked on cleared the rest of the board. My brother was so mad, he had actually worked to get faster and he was never able to beat my sheer dumb luck 😅

[@SanxBile]

Then how impressive is the previous world record where he was really close to sub-30 only using skills and no RNG?!

[@Death-999]

That's exactly what I thought, the risk is worth the reward and if you fail on the risk, the time you lose is not that bad, less than a min, and for people to beat this record they're gonna have to make some risks.

[@_Ekaros]

And, as number of tries is not limited it makes sense to stop games early. And move to next one. After you have sufficient skill/patter recognition level, it is better to just luck the unsolvable situations immediately.

[@biuliu7157]

@@shadowdemon2272 LOLLL

[@smokerg4l762]

It took me a while to realise JZE’s gameplay wasn’t being sped up with video editing.

[@raafmaat]

yeah at first it looked like a timelapse!

[@benismann]

also creepy hands...

[@XxDemon23xX]

@@benismann they just look like hands to me??

[@Turtoile41]

@@XxDemon23xX I suppose having hands is bad

[@lyingcorn]

@@Turtoile41 Imagine having hands, lmao

[@TBH_Inc]

FYI, according to experts, eye strain is not caused from blue light, but from blinking less when looking at a screen, so the glasses won’t help with that. Instead, it’s recommended to take breaks while gaming. Some small studies have indicated blue light blocking glasses may help with sleeping, but ultimately, it’s not something the experts recommend, rather they say to get off screens 2 hours before bed. And because of that, they are not classified as medical devices, so there’s no FDA regulations, health claims do not need to be backed up by science. Feel free to try them out, but be warned they may not be as great as they claim, and make sure you get them from a reliable company because many “blue light blocking glasses” are just scams and block little to no blue light. Also, if you do need to be on screens before bed, most operating systems now just offer their own blue light filters, pretty much eliminating the need for glasses. Not sure if I’m allowed to link stuff here but all the sources can be easily googled.

[@Vykk_Draygo]

Having had prescription glasses with one of these coatings, all they do is tint everything brown. Super weird and disconcerting as a colorblind person. Also useless. It really is just bunk.

[@RinaSheepdog]

I have extremely sensitive eyes and bad vision. Pressure builds and I accrue a headache very quickly unless I use blue light filtering. You don't need glasses to do this though, just use f.lux or a local blue light filter.

[@GigaBoost]

Great comment! Hate seeing this pseudoscience garbage being peddled by otherwise seemingly trustworthy creators.

[@cTrL64]

I will say, I like having blue light filtering glasses but thats just me, probably a placebo. However, my friend with ADHD says that having blue light filters help him focus and keep headaches at bay. I know ADHD really affects the brain so I believe him but nothing concrete. I like having them but will just stick to having a coating put on my prescription lens

[@entengummitiger1576]

or get f.lux instead, or redshift if you're a linux person

[@theweakestunionberlinenjoy4536]

This brings " No matter how good you are at something, there's always an asian kid who is better than you" to a whole new level

[@DeltaruneRalsei]

true af what???

[@FadeDance]

Makes sense for a 12y/o to hold the top position if he's been grinding for a few years before. The micro reminds me a lot of top level marine control in starcraft, which also peaks around 13-16 years old (12y/o dominators have occasionally happened in the SC scene when players are ultra talented).

[@technoguyx]

That's interesting, I wonder what's the science behind it.

[@hotpocketreviews]

@@technoguyx same science as to why learning leaves more significant impression as a child compared to learning as a adult Im sure

[@mirrorking2]

There's been no 12yo dominating StarCraft, all the top winners from back in the early days until now have generally been at least 16+ and many much older.

[@SlyNine]

And that slows down many thinking processes. It's why girls often have an advantage early on but it's lost and after 15 boys have a small but growing advantage.

[@Fermi_Consistency]

@@hotpocketreviews imagine using your childhood brain plasticity to play minesweeper

[@TheOdMan]

I remember when I first realized how Minesweeper worked, I felt like a god damned genius. Then I promptly went ahead and failed over and over again, but at least I understood why I failed.

[@william4996]

I remember playing it and randomly clicking trying to win through chance. Then I learned how it worked. Same genius feeling.

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

Kids nowadays are built different when it comes to getting good at older games I swear

[@usm1le]

It is what it is

[@geekey3441]

That's incredible lol. I see you on about 95% of videos I watch. first ig?

[@GWGamerwolf]

why are you everywhere?

[@1Piecer]

@@usm1le Iteez what iteez

[@RunicSigils]

It's called playing them. Outside physical or mental handicaps, the only reason you're not as good is because you haven't put in the time. The more you play a game or even just a genre or game which features similar gameplay, the better you get. My specific advice if you really care would be to nurture that Tetris effect if it doesn't come naturally. If you're not playing it while not playing it, you're only hurting yourself. You can easily go back to games you haven't played in years and be better than you ever were or imagined you could be if you do.

