This is a complete guide on how to finish all the Challenges/Achievements for Mastermine, featuring strategies, tips, and secrets that make unlocking them a breeze.
Solve your first Beginner cube
500 Credits
As soon as you open the game for the first time you will be presented with a tutorial. Upon finishing it you will automatically be put into a 5×5 (Beginner) game. Completing that cube (or any 5×5 cube) will unlock you this achievement.
Solve your first Advanced cube
750 Credits
This achievement requires you to complete an 8×8 (Advanced) cube. This cube is automatically unlocked at the beginning of the game, so there are no prerequisites. Try not to rush for time as it could lead to mistakes. Be patient and take your time and completing the cube won’t be too difficult.
Solve cubes for a total of 10 minutes
1,000 Credits
This achievement will unlock naturally overtime. However if you do plan on boosting it, just idle your game after revealing the first square on a cube until 10 minutes passes.
Solve 2 cubes in Time Crisis
1,000 Credits
Fastest and easiest way to do this one is to play 5×5 (Beginner) cubes in Time Crisis instead of Arcade. The Time Crisis clock will add time depending on how many squares you reveal and can provide around 60-75s total. I would recommend practicing until you can solve cubes between that timeframe. With that, simply solve two cubes to unlock the achievement.
(A very easy way to solve faster is to enable Chording in the Controls submenu [found in the Settings page from the homescreen]. This allows you to reveal all remaining squares surrounding a revealed one, assuming that all the mines have been flagged already. Here’s a .gif from the developer[imgur.com] showing Chording in action.)
Use 20 Burst Clears
2,000 Credits
The ability to purchase and use burst clears unlock at player Level 10. The easiest way to unlock this achievement without having to spend 50,000 credits would be to open up Sandbox; any cube size will do. In Sandbox you can use infinite powerups without costing anything. Simply click the burst clear icon (the explosion on the far right) and select a spot on the cube. Repeat this twenty times in total.
Use 10 Lightning powerups
2,000 Credits
The ability to purchase and use lightning clears unlock at player Level 8. Like mentioned previously, the easiest way to unlock this achievement without having to spend 20,000 credits would be doing the Sandbox method that was discussed in Extreme Fever. Click the lightning clear icon and select a spot on the cube. Repeat this ten times in total.
Solve 3 cubes using the Memory skin
750 Credits
The Memory Skin is available for purchase at player Level 3. The skin takes the original Clean skin and removes the numbers leaving the background colors (if you can’t remember the colors I have a cheatsheet below). I recommend doing 5×5 (Beginner) cubes to start. You’ll most likely have to take it slow and be patient, but with some practice you will get it. Simply solve three cubes with the skin equipped to unlock the achievement.
One = Blue
Two = Orange
Three = Purple
Four = Light Red
Five = Green
Six = Bright Red
Seven = Brown
Eight = Pure Black
Solve 9 cubes with the Retro skin
1,000 Credits
The Retro Skin is available for purchase at player Level 14. The skin takes the assets from the original Minesweeper game from the Windows XP and puts them on the cube itself. Unlike the Memory skin, Retro contains numbers so most of your previous experience carries over. Once again I recommend doing 5×5 (Beginner) cubes to obtain this quickly. Simply solve nine cubes with the skin equipped to unlock the achievement.
Solve your first Expert cube
2,000 Credits
In order to unlock the 15×15 (Expert) Cube you first need to complete an 8×8 (Advanced) cube. There isn’t much to say here except to take it slowly and think through some areas logically if needed. At this size you might run into some 50/50 scenarios, meaning you can’t find the solution logically and finding success is dependent on if you guess right. You could also use a Sonar powerup to find the mines location, but this will invalidate that cube’s solve time from the leaderboard.
Practice makes perfect.
Solve a cube without using flags
1,000 Credits
This challenge might get tricky, especially if you play using the Chording strategy. Muscle memory might make this difficult as you could flag a square out of habit. To prevent this, go to the Controls submenu (found in the Settings page from the homescreen) and set the Flag option to Unassigned. The game will give you a little snarky remark too.
Now I would again recommend the 5×5 (Beginner) cube. You don’t need to finish this in a specific time limit. You just need to complete a cube. Once again, take your time and go very slow. Being unable to visualize the flags (and in the next achievement’s case, the numbers) is a little tricky at first but it wont take long to grasp. Be patient and don’t be afraid to count.
Solve a cube flagless using the Memory skin
1,000 Credits
The Memory Skin is available for purchase at player Level 3. This achievement is very similar to Flagless Victory, the only difference being the skin used.
See that section for strategy.
See 3BLD for the Memory Skin cheatsheet.
