Netflix's latest big name release is Microsoft's Minesweeper from 1990

• Netflix's version comes with a new Journey Mode
• Mercifully this time around there are no in-game ads…

Netflix has launched Minesweeper as part of its exclusive selection of subscriber-only games and it's now available for both Android and iOS devices.

The classic puzzle game first made its first appearance in 1990 as part of the Windows Entertainment Pack, which was included as part of Windows 3.11 and therefore garnered millions of players from day one.  

Minesweeper was many users first brush with video games, being included within their snappy new graphical user interface alongside such desktop luxuries as a calculator and an alarm clock.

The game subsequently became rife with ads in the following versions of Windows as Microsoft realised that perhaps not every user was using their shiny new computer for getting work done…

Netflix’s version of Minesweeper closely resembles the original but includes colourful graphics, a Journey Mode with levels set across world stages and daily challenges with no in-game ads or microtransactions for subscribers.

Netflix gets serious about games…

As it continues to bolster its gaming ambitions, Netflix resurrecting Minesweeper proves that nothing says cutting-edge innovation quite like a game that first graced CRT screens 34 year ago…

While other platforms go for graphics and chase the latest trends, Netflix seem content to play a different game. Who needs flashy new games when you can blow the dust off a relic and call it a revolution? Will Netflix Games' killer app - a game that finally puts the platform overboard - actually be a blast from the past?

While it's easy to point the finger, bringing back Minesweeper may well be a smart move for the service as it will doubtless resonate with their casual gaming, TV-watching audience. Seeing Minesweeper on the menu of available titles is actually far more likely to attract their audience inside their games offering at last. More so perhaps than the reveal of self-developed big-budget triple-A exclusive.

We await Netflix's next big release with interest.