OK. This is... not a great spawn, lots of high numbers.

In the right-hand space there are 7 unknown points off the top, and 11 points off the left side, so we can't click off into the unknown. And it has the health scroll so we know a bunch of the nearby cells don't have more health.

The left space is a little more promising: we have 15-8 at the bottom-left corner, so there are 7 unknown. We can't click there yet, but in a couple levels... there are either some nice low numbers or a bunch of empty space (where there might be health/gold items).

So we could do the bat next to the 15 and hope that it gives us a low clue, and then maybe the top-left skeleton (or the far right one)? Or we could try the slime and hope we get a low enough clue to click off into the unknown there, and go for the gargoyle at the top right if not. The gargoyle would still have 5 unknown cells so it's unlikely to give us an opening to click into the unknown, but it'd be a big win if it did.

Also the left skeleton is next to the corner, and we want to identify at least three corners so we know where the lich is when the time comes. That's a much later-game thing but it's a minor bonus in my book. Hrm. Actually it's kind of a gamble because if it is the lich then we just wasted our health identifying a square that we won't be able to use in ages. And like the gargoyle, it has 5 unknown squares so it's probably not going to be that helpful, but again, we could win big.

Dunno. It's really just guesswork at this point. So. Slime/gargoyle, or bat/skeleton? I think for me the 15 clue being so low for 5 cells pushes me toward the bat.

OK. The bat gave us an 12-11 clue, so there's only 1 point out in those three cells. Which is awesome, we can safely explore those. But... then we have no good way to use the other two points (well, we could gamble on a wall but they're individually bad gambles and are a wasted HP more often than not. Bad idea at this stage: I try to leave them for the end).

So we're going to go with the skeleton. Ha. 9-6 clue, so there are only 3 points left in that entire top-left corner. Lots of nice low numbers and empty space here: we might get lucky and find two health and we'll almost certainly get one.

OK. Upgrade and decide where to go next. At the start of a new health bar we generally want to go for the higher numbers first. And that 13-6 is... there's still 7 out there so let's see if we get lucky and get more info by opening the cell to the left of the snake.

Wow. A skeleton for 3. So now all four other cells at the top-left corner are empty. Score.

AND it's a 9-6 clue, so the cell below is a 3. Sweeet. So let's open up those other four spaces and... holy shit. Two chests. Both hearts omg.

OK, that buys us a lot of time to explore.

OK, OK, let's not lose focus here. I want to explore those three cells below the 12-11, but then we still don't have any way to use our two remaining HP, so I think we go with one of the skeletons on the right opening.

Probably the right one since it's further from the health scroll. Although I have a (probably irrational) like of exploring around the dragon. And we do have plenty of runway right now.

Nah, play it smart. The right one will let us start working our way toward the corner and identifying the corners is generally a stretch.

108 clue. OK. Hrm.

That's annoying: we're kind of blocked in that direction, but we'll maybe try the gargoyle next and see if we can make a run around the end.

OK. Now the question of which health to use. The top left one is out: that doesn't give us any new information at all so we don't want to use it until we have to. The next one will positively identify that cell next to the minotaur, so that's nice.

Oh. And both of those were chests, so there could easily be another health scroll up in that area somewhere.

But the health scroll next to the dragon will give us a clue for only two cells, which is a nice balance of uncertainty, and as I said I like exploring next to the dragon. There won't be another health scroll near... but it might give us another way around the mine for the 108 clue.

Decisions, decisions... fuck it, we have plenty of runway, I'm taking the one by the dragon.

Haha, 218, ouch. Dead end there. No, wait. There are only two cells, so we know they're both mines. That's not bad.

Alright, let's think about this. We found both of the random health items, which is incredible, but it means that all the rest of the health is spaced out: we won't get any more serendipitous saves.

So we need to carry our health scroll inventory higher than we think. It'll turn into a trap if we get cocky.

Also, if we're trying to clear the board, that hinges entirely on when we find the gold items so the health items aren't actually a help there.

Anyway. Where are we going to click next. I want to explore below the left 12: three spaces for 1 HP is great.