[@ToSemIdeia841]

I remember the time I got top 50 in the expert category, now it has fallen to 96th place. To have a better time it's not even about figuring out the mines anymore, and more about mouse precision

[@nyandoesthings]

I can't tell you how many times I've lost minesweeper on my school chromebook to it's awful tracpad...

[@falseking989]

*In the 1990’s* -Why hasn’t anyone beat expert minesweeper in under 30 seconds yet? -Because JZE’s parents haven’t met each other yet.

[@ppleakage2785]

A mere threat of a lawsuit can’t put down this absolute legend

[@stevenmccroskey3411]

It’s not even a threat anymore. It’s actually happening

[@chickenwarriorr]

He can't sue for a reputation he doesn't have anymore

[@cfv7461]

@@chickenwarriorr he can. That it works is a different thing completely.

[@MrlspPrt]

Let's avoid this topic, "The Enemy" would be using our comments in order to present evidence of Karl polarizing people... it's dumb, but lawyers use any argument no matter how stupid it is.

[@freedustin]

@@MrlspPrt Nobody is polarizing us but Mr Bad Manners. We have been against Billy for many years now.

[@LunchMeatTrump]

Billy Mitchell will likely claim he holds the highest score in minesweeper and try to sue over it

[@doc_sav]

It will just be an excuse to talk to Melanie Griffiths again.

[@doc_sav]

Evidence of what, exactly?

[@ngotemna8875]

@@doc_sav That people on the internet are big meanies to lil Billy >:(

[@LunchMeatTrump]

@@ccox7198 The sad part is that people believe nonsense like this and will continue to feed Karl tons of free money. He def deserves the cash flow, but not in this shady way. Mitchell's lawsuits never go anywhere, and are not taken serious by any judge in the country. Karl stated opinions based on cold hard facts, and that is something you just can't sue someone over. At best Billy Boy could try to sue whoever first presented these facts, not the people commenting on the facts already presented. I really like Karl and his content, but he is taking extreme advantages over this whole situation and convincing his viewers to send him tons of money over lawsuits that will obviously never go anywhere. I guess better you brain-dead robots than me :P

[@xiamaramu1538]

@@LunchMeatTrump if they think this is bad, look on kiwifarms how they talk about mr mitchel.

[@matthiasice]

Man, I wish I had a way to record myself when I was younger. I played SO MUCH minesweeper before bedtime at my grandparents house as a kid. Double digit times were my goal and I had a couple under 100 expert times. It really is playing with enough risk for long enough and you'll get those times.

[@skorpsaiyan2361]

On the leaderboards, Kamil is now in the third place with another Chinese player beating him, but not by sub 30. So this kid truly is in a league of his own.

[@osuplaeyurreallygood]

I believe it's more about neural plasticity considering his young age and less about genetics, many games have young players at the very top.

[@kefkapalazzo1]

Stop

[@osuplaeyurreallygood]

@@kefkapalazzo1 Stop what?

[@ianhubble9973]

@@kefkapalazzo1 Pots

[@Vykk_Draygo]

@@ianhubble9973 Opts

[@icegod4849]

@@Vykk_Draygo Post

[@SubliminalXIII]

That day we all realised HOW to properly play minesweeper what a milestone in early 90's life, haha Thanks for the video Karl, you absolute legend!

[@hihie2195]

more like a milestone on 8th of october 2021

[@Sickcrazyneet]

I still don't

[@jpm1544]

@@Sickcrazyneet i never will

[@Cardboxx]

I remember I had no idea what the number meant but I had memorised lots of pattern (3 on the edge, 1 circling a square means it's a mine etc) by just clicking at random for a long time on easy mode

[@frightenedsoul]

@@jpm1544 the number is the amount of mines adjacent to it. That’s it, now you know how to play!

[@FaeriePuck]

As a Minesweeper player myself, I had been waiting for this record to be broken for years.

