(The following is an excerpt from Kyle Orland's upcoming book Minesweeper, an in-depth look at the history and evolution of the classic puzzle game that has been a mainstay of Microsoft's since it came pre-installed with every copy of Windows 3.1. It is one of four titles in Boss Fight Books' "Season 6," which has a Kickstarter campaign running until 10 p.m. Eastern on March 7.)
For most of its existence, Minesweeper had only existed as a free add-on for the Windows OS. Originally, the pre-installed freebie served as a marketing tool, helping to teach players how to use a mouse and differentiating Windows from competing operating systems.
By 2011, though, no one was taking Minesweeper into account when deciding which computer OS would best fit their needs. Minesweeper had become a vestigial appendix in Windows's increasingly bloated body, contributing next to nothing to Microsoft's bottom line.