Buuut... unless we find some more low numbers, then we'll have to use the gargoyle and our other rat. And our inventory of low numbers is already terrible. So that's annoying.

Oh wait. I was thinking there could still be a 7 hanging out around there. But now that clue below the snake is 10-9. So that's four cells with one or two rts in them. So tempting.

OK, what are our options? Explore below the 10 & 12, find a single rat, then kill the slime for five. That's not bad. Or... the gargoyle and two rats? That's the one I'm leery of.

Or there's the snake on the right. The snake on the left gives us zero new information so fuck that.

Yeah, the snake on the right could be interesting. But I think I'm going for an unexplored rat and a slime. Now, which square do I click first?

The one under the 3 would tell us if the 10 & 12 share a rat. But then there are more unexplored squares around the slime. The one under the slime would also work, or the one under the 12... Hrm.

Yeah, let's do the one under the slime. It really doesn't matter that much, I'm just overthinking things.

Oh. Oh wait. I'm a complete idiot. That's 12-6-5-1. That 12 clue is completely satisfied. Hahaha. OK, so all the cells under the 12 are empty and there's a 1 below the 3.

A heart scroll and double 105s. OK, that puts us back on schedule for finding heart scrolls. Cool.

So... if we knew for sure that they shared a mine, then we could clear the two cells adjacent to the 5. But we don't. Hrm. Now I really want to clear the slime. And probably the rat below the 3.

Or do I switch to the snake? What am I doing next turn when I have 7 health? Gargoyle and skeleton? Or... oh, maybe the minotaur. Yeah, then both the slime and the minotaur's cells would reach into the cell right of the rat...

OK. Slime and bottom-left rat. And upgrade. The rat gives us a 3, so clear around that.

Well, there's another bat (or two rats), that's good. But I think we still can't identify where the mines are, or how many there are. Ugh. That heart is in just the wrong place.

Well, maybe minotaur and then grab the heart. Because with the 100s and 101, there's a bunch of blank space on the other side of those mines. And a possible 5 around the 107.

Yeah, let's do it.

109, argh. Come on. At least taking the heart identifies a mine...

And clearing around the right 100 gets us a heart scroll and marks another mine. Geez, we're finding health pretty well. Where's the gold, though? And we haven't made much progress towards getting another two corners.

OK. The two clue at the bottom left tells us... oh, there's a slime below the mine? And then the 108 needs another 3.

So let's leave the 2 unfound for later, kill the 3, and then knock out the gargoyle for the other 4.

Oh man, another heart scroll. And an unexplored 4 points in 3 cells. And it's vaguely toward the bottom-left corner. Yeah, I think I'm going to leave the top-right corner and explore this area.

A rat below the 5, and... a skeleton below the heart. And upgrade.

Those clues identify another mine. And the 111 tells us that we don't have another minotaur here: at most a snake.

Hrm. So I kind of want to check for that, and then we'll either take the rat or we'll clear the cells below the 107? Is there anything better going?

Oh wait, we have 8 HP now. So we can do the 6 and the 2. Or switch gears and get the visible snake at the top center and the 2? If we take the gargoyle we don't have... well, I guess the skeleton and the rat. Meh. Oh, no, that might be fine.

Yeah, let's switch gears. I feel like this area has some good unexplored space but we don't know much about the top right.

Or... wait. Look how much dead space there must be around that 7. There could be another item hidden there. That's too good of a gamble to pass up. OK, clear around the 111 and the 107.

A slime below the 107 and a rat below the 111. That marks two more rats and means the 7 has only one more rat. So let's look at the clues and then we'll probably clear the 7 and take another rat. Yeah, what other options do we have?

Both clues are 112, yeah. That doesn't give us anything. So clear to the right.

A rat in the middle gives... a question mark. OK, that's our first gazer out there somewhere. And a 2 up toward the dragon, that's a bunch more empty territory, cool. And the 112 on the left has a 6, so that can be for the next health refill.

So let's use our last HP on the bottom-right 1, see if we can get more info on the gazer's position.