[@davidmartin3796]

Out of all the speedrunning videos I've seen of Karl's, this one for me, utterly melts my mind. To take a game as accessible as Minesweeper and dominate it at 12 years old is amazing! Seeing that brief glimpse of him demonstrating his skills in other puzzle games that require no shortage of dexterity is also inspiring. I wonder if this kid as ever been introduced to a table top game called Stratego. That was one of my favorites when I was little and still love to play it today. I'm sure he would be an amazing adversary in that game as well. If you're not familiar, Stratego is a two player game in which a fog of war element, just like in Minesweeper is present. Both you and your opponent in this classic game have the same number of pieces of each military unit that have their own unique qualities and abilities, some bombs that could be laid down that act as mines, killing a unit that contacts it with the exception of the Miner unit and one flag. These are set up in an arrangement that is only visible to the player controlling that side of the battlefield. The goal is simple, contact the opponent's flag. Achieving this goal is not however. I still admire this games balance and design as an aspiring game designer myself and marvel at how good this gem of a board game really is! Sure, there's more going on then in Minesweeper, a lot more actually from beginning to end. The big fog of war element that happens right from the start, coupled with this kid's ability to notice patterns/cues that go over the heads of most and how fearlessly he will take a risk for the greater good, tells me that he would excel at this classic game as well!

[@heliphino]

Played this a ton when I was a teenager. Best time I ever clocked on expert was 93 seconds and it was a PB by at least 30 seconds when it happened. Not sure I could replicate that today, but to hear that my all time best is a full MINUTE behind is incredible. Nice work JZE!

[@a.j.rusinek8856]

Give it another go man, you're never too old to speedrun.

[@raafmaat]

what suprises me most is that you actually remember your exact time! it must have ment alot when you set it :)

[@toxy3580]

@@a.j.rusinek8856 yes you are. Anything beyond 12 is too old now.

[@adhoccerswings]

@@raafmaat Believe me, you will remember it, especially times that good (sub 100 for example). Just got 90.1 s (easy game though, luck is very important in the long run), not like I'm just gonna forget it in 10 years - so yes, it does mean a lot to get a new pb after tens to hundreds of hours of playing :)

[@Stormwern]

I'm immensely proud of 113

[@jimtsap04]

"I need to minimize blue light in the evening as much as possible" Then maybe you should start with that led in the back lol

[@bes5164]

blue light is something different dude :D

[@jpm1544]

@@bes5164 blue light isn't real

[@bes5164]

@@jpm1544 it is real, but not visible to human eyes

[@ponderingypanda]

@@jpm1544 it is real but is probably isn’t the cause of eye strain

[@Setixir]

@@bes5164 That's... That's not true. I mean it's real, yes, but it's the blue visible spectrum. That's why we call it blue light. Because it's high energy visible blue light...

[@--Paws--]

I would never doubt a 12yr old breaking the record. In middle school most of my classmates would play this in the lab all the time and finish their game 2x before most are seated.

[@Ouvii]

14:45 Casually following SM64 speedrunning, like the various setups (or lack thereof) for cannonless Whomp's Fortress, it is hilarious that anyone could think that a 30-second run isn't worth taking some risks in.

[@Nnnes]

For some additional context to this, it's not really about taking risks vs. not taking risks. It's more about playing safely enough to achieve a 1-in-200 win rate vs. a (perceived) 1-in-20000 win rate. The doubters didn't think it worthwhile to push their luck with guesses as much as Ze-En Ju did, but, of course, none of them have multiple sub-30 second times. (I'm slightly competitive in the rankings - top 500 worldwide, nothing too special - and I've gone easily 50k games over a period of months without a single win, just trying to maintain top speed so that when I did win it would be a personal best. Might have done better if I focused more on improving than on speed, but oh well)

[@Killerspieler]

2:58 "I need to minimize blue light in the evenings as much as possible" Also Karl: has a blue light in the background to keep his audience awake

[@ENCHANTMEN_]

It's pretty neat that Karl will spend some time learning to run games he talks about. Even if nowhere near the top level, it means he has a feel for the gameplay and strategies

[@Nathan-dt2tu]

Hate to break it to you, but a 2 minute Expert solve means he's played about 6 hours total, probably less.

[@weaksauce13]

@@Nathan-dt2tu so how long would you like him to have played minesweeper before it's acceptable to make a youtube video on it?

[@nahnot6247]

@@Nathan-dt2tu he at least spent some time understanding the game

[@Nathan-dt2tu]

@@weaksauce13 I don't have a high expectation. I'm only commenting on him saying he has a respectable time of 2 minutes. That's not respectable, that's worse than amateur. That's all. Shit don't need to be deeper than face value bruh.

[@tbone2416]

@@weaksauce13 He must dedicated 10 years of his life to it,abandon everything else. And only then will he be blessed to make a video by the Minesweeper elites.

[@henk8105]

I'm so impressed! Can't wait to see where he goes from here. Thanks for making a video informing us on this absolute legend!

[@DavidWonn]

I remember how cool it was to find a glitch that would freeze the timer on Windows 3.1, and then others would expand upon it by finding a method that worked on 95 and up. This basically lets you get a 1 second score on any difficulty (obviously not applicable for competitive purposes) but still fun nonetheless.

