Game 8 Unit 14 of 16 1 hr learning time

Colour Design

Black background with coloured cells — hidden, revealed, flagged, and mined.

88% of Minefield

Mark as complete Completed!

The game works, but white on white doesn’t communicate well. Colour turns raw data into readable information — hidden cells look different from revealed ones, mines stand out from numbers, flags are unmistakable.

The Program

10 BORDER 0: PAPER 0: INK 7: CLS
20 DIM m(8, 8)
30 DIM s(8, 8)
40 LET r = 1: LET c = 1
50 LET s(1, 1) = 1
60 LET f = 0: LET w = 53: LET n = 10
70 REM place mines
80 FOR i = 1 TO n
90 LET y = INT (RND * 8) + 1
100 LET x = INT (RND * 8) + 1
110 IF m(y, x) = 9 THEN GO TO 90
120 IF y = 1 AND x = 1 THEN GO TO 90
130 LET m(y, x) = 9
140 NEXT i
150 GO SUB 500
155 LET r = 1: LET c = 1
160 REM draw column headers
170 INK 5
180 FOR i = 1 TO 8
190 PRINT AT 2, i * 2 + 1; i
200 NEXT i
210 REM draw row headers
220 FOR i = 1 TO 8
230 PRINT AT i + 2, 0; i
240 NEXT i
250 INK 7
260 GO SUB 600
270 GO SUB 700
280 REM game loop
290 PRINT AT r + 2, c * 2; INK 4; BRIGHT 1; "[": PRINT AT r + 2, c * 2 + 2; "]"
300 LET k$ = INKEY$
310 IF k$ = "" THEN GO TO 300
320 GO SUB 600
330 IF k$ = "q" AND r > 1 THEN LET r = r - 1
340 IF k$ = "a" AND r < 8 THEN LET r = r + 1
350 IF k$ = "o" AND c > 1 THEN LET c = c - 1
360 IF k$ = "p" AND c < 8 THEN LET c = c + 1
370 IF k$ <> " " THEN GO TO 395
380 IF s(r, c) <> 0 THEN GO TO 395
390 LET s(r, c) = 1: LET w = w - 1: BEEP 0.05, 15: IF m(r, c) = 9 THEN GO TO 800
395 IF k$ = "f" AND s(r, c) = 0 THEN LET s(r, c) = 2: LET f = f + 1: BEEP 0.05, 5
396 IF k$ = "f" AND s(r, c) = 2 THEN LET s(r, c) = 0: LET f = f - 1: BEEP 0.05, 5
398 GO SUB 700
399 IF w = 0 THEN GO TO 850
400 GO TO 280
500 REM === calculate counts ===
510 FOR r = 1 TO 8
520 FOR c = 1 TO 8
530 IF m(r, c) = 9 THEN GO TO 590
540 LET g = 0
550 FOR i = r - 1 TO r + 1
560 FOR j = c - 1 TO c + 1
570 IF i < 1 OR i > 8 OR j < 1 OR j > 8 THEN GO TO 582
580 IF m(i, j) = 9 THEN LET g = g + 1
582 NEXT j
584 NEXT i
586 LET m(r, c) = g
590 NEXT c
595 NEXT r
598 RETURN
600 REM === draw grid ===
610 FOR y = 1 TO 8
620 FOR x = 1 TO 8
630 IF s(y, x) = 0 THEN PRINT AT y + 2, x * 2 + 1; INK 1; "."
640 IF s(y, x) = 1 AND m(y, x) = 0 THEN PRINT AT y + 2, x * 2 + 1; INK 5; "-"
650 IF s(y, x) = 1 AND m(y, x) > 0 AND m(y, x) < 9 THEN PRINT AT y + 2, x * 2 + 1; INK 6; m(y, x)
660 IF s(y, x) = 1 AND m(y, x) = 9 THEN PRINT AT y + 2, x * 2 + 1; INK 2; "*"
670 IF s(y, x) = 2 THEN PRINT AT y + 2, x * 2 + 1; INK 3; "F"
680 NEXT x
690 NEXT y
695 RETURN
700 REM === draw HUD ===
710 PRINT AT 0, 0; INK 7; "Safe:"; w; " Flags:"; f; " Mines:10  "
720 RETURN
800 REM === game over ===
810 FOR y = 1 TO 8
820 FOR x = 1 TO 8
830 LET s(y, x) = 1
840 NEXT x
842 NEXT y
844 GO SUB 600
846 PRINT AT 13, 6; INK 2; "BOOM! Game Over"
848 BEEP 0.2, 0: BEEP 0.2, -3: BEEP 0.3, -7
849 STOP
850 REM === win ===
860 CLS
870 PRINT AT 8, 8; INK 4; "YOU WIN!"
880 PRINT AT 10, 6; "All safe cells revealed"
890 BEEP 0.15, 12: BEEP 0.15, 16: BEEP 0.3, 19
895 STOP

How It Works

Line 10 sets the black background: BORDER 0: PAPER 0: INK 7: CLS. Everything starts as white on black.

Lines 170-250 use INK 5 (cyan) for column and row headers. These guide the player without competing with the grid content.

The draw subroutine uses INK per cell type:

630 IF s(y, x) = 0 THEN PRINT AT y + 2, x * 2 + 1; INK 1; "."
640 IF s(y, x) = 1 AND m(y, x) = 0 THEN PRINT AT y + 2, x * 2 + 1; INK 5; "-"
650 IF ... THEN PRINT AT y + 2, x * 2 + 1; INK 6; m(y, x)
660 IF ... THEN PRINT AT y + 2, x * 2 + 1; INK 2; "*"
670 IF s(y, x) = 2 THEN PRINT AT y + 2, x * 2 + 1; INK 3; "F"

Element	INK	Colour	Why
Hidden cell	1	Blue	Subtle, doesn’t draw attention
Empty (0 neighbours)	5	Cyan	Safe, neutral
Number (1-8)	6	Yellow	Important information, stands out
Mine	2	Red	Danger, immediately visible
Flag	3	Green	Player action, distinct from data
Cursor	4	Green + BRIGHT	Current position, brightest element

Colour as Information

Without colour, the player has to read every character carefully. With colour, they can scan the grid at a glance:

Blue dots — unexplored territory
Yellow numbers — information to reason about
Green F — their own markers
Red stars — only visible on game over

The cursor uses BRIGHT 1 to stand out even more. It’s the only bright element on the grid, making it impossible to lose.

Try This

Colour per number. Instead of all numbers in yellow, use INK m(y,x) — each count gets a different colour. 1 is blue, 2 is red, 3 is magenta, and so on. This matches classic Minesweeper conventions.

Flash mines. On game over, add FLASH 1 to the mine display: PRINT AT y+2, x*2+1; INK 2; FLASH 1; "*". The mines blink to draw attention.

What You’ve Learnt

BORDER, PAPER, INK — full control of the colour scheme
Per-element colouring — different INK values for different cell types
Colour as communication — visual hierarchy guides the player’s eye
BRIGHT for emphasis — makes the cursor stand out from everything else