View source for Software:Mines of Minos

{{Short description|1982 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
|title      = Mines of Minos
|image      = Mines_of_Minos_Atari_2600_Box_Cover.jpg
|caption    = 
|image_size =
|developer  = [[Company:CommaVid|CommaVid]]
|publisher  = CommaVid
|programmer = Irwin Gaines<ref name="protos">{{cite web |url=https://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/minesofminos/minesofminos.htm |title=Mines of Minos |website=AtariProtos.com |access-date=15 May 2023}}</ref>
|designer   = 
|engine     = 
|released   = October 1982
|genre      = Maze
|modes      = Single player, [[Software:Multiplayer video game|two-player simultaneous]]
|platforms  = [[Engineering:Atari 2600|Atari 2600]]
}}

'''''Mines of Minos''''' is an [[Engineering:Atari 2600|Atari 2600]] maze video game developed and published by [[Company:CommaVid|CommaVid]] in 1982. The player controls a mining robot in a  maze, fighting off alien attackers.<ref name="played">{{cite book |title=Well Played 1.0 Video Games, Value and Meaning |publisher=ETC Press |last=Davidson |first=Drew |date=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SUnRAQAAQBAJ&dq=%22mines+of+minos%22&pg=PA355 |isbn=9780557069750 |access-date=12 May 2023}}</ref> A two-player mode, in which the second player can control an alien, is also available.

== Gameplay ==

The gameplay of ''Mines of Minos'' consists of controlling a mining robot trapped in a maze surrounded by hostile aliens.<ref name="hot_fun">{{cite magazine |last=Greenberg |first=Perry |date=August 1983 |title=HOT SUMMER FUN Home Carts Provide Some Rays of Hope |url=https://archive.org/details/Video_Games_Volume_1_Number_11_1983-08_Pumpkin_Press_US/page/n63/mode/1up?view=theater |magazine=Video Games |publisher=Pumpkin Press |page=64 |issue=11 |access-date=18 May 2023}}</ref> The player's goal is to locate and destroy the alien's command center. The player must navigate the maze and avoid the aliens; colliding with an alien causes the player to lose a life.<ref name="critic">{{cite web |url=https://videogamecritic.com/2600mm.htm?e=11145#rev4473 |title=Mines of Minos |website=The Video Game Critic |date=27 May 2015 |access-date=15 May 2023}}</ref> Unlike a typical video game (where the player starts with multiple lives), the player starts with zero additional lives and can only earn more by collecting robot pieces scattered throughout the maze; collecting enough pieces to form a new "robot body" awards the player with an additional life.<ref name="classic">{{cite book |title=Classic Home Video Games, 1972-1984 |publisher=McFarland & Company |last=Weiss |first=Brett |date=20 December 2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BzxTtml8Jq4C&dq=%22mines+of+minos%22&pg=PA81 |isbn=9780786487554 |access-date=12 May 2023}}</ref> The player can drop bombs in locations, requiring strategy to choose the best spot that an alien might walk into. Gaming website ''The Retorist'' called this a "change [from] the nature of the standard offense-oriented Atari game". As an additional element of difficulty, the maze gradually fills with water, forcing the player to move on to the next board.<ref name="retro">{{cite web |url=https://www.retroist.com/p/mines-of-minos |title=Atari 2600 Mines of Minos Review |website=Retroist |date=20 December 2009 |access-date=12 May 2023}}</ref>

The game may be played in single-player mode, or in a two-player mode where the second player can control an alien.<ref name="online">{{cite web |url=https://atarionline.org/atari-2600/mines-of-minos |title=Mines of Minos |website=AtariOnline.org |access-date=19 May 2023}}</ref>

== Release ==

CommaVid released ''Mines of Minos'' in October 1982. The game was only released for the Atari 2600.<ref name="moby">{{cite web |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/24071/mines-of-minos/ |title=Mines of Minos |website=[[Social:MobyGames|MobyGames]] |access-date=15 May 2023}}</ref>

== Reception ==

The gameplay was well received. The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram ''called ''Mines of Minos'' "an extremely intense game: constant pressure, no rest".<ref name="star">{{cite news |last=Hudson |first=Lou |date=19 February 1983 |title=Video Play |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/114026804/ |work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |page=62 |access-date=18 May 2023}}</ref> They liked the number of mazes it offered to explore, but criticized as being a [[Software:List of Pac-Man clones|''Pac-Man'' clone]].  In a 1983 review, ''Electronic Fun with Computers & Games'' wrote that the game's aliens "are stunningly scary due to their excellent resolution".<ref name="fun">{{cite magazine |title=Mines of Minos |url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Fun_with_Computer_Games_Vol_01_No_09_1983-07_Fun_Games_Publishing_US/page/n55/mode/2up?view=theater |last=Steere |first=Noel |access-date=15 May 2023 |magazine=Electronic Fun with Computers & Games |date=July 1983 |volume=1 |number=9 |page=53}}</ref>

In a retrospective review, the Video Game Critic praised the game's depth and challenge.<ref name="critic" /> ''The Retroist'' wrote that ''Mines of Minos'' joined the slew of games "being cranked out immediately before the video game crash of 1983".<ref name="retro" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* {{cite web |title=Mines of Minos for the Atari 2600 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLUJJzhCeCc |website=YouTube |date=6 June 2010}}


[[Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games]]
[[Category:Strategy video games]]

{{Sourceattribution|Mines of Minos}}