[@SignOne]

I must admit I was kind of shocked how blind clicks are not utilized more. When I clicked on the video I was expecting some ridiculous rng clears

[@mrbigotes9974]

I mean, that was what the previous WRH said was cheating proof... They usually don't, that's why this kid being agressive with blind clicks on 1/5 chance of mines everysingle time looked like a bot. The kid just took Speedrunner risk- reward mentality to a game of precision and mental skill, and the WR is his prize ;3

[@GodwynDi]

@@mrbigotes9974 Also, I think full RNG clears would be disallowed because the map complexity would fall below the minimum values

[@KebunH]

@@GodwynDi i dont think you can clear the entire map with rng if you tried a million times, the chances of that happening are abysmally low, its just a balancing game of using thought and throwing in rng where necessary to be as fast as possible without reducing the winning chance to something very low

[@oskain]

@@KebunH Even completing a game of beginner with random clicks is very unlikely, there are 2 3bv boards that you can probably get but you gotta get lucky. Out of my 4.4k beg games, I only have 3 games with a 3bv of 2

[@rompevuevitos222]

It's all about memorizing patterns, for example: This (-s are empty, °s are blocks): -1° -2° -1° Always results in mines being found at the right of the two 1s This is because that's the only possible arrangement, if you put a mine besides the 2 there is no space to put the second mine for the number 2 without making the 1s invalid Other techniques require a lot of process of elimination and can get pretty complex, but again, once you memorize them it's pretty fast to do

[@ShortHax]

And here I am trying to figure out what the numbers mean or if they’re paid actors for the pros

[@insertafunnyname478]

M e first to reply

[@durchfaII]

hey mr botted channel

[@airriflemaniac]

Off topic, but Bill Cooper predicted mass contagious disease testing to be used in 2020, in March of 1999. Rip Bill

[@drwang4884]

Ok Mason

[@DeWittyPL]

The numbers mean how many bombs are around that number

[@esbenandersen2168]

I just want to give quick props for your pronunciation of the Danish name. I don't think I've ever heard an English speaker honestly try and get it so close to perfect before.

[@smudge647]

Wow, I've been watching you videos for a while now and never felt I would see a day that I would be on the top level of any game you would be discussing. Got back into Minesweeper 4 months ago. (Started on my Mac trackpad... so many misclicked flags!!!). Now I have a mouse my time has improved a lot! Now this is a real quest! Will definitely be submitting

[@huskerbusker]

I was today years old when I learned that you can "chord" in minesweeper. I feel like I just learned a new skip in a Speedrun or something.

[@GigaBoost]

@@fios4528 it's Chord. The word is on screen multiple times.

[@dushas9871]

@@GigaBoost wrong, it's actually Chord.

[@GigaBoost]

@@dushas9871 you mean Chord, right??

[@thonker7848]

GigaBoost I think its Chord

[@hechy3782]

@@thonker7848 really, i had it wrong. i was spelling it Chord!

[@EricLeeStepp]

Karl isn't joking about how good of a time 119 is. I played the game casually throughout my high school years and the best time I ever had on Expert was 105 seconds. There is no possible way I could get close to that time anymore with how much my mouse accuracy has went down since then

[@jacobg8640]

At one point it was my favorite procrastination tool in high school and I think I only got below 2 minutes once or twice. I can't even remember what the time was anymore. I just remember being satisfied once I finally got it.

[@adhoccerswings]

Luck also plays an important role! Realistically speaking, with an average speed (1.3 3BV/s) you can get times from 77 seconds (super ultra easy game, 3BV 100) to 154 seconds (3BV 200; exceptionally "hard" game). For example, my pb is 90 seconds, it got down 8 seconds even though I played slower than my previous pb (98), which was slower than my previous pb (101, 3BV/s 1.5). Out of these three, the worst "performance" (lowest 3BV/s) yielded the best time.

[@svenglueckspilz8177]

I think you would get back into it more quickly than you think. After a decade of not playing minesweeper, I played for half an hour today and got a 110. I don't remember what my personal best was back in the day but I'm fairly certain that it was something around 90. Given how much I played back in the day, I could not have imagined that the world record is around 30 though. That is unbelievable. Maybe I could do better than my old personal best with the better mice of today. But back in the day I felt that I couldn't get any lower than what was my personal best, no matter how hard I tried.

[@TrebleWing]

I love dives into games like this that have a rich and old history, but you just wouldn't realize it until you look. Very respectable game choice, and what a great video!