Another question mark. So the gazer is either to the right of the wall, or below it: we don't know which yet. And the 111 doesn't let us explore on that side. But the 2 lets us explore over the top. The clue to the right of the upper question mark will disambiguate.

OK, but which of the three open health scrolls do we want to use? The middle one gives us a read on 3 cells, the others will pinpoint a single one. An embarrassment of riches. And no gold items yet, ugh. I'm not sure we're going to be able to clear the board.

Middle health, I think. Time to move in a (slightly) new direction. Maybe.

Ugh, 114. That's not helpful. OK, let's see if we can find this gazer. And then reach down from the 112? Hrmph. We can't necessarily do both. Let's do the 112-106 first.

Oh heck yeah, there's a rat below the 1. And that gives us a 9-6 so we can get clues next to the corner.

Let's see, if we do 3 and 2, we'll have 2 left, and we have no good place to spend that. Well, we could use up our last rats, but that's not ideal. OK, what about 3 and then the gargoyle?

Gah. I really want to find the gazer. But if we spend 2 then we have 5 left and... yeah, there's no good place to spend that. OK.

Aha, there's a bat below the 9. Perfect. So we mark the 1, there's another 3 in the two spaces below the 9, so the lich is not in this corner. So let's find that gazer for 2 and then smack the skeleton above the dragon.

Or maybe we clear out the corner here for three? Either, yeah.

Wow, a question mark and two rats. And a question mark under one rat. And that marks a 6 next to the dragon, and a 7 above that, and then the 16 is done. So that skeleton is useless, but we can clear around the 16 and see what we have.

But we'll probably clear the corner below the 9 next.

And there's a chest for 5 gold. About time. And a 120 clue below it, so that's a 4 next to the wall, and the 109 has 4 points left in the two cells above it.

Clear the bottom left corner for a rat and a bat, the 101 is satisfied, and... there's the other gold chest. Sweeet.

And the gold gives a 102 clue so that marks a 1 and the mimic chest. Excellent.

Upgrade and knock out the gazer. That marks another 4, and... geez, we have enough gold for another upgrade. Very cool. Although now we need to get to another corner tout de suite so we can identify the lich before the upgrade after that.

There are 5 unexplored points below the dragon, and another 5 below that... but for the corner I think we're going for the gargoyle. Hrmph. 105. Well, let's upgrade and think about this.

I think we're going to explore the 7 points above the 13 clue to try and identify the mine here. If that doesn't work then I guess we're starting below the dragon and booking it for whichever corner we think we can get to. But we might just have to guess on the lich, ugh.

Well, that was lucky: a rat and a heart, so we identified the snake without using the HP.

Wait, wait, is that all the snakes? I never do card counting in this game but yup, the monsternomicon says 3 minotaurs, 4 snakes, and the snakes are all marked. Wow.

And the rat gives a 4 clue, so that identifies the mine. We're going to make it to the corner in time, I think.

It's not guaranteed, but one possibility from the clues is that the upper cell by the 4 is empty and the one below that is a 4.

Aw yeah, empty and a chest. That'll be the crystal ball. And it means the cell below the mine is empty... 204 clue, oof. Oh wait, but it has its two mines.

Oh what?! The crystal ball identifies the lich in the other corner. How cool is that?

OK, OK. That takes the pressure off, huh. OK, maybe let's just clear the top middle real quick.

A gargoyle and another health scroll. Wow, I could very easily have left that until way late: those other two were chests but... yeah. I might not have looked there.

OK. Explore below the dragon, or up toward the corner? I have just enough to explore below the dragon, while there's a 2 up top, so let's go for the (potential) big number.

Bam. Yup, a slime. So the cell below is empty, then that marks another slime, and then... oh nice, the 13 gives us the big slimes and the warlock. I've been wondering where those were hiding.

So. Pick a health scroll, any health scroll, none of them reveals anything. And then zap the warlock and reveal the slimes. Huh. I wonder if that 5 is going to be the rat king? No wait, the cell above it was empty, so it's a slime.

OK