Solve 3 cubes in a row, each in under a minute
2,000 Credits
This achievement will be very difficult unless you use the 5×5 (Beginner) cube. This achievement should come naturally overtime as you improve your time in that cube. There really isn’t a way to boost this achievement as getting it naturally is more or less the easiest way to do it. Continue solving 5×5 (Beginner) cubes until you see your time improve. After a while you will be able to average a solve sub-60s.
Practice makes perfect.
Solve a cube in less than 30 seconds
3,000 Credits
Once again this is best attempted on a 5×5 (Beginner) cube. Practice over and over until your time improves. Stick to chording if it benefits you and a skin that you know by heart.
This will unlock with time, patience and practice.
Solve a cube harder than Expert (16×16+)
5,000 Credits
Upon solving an Expert (15×15), you unlock the Mastermine (20×20). However you also unlock the 16×16 in the custom sizes menu. Doing either cube will net you the achievement.
Once again take it very slow and think through your moves; there is no time limit to worry about. You could also run into 50/50s. If that happens just hope that you guess right, or you could use a Sonar powerup to find the mines location, but this will invalidate that cube’s solve time from the leaderboard.
Solve 100 cubes in light theme
10,000 Credits
This isn’t boostable or spoofable; you must do it legitametly. Sandbox solves do not count, so you cannot mass-solve cubes using Lightning Clears. If you play the game frequently this will unlock overtime. When it does unlock be sure to switch to the other theme to get the next achievement too. You can toggle between Light theme and Dark theme using the Settings menu from the home screen.
But if you did want to try to boost this, the fastest way to solve a cube is usually by doing 5×5 (Beginner).
Solve 100 cubes in dark theme
10,000 Credits
This achievement is very similar to Dayman, Fighter of the Nightman!, the only difference being the theme that is equipped.
See that section for strategy.
Solve cubes for a total of 5 hours
5,000 Credits
Again, this should come naturally with normal play time, but if you do plan on boosting this just reveal a single square on a cube and idle your game for five hours.
Remember to either solve or fail the cube in order for that time to count; do not pause and go to the menu without doing one of those first.
Solve all difficulties in a row without blowing up
25,000 Credits
This could potentially be one of the hardest achievements in the game; that just depends on which strategy you choose to use.
This requires you to solve the 5×5 (Beginner), 8×8 (Advanced), 15×15 (Expert), and 20×20 (Mastermine) without revealing any mines.
Some things to preface quick.
-You can close your game and your progress in the achievement will retain. If you were to solve two of the difficulties and reopen the game later your progress won’t reset. With that, you can more or less do this across multiple sessions.
-This can be done in any order and does not have to be done from 5×5 (Beginner) to 20×20 (Mastermine). If you so choose you could go in reverse order starting with the big cubes first and work your way down.
-Solving a cube with powerups does not void your attempt.
-As soon as you explode a cube your game saves. You cannot avoid losing your progress by exiting the game before going to the menu. Once a mine is revealed, that’s it. However…
-You can exit to the menu in the middle of a solve and retain your progress. If you happen to have a 50/50 and don’t want to spin your luck, you can exit and get a different cube without worry.
The absolute easiest way to do this is by using powerups. There’s two types of strategies you could use.
You could purchase Lifesaver powerups so in the event of revealing a mine the game doesn’t end. It’s a really good failsafe that prevents you from losing your progress. The pro is that its a cheap powerup, and depending on your skill level you might not have to buy too many of them. The con is that using this method is a little time-consuming as you’d have to solve all four cubes legitimately.
The other method is by purchasing Lightning Clear powerups. As mentioned earlier you can use powerups in these attempts. With that in mind you could purchase 48 Lightning Clears to guarantee you get this achievement. When using the powerups, make sure to click them in a diagonal pattern to reveal every square (gifed below). The pro is that it doesn’t take too much time to do and guarantees a win without pesky 50/50s. The con is that this method costs 96,000 credits.
Of course, you could do this powerup free. In that case I recommend taking your time and being very patient. Do not forget that you can pause the game and exit to the menu to forfeit a cube. This is very useful if you are presented with a 50/50. Just remember to exit to menu before revealing a mine. You may lose a few attempts but patience and persistence is key.
Solve 500 cubes total
30,000 Credits
If you plan on playing the game continually, this will unlock overtime. Unfortunately this cannot be spoofed. You have to solve these cubes legitimately. Sandbox solves do not count, so you can’t mass-solve cubes using Lightning Clears.
It is recommended to stack this achievement along with Dayman, Fighter of the Nightman! and Nightman, Sneaky and Mean! If you have unlocked both of those achievements previously, then you are already at least 40% of the way there. If you haven’t unlocked them yet, prioritize those two before this one.
Spend 1,000,000 credits in the store
50,000 Credits
This is without a doubt one of the more difficult and time-consuming achievements to unlock. Earning credits can be a little tricky.