[@mkcristobal]

I thought I was pretty good at minesweeper back in the early 2000s. My personal best was something in the high 60s. I got curious and looked if there was some kind of world record leaderboard online. The record in the website that I found was something like 41-42. I saw videos or some kind of recording of those games and realized that I would never ever ever be able to achieve nothing close to that. I haven't played in 15 years or so, but maybe I'll enter your *tournament*. I think I still can do sub-100 with a little practice! Great video 👍🏻

[@normtrooper4392]

This is one of kids that would get recruited for an Ender's game type scenario

[@ThePharphis]

I'd read that book

[@Alex-bf3re]

That book sucked

[@seeibe]

It's funny how that's OSC's most popular book while also being one of the worst.

[@ThePharphis]

@@seeibe y'all are crazy. It's a great book. I've read all the sequels and series-adjacent books and I don't think they are quite as good (even though I still liked many of them)

[@trankzen148]

Keep in mind that brain plasticity at this age is enourmous, so with the right predispositions and a ton of hard work it's not entirely surprising one can become such a monster of a player at such a young age.

[@ngotemna8875]

Yeah the fact he's a kid in my eyes just raises the credibility of this record. What I mean is, that when I was a kid, I too, experimented and tested out everything in the games I loved. Didn't matter how long it took, didn't matter how often I failed. I tried and tried and tried and tried again. Kids also in general have way more free time than adults which directly translates into having more time to train.

[@trankzen148]

@@ngotemna8875 Not to mention kids at that age are at the peak of their reaction times. My 12 years old just steamrolls me in every reaction based game we play.

[@ngotemna8875]

@@trankzen148 Yes, definitely. Kids are truly amazing

[@user-mt2jm7vy6i]

@@ngotemna8875 oh yes I remember trying to minmax points on my nokia in space impact :) aka you need to die at right level right before you kill final boss, never use anything apart from basic gun, etc. Also I remember that at 2 runs I had in snake 2 snake filling up all screen apart from 5-10 squares and it made the game lag and be unresponsive so I crashed at the next turn :) And ofc it was a result of legit thousand games played, if not 10000 or more. I wouldn't be able to try this much at my 31 now :)

[@spagootest2185]

@@ngotemna8875 I think most kids have less free time than adults, because kids have bedtimes. I got home at 5pm and had to go to bed at 8pm

[@ccee3860]

3:00 “I need to minimize blue lights in the evenings as much as possible” Karl in the evening editing his video with the blue light in the background: AAAAAAAAAA

[@youngheffeh5691]

What an honour it would be for Karl to refer to you as a genetic freak! Absolute Legend!!

[@strongside4565]

I think people underestimate how good a child can be at something when they've developed from an early age with something as a central point in their life. Becoming good through experience as an adult is one thing, but being molded by an activity is entirely different.

[@Wallyworld30]

There is a lot of truth to this. I was obsessed with Magic: The Gathering growing up. I would think about deck designs in my sleep. I once came in top 4 when I played in a 600 man tournament. That was 25 years ago and I haven't played in 15 years. If I dedicated my life back to that game I could never get nearly as good as I was as an expert teenager. I can tell my brain just isn't as sharp as it was back then.

[@JuanWonOne]

Huh... after playing mine sweeper for 25+ years I learned that I can lose faster by 1.5 clicking. Thanks karl!

[@Musikur]

I love the way that you cover all sorts of different records and genre's not just FPSs which are obviously your personal preference. Makes it really interesting to watch. Do you have any plans to cover the record succession of Zelda OOT?

[@bluepr1ntchris]

I love how you always play Uncharted Worlds on your videos. It is one of my favourites and undoubtedly one of the best gaming soundtracks ever created.

[@Saturos02]

Finally this timeless classic gets some mention! That feeling when you push beyond surface-level play and start racing through logic patterns... Amazing how deep a trance such a simple game could put you in.

[@kriscynical]

It's one of the best means of pissing away time that I've come across for sure. I play a few games almost every day because it's just... relaxing. I can turn off my brain.

[@rompevuevitos222]

I used to play it but the amount of times i got down to a guess at the end and lost just broke me

[@Szoki86]

I still remember finishing minesweeper on expert in 61 seconds back when I was a kid, I felt like a gaming superhero. Turns out, real gaming superheroes are twice as fast.

[@yuribacon]

I've been seeing tons of comments of people that are like 100ish to 150ish seconds thinking they were heroes too, so I'd say 61 seconds is actually really damn good (as someone whos complete crap at minesweeper anyways lol)

[@YuuGaro]

"I need to minimize blue light in the evenings as much as possible" - Karl says with a blue light in the back of his room. Very plausable. much logic.

[@quantummidget]

So that other people don't need to look it up, apparently research has shown tht blue light glasses don't make a difference to eye strain. However, it's hypothesized (I couldn't find if it's been proven) that the sharper blue light tricks your brain into thinking it's earlier in the day and messes with your sleep cycle. So in terms of eye health, blue light glasses are pointless, though in terms of sleeping, there may be some value there.

