Minesweeper-inspired puzzle game

Bonesweeper is a game by indie developer, Cheeseness. It is a free puzzle game that reinvents the classic game, Minesweeper, with Paleontology blended in. Here, you will visit various dig sites and excavate bones by digging the tiles around them. Then, in between digs, you will assemble the skeleton using the fossils you found.

Bonesweeper is still in the prototype stage, but it’s already playable. It even comes with a few nifty features, such as support for partial text-to-speech. However, the content is somewhat limited. It could also improve the players’ gameplay experience.

How do you play Bonesweeper?

Bonesweeper gives a new take to the usual jigsaw puzzle. As mentioned, the goal is to excavate bones, which you will assemble to form a skeleton. You can do so by digging around the tiles like you would in Minesweeper. However, unlike the classic puzzle game, you won’t lose the game whenever you make a wrong click. Instead, the bones will break, slowing you down.

The tiles are numbered to help minimize wrong clicks. With it, you can deduce fossil locations from the adjacent fossil counts on dug tiles. Once you have enough bones, you can then proceed to assemble them. However, you cannot access that feature on the dig site. You must return to the main menu and click the Build Skeleton button. The skeletons you built will then be added to your inventory.

Even though it is a prototype, the game comes with a few handy features. For one, there is a practice mode where you can assemble skeletons without digging for fossils. There are also multiple player profiles, which track your progress. As noted, Bonesweeper has partial text-to-speech support. However, this function uses features that may not be available on Windows. Also, custom keybinding UI is awkward to navigate with TTS. 

Is the game good?

Bonesweeper offers a fun brain exercise for players. The game has familiar and easy-to-grasp mechanics—unless you haven’t played Minesweeper and jigsaw puzzles. It is also educational as it challenges you to solve puzzles while learning a bit about Paleontology. There are some puzzles that can be difficult for younger players, but overall it is an excellent game that anyone can play.