To help them differentiate a left from a right click, Minesweeper included a feature letting players flag a mine with the right click, while they had to click on the left button to reveal an empty location - or destroy a mine and lose the game. Microsoft was the only company to ship games with its OS, mainly to serve as a way for consumers to learn how to use a mouse in an era dominated by keyboard interfaces. These games had an almost infinite replay value, being easy enough to play but with the ultimate goal to win the game and beat its high score. The first ever gaming experience for many computer users was with Minesweeper and Solitaire, two games included in the Windows OS. While Microsoft was originally a technology company creating operating systems for computers, it is now a major actor in the gaming industry thanks to its Xbox division.

Bill Gates’ addiction to Minesweeper in the 90s helped convince Microsoft to ship video games and eventually led to the creation of Xbox, a recent report revealed.

Microsoft minesweeper closes