[@gblargg]

A computer monitor generates accurate color by having direct control over the red, green, and blue content of every pixel. If you want less blue, your computer can directly bring this about. The screen will look more warm, but that's what happens when you reduce blue. Modern operating systems have a "night mode" for this, and third-party programs can do the same.

[@serioushex3893]

only you, karl, only you, could make a video about minesweeper absolutely riveting. You really are an absolute legend.

[@borthelcash6046]

The craziest thing about these insane times was that the 3BV got progressively higher for each new WR!

[@kiraa96]

Working with Karl with this video was such an amazing experience, hope y'all enjoy the video!

[@ExNihiloComesNothing]

Thanks legend

[@soundrogue4472]

You did?

[@kiraa96]

​@@soundrogue4472 check description ;)

[@soundrogue4472]

@@kiraa96 oh

[@oskain]

Still waiting for your top 1 3bv/s on beginner ;)

[@RA8IDP3NGUIN1]

Glad to see you're doing well amidst the parasites going after you. You are a true legend.

[@ashb2483]

I LOVE minesweeper. So happy to see a video from you about it !

[@StefanVeenstra]

Kids are more malleable when it comes to refining skillsets, be it physical or mental. Doesn't mean adults are done for, it just take much more effort to disable the distraction that is the mind.

[@SalmiakSter]

In high school, me and my friend held a competition to see who could program the best version of minesweeper on our graphic calculators. I'm now in my fourth year of Computer Science and that competition was a big part of why I pursued it.

[@OsthatoAlfakyn]

That's funny, I started programming on the TI-84 as well and you made me remember I actually made a minesweeper game then. Don't think it would've won your competition though, the coding was awful lol

[@mjs256]

Great Video! I remember playing this game! I think my best time ever on the big board on expert was somewhere around 250 so I was nowhere near the record holders. One thing that turned me off to the game which you did not mention was the fact that most (I would say about 60%) expert level Minesweeper puzzles cannot be solved with logic and deduction. More times than not you end up just having to guess between two possibilities and if you guess wrong (which seems to happen more times than not)…BOOM!

[@LexEllis]

Loved this video Karl, been a fan for a long time but don't comment much, keep up the great work! Also love the glasses! might get a pair for myself!

[@kex7294]

Thanks for setting the barrier at 200 seconds so that us "advanced casuals" can have a chance to enter too.

[@BotzaBrand]

Perfect time to start making Ski Free Speedruns

[@kriscynical]

You just made me astral project back to the mid '90s on my family's Packard Bell PC with a faulty monitor that would turn white and the picture wouldn't come back until you slapped the side of it really hard. 😂 That damn snow monster always startled me!

[@TheDJGrandPa]

The Yeti scarred me for life lol

[@Airi_uwu]

i would love to see that

[@falcuma]

This video was awesome. I didn't expect minesweeper to have such a fierce competition. The story of this young kid is mind blowing!

[@Bucky-hendersen-troutguy]

love your videos brother!ty for all your hard work

[@chriswelcome8102]

I taught myself how to play expert minesweeper at age 8. Can totally see someone aged 12 beating records in this. My fastest expert time was long before I really took it seriously, but about the time it stopped appearing on every computer. I was 16 with a 72. Finally you post a video where I can contribute lol

[@-Raylight]

Minesweeper is timeless masterpiece. It's amazing that even until know people still playing and speedrunning the game. Especially when the fastest record is from 12 years old 😂

[@i-v-l9335]

Zero Master is also a 12 year old. He just inhabits like a 20s or 30s meat suit.

[@Sam_on_YouTube]

Thanks for the ad. Reminded me to set the included blue light filter on my phone.

[@dontworry4945]

You're a really cool guy. I like the way you dive into these kinds of things

[@PPedroFernandes]

14:01 wow. INCREDIBLY dishumble. Even if he was cheating, that is not an adequate way to phrase that, and grinning at the end on top of it...

[@beerkegaard]

Dude was hella salty

[@oskain]

@@beerkegaard fr

[@Wtahc]

what

[@Wtahc]

@@beerkegaard no?

[@Derekloffin]

Without knowing the scene well, my guess is he has implemented a more effective MS approach than was typical before. From the critique, it could well be as simple as just being more risk tolerant than people usually are, basically programming himself to go for those risky moves which others would avoid. While this may result in failures, when it doesn't it will likely pay off in cut time, and potentially also make the mental calc's easier. Add in that natural talent and the combo may well be the key.