Below I have done some math on how to earn 1,000,000 credits.
The best way to achieve this is by completing every other achievement in this game and save this one for last. Each achievement additionally gives a Credits reward. In total, that pays out to be 613,000 credits.
If you have completed the achievements, that means you have played at least 500 cubes while going for The Definition Of Insanity. Solving a cube also gives you a small payout. Those calculations are found below.
500 credits for 5×5 (Beginner)
750 credits for 8×8 (Advanced)
5,000 credits for 15×15 (Expert)
10,000 credits for 20×20 (Mastermine)
([cubeSize * cubeSize * 6] / 150 * 500) credits for all other sizes.
Assuming they were all 5×5 (Beginners), that will give you an additional 250,000 credits.
Additionally, the 29 cubes that were solved to obtain Remember, No Russian would pay out another 251,950 credits using those same calculations.
That enough will put you over the 1,000,000 and that doesn’t include the payouts you get for your player Level going up.
Once you solve a cube you are awarded Stars to your player Level. Upon leveling up you earn a 1,000 credits prize. You can maximize the amount of Stars you earn by doing 5×5 (Beginner) cubes in Time Crisis, while playing flagless.
Flagless +5
Beginner cube solved +2
Powerupless +2
Time Pressure + 3
Flagless…attempts +(number of failures)
Additionally, you earn a total of 522 Stars by reaching campaign Level 30 while going for Remember, No Russian, as shown below.
Campaign level x solved +x
Powerupless +3
Now provided that you have 1,000,000 credits, the fastest way to drain it all is to purchase all the skins and spend the rest on Burst Clears as they are the most expensive item in the game.
Reach Campaign level 15
10,000 Credits
This achievement is very similar to Remember, No Russian, the only difference being the campaign Level you reach.
See that section for strategy.
Reach Campaign level 30
500,000 Credits
This achievement is also one of the most difficult in the game as it requires a good combination of skill, time, credits, and patience.
You do not have to solve the 34×34 that appears at campaign Level 30. You just have to get there.
There are a few ways to do this.
If you are doing this challenge while going for the Big Spender achievement, you’ll most likely want to do this strategy as it doesn’t cost a lot of credits.
Simply solve all the cubes while having a Lifesaver powerup equipped. These will prevent you from going down a level if you reveal a mine. These can save you so much time and effort if you make sure you have one equipped and on standby. Remember you can always pause and go to the menu to purchase more; your game and progress is always saved.
It also wouldn’t hurt to have a Sonar or two on hand in case you run into 50/50s. It’s best to use one of them instead of sacrificing your Lifesaver.
This next strategy is very similar to the one found in Quadrilogy.
It is less time consuming and more or less guarantees an easy unlock. The downside is that it requires at most 1,102,000 credits.
This is by using Lightning Clears to solve all the cubes leading to campaign Level 30. This will require at most 551 Lightning Clears. Because of the amount of credits those Clears cost, this method isn’t highly recommended. However if you do pursue this way, remember to use the Lightning Clears in a diagonal pattern (seen in the .gif on Quadrilogy)
And of course you could do this without any powerups at all. If you choose to do this strategy I wish you the best of luck. Persistence and patience is highly necessary.
This one doesn’t have an associated Steam achievement.
After completing all of the achievements listed in this guide, you will unlock this one and its 1,000,000 credit prize.
Congratulations on your 100% completion of Mastermine!
Post a leaderboard-valid 20×20 time using the Halloween skin.
The Halloween update was teased on October 8th, 2020, and officially announced and released on the 24th alongside Mastermine 1.6. The challenge tasked people to complete a 20×20 (Mastermine) cube without using any powerups while using the Halloween Event skin that was added in the update. Those who completed it received the Halloween Skin to use even after the event was over.
The challenge expired on November 1st, 2020.
If you want to use the Halloween Skin yourself (however the music, background, menu, and sound effects won’t be available), search for Halloween in the custom skins menu.
Complete at least 10 daily cubes in the 12 days of Mastermine.
The 12 Days update was announced on December 11th, 2020, and officially released two days later on the 13th. This update added new and fresh leaderboards where new times could only be added within a 24 hour timeframe. Day One had a 5×5, Day Two had a 6×6, etc. Those who returned for 10 out of the 12 days and submitted a time completed the challenge and received a little credits prize.
The challenge became unobtainable on December 26th, 2020, and expired January 1st, 2021.
If you’d like to see the complete archive of times made during the 12 Days event, here is a .zip file from the developer[store.mastermine.app].
If you want to use the 12 Days Skin yourself (however the music, background, menu, and sound effects won’t be available), search for 12 Days of Mastermine in the custom skins menu.
