Minesweeper is single-player logic-based computer game played on rectangular board whose object is to locate a predetermined number of randomly-placed "mines" in the shortest possible time by clicking on "safe" squares while avoiding the squares with mines. If the player clicks on a mine, the game ends. Otherwise, a number between 0 and 8 is displayed that identifies the total number of mines present in the eight neighboring squares. Therefore, finding a square containing "8" indicated that all eight adjacent squares contain mines, while if a zero (displayed as a blank) is uncovered, there are no mines in the surrounding squares. A square suspected of containing a mine may be marked with flag.
In the Season 1 episode "Uncertainty Principle" (2005) of the television crime drama NUMB3RS, math genius Charlie Eppes uses the game minesweeper not only for his P vs. NP problem, but also to determine the pattern followed by a group of bank robbers.