[@vinesthemonkey]

there are Chinese minesweeper pattern guides online that are apparently way more decent than English guides

[@MMenyan]

i agree to add on abt the natural talent, they have likely grown (by chance caused mostly by their environment, parents, etc) in a way such that they naturally went with a playing and training style and had a mindset that was very optimal for getting better at minesweeper particularly you also have to take into account that just because they started playing in the rankings when they were 10 doesnt mean they werent playing a lot of minesweeper even before then as an osu! player i often see "genetics" being thrown around to explain skill or improvement but the reality is that while it is very physically demanding, it is mostly so with precision technique and speed that can only be trained, and the improvement rate comes down mostly to the physical brain im quite confident that genetics impacts stuff like muscle memory only a very small amount compared to "talent"

[@Nutzername36]

@@vinesthemonkey i need that guide! source please! :)

[@OjingeoChaemuchim]

His style is not that way effective, there are more effective minesweeper top players than him. I am also similarly efficient with him, but with like 0.5x speed and accuracy. What he is different is, he is ridiculously faster than anyone else.

[@Apolloshot]

@@OjingeoChaemuchim so he’s fast + good technique + willing to grind out a risky strat thousands of times to try and lower his time Sounds like a classic Speedrunner to me

[@kostriktor1266]

i just cannot fast-forward or click through these videos of yours. big talent man ! God bless !

[@NONO-hz4vo]

The problem with the old minesweeper was getting into a situation where the logic ended with you having to take a 50/50 click.

[@AndrewBlechinger]

a board with a forced 50/50 is actually how board cycles were discovered. eventually it got down to where a single intermediate board could be solved in under 15 seconds.

[@nelsonifendu9339]

@@AndrewBlechinger what's a board cycle

[@BrisingrFan55]

"This technique is known as a 1.5 click" A click is a click! You can't say it's only half

[@Damian_1989]

Well, """Dangerously Convenient""", hear me out.

[@muizzsiddique]

But first,we need to talk about parallel universes.

[@CalamityCrafts]

It's because you are doing 3 clicks over two different squares total which averages to 1.5 clicks per square

[@BrisingrFan55]

@@muizzsiddique What if I told you Mario's speed isn't necessarily how far he moves?

[@BrisingrFan55]

@@CalamityCrafts But a click is a click, you can't just say it's half!

[@chthonic8642]

One of the things I liked about minesweeper was you could never lose on the first click. This must mean the board was generated after the first click rather than before

[@Ikouy]

Maybe on versions newer than the one shipped with Windows 3.11FW.

[@scottdorsch5149]

I was going to say this also. It is the only “rule” that Karl did not list here.

[@SabiaSparrow]

Apparently the board is generated before the first click, but if your first click was a mine then the game sneakily moves it to some other place

[@Wallyworld30]

@@SabiaSparrow Does it move that mine or just quickly generate another board that doesn't have a mine in that place?

[@andresgonzalez5139]

As a child speed runner this video touches my heart. People unfortunately will never initially respect the success of a kid. Looked down upon, your credibility instantly suspected or even outright rejected, and it is a shame that some may have gotten ashamed or lost passion due to people’s perspective on children and not knowing what they went through. Btw I love you content Karl.

[@permafrost8894]

you speedrun children? wtf is wrong with you

[@Rujewitblood]

I love how there's hardcore competitors for literally every game out there. It doesn't surprise me that a child would be better at something like this

[@KalaamNozalys]

About recent evolutions in speedruns, I would encourage you to get a look at the Golden Sun games speedruns, a lot of new techniques and breakthroughs have been found this past months. including code editing (cartridged proved), complete progression change in the 3rd game and so on. The first' game's speedrun is below 2h now (for a Jrpg)

[@DxBlack]

ooooo that sounds good

[@KalaamNozalys]

@@DxBlack Check TLPlexa's guides and demo of new techniques, he also shares the findings of other runners it's great. From small discoveries removing the need of RNG manipulations for random encounters to altering the game's code by going OOB.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Below 2 hrs is damn impressive.Think the best I ever got was 18 hrs or something like that

[@KalaamNozalys]

@@HappyBeezerStudios It uses massive glitches. I don't remember if it's below 2h with the intro skipped (a common category since the introduction/tutorial isn't that interresting to run) or not but still. Basically: game is over once you reach Tret. You go Oob inside, go through the RNG river, and from there you can access the debug menu, and launch the credits AND save your "completed" file.

[@KalaamNozalys]

@@HappyBeezerStudios Actually looked it up. WR any% (intro skipped) is sub 30 minutes. Any% without Save/Quit (and major glitches) is 3h34 and 100% is 4h39 And Any% NG+ is 33 seconds.

[@TheLoxely]

I LOVE these kinds of videos from you Karl. So fascinating seeing the stories of other speedrunning communities that I would’ve never thought of and would never have known about if it weren’t for vids like these. Absolute banger mate, Absolute Legend Karl

[@ShineDawg]

Rip Apollo Legend, he introduced me to this genre and you have taken it to the next level KJ

[@arthurp.4272]

The Mass Effect 2 "planet probing" soundtrack in the background is amazing while you explain minesweeper

[@michaelsmith5769]

Waiting for Billy Mitchell to claim he set the real world record back in 1987, confirmed by Twin Galaxies.

[@atomiccritter6492]

LOL

[@eustaceomalley6071]

This really makes me sick that the youtube algorithm kept your channel out of any recommends for me... Love your videos and I'm a recent subscriber... Also.. my best minesweeper time was done on my windows 2000 machine a long time ago of 64 seconds in 2004. I have no proof of this anymore, I just remember. I tried it again and I can't do it nearly as fast as I once could. I spent hours upon days upon weeks upon YEARS playing to get that good. I still contend that if you can find 1 mine every second, that's pretty damn good and definitely achievable by nearly everyone. Great video again and I'm sorry I missed out on your competition. Thank you for all your effort on your videos!

[@puffyskizz862]

1:47 wait what are the adds to the right saying?

[@sketchy5782]

Hi Karl, hope you’re having a day

[@Henocied]

Oh yes

[@V-for-Vendetta01]

One of the days of all time

[@LUNCHMONEY4numbers]

You mean a legendary day

[@rinbros]

Unfortunately he is having a night.

[@learicist]

You can rest assured that this is true

[@Koseiku]

he must have an extremely high tolerance for suffering. i could barely bear a minute of minesweeper as a kid in the 90s. how do kids of today do it when they have all this great stuff? stunning lol

[@leusmurphy]

school laptops block alot of stuff (all i do on my pc at school is xp pinball)

[@hhaavvvvii]

Because it's fun if you like chaining logical deductions.

[@LordDragox412]

What do you mean, Minesweeper was *the* game to play in the 90s... in schools. Because there was almost nothing else to play >:P

[@amp4105]

@@hhaavvvvii Woah, is it? r/iamverysmart!!!

[@doc_sav]

Like everyone else of a certain age, I played a ridiculous amount of Minesweeper simply because it was always there, but the game straight up gave me a headache if I played seriously for more than about 5 minutes. So did classical music. Probably I have a brain tumor that I have slowly adjusted to over the years.

[@ashelyclark4231]

If you didn't know some glasses stores also have an option to have your lenses have a blue light filter as well! Its usually an option along side transition lenses

[@Corrupted]

This kid is either going to dominate some esport or advance space travel lmao

[@PhoenixNorthstar]

This is both impressive and bums me out, I used to speed run the game more than 25 years ago, and from what's said here I would have held the World record for some time if my teenage mind had known there were online leaderboards for that sort of thing. Still, my personal record of 43 seconds is no where near the current record, these guys are amazing.

[@dankwarmouse6248]

That blows, you should try n get on the boards though, seems like you could do decent if you've already done decent

[@zym6687]

​@@Rayd1214 You can be really good at difficult deals, but if you're just consistent over a long enough time you'll get a deal that basically completes itself.

[@yurifaggu]

I'm pretty sure he said that 31 sec record has been achieved 30 years ago, so you wouldn't have held the world record anyway. Still, a very impressive time.

[@maxdragonsoul5553]

@@yurifaggu 11 years ago

[@Wtahc]

no

[@The_Viktor_Reznov]

"It's called 1.5 click" - oh no, not again with the half presses

[@sigurdtheblue]

Maybe Super Smash Bros players would be good at it.

[@bobboberson8297]

@@sigurdtheblue half press is mario 64 thing though

[@KenFehling]

The music in the beginning is Ecco the Dolphin - Home Bay. So good.

[@alltaira5922]

Back when I was in the Navy, we used to spend countless hours playing Minesweeper trying to set the record for best times. I wished I remember some of the times we set to compare to what is around today though that was over 20 years ago.

[@squadxzo]

Love minesweeper. You'll find me on the difficulty rankings. 2nd best Aussie apart from scar. I find high difficulty boards super calming to play and currently my Pb is around 400k difficulty.

[@adhoccerswings]

You crazy people :D my pb is 111 k

[@StreetSoldier88]

Karl: "And he hasn't even reached-" Me: "PUBERTY!" Karl: "... His peak"

[@ryans756]

You need to stop thinking about little boys' pubic hair, bro. It's unsavoury.

[@JugglerOfWords]

fun fact: Lasse Nyholm is a 3-time Danish national poetry slam champion, and is also an expert woodworker, and he once grew his own tobacco on his farm on Fyn (don't know if he still does).... the only time I can remember beating him is the one time i became champion myself back in 2013... it was also only a few years ago I found out he also played minesweeper,,,,

[@shedio5712]

love the PD music during the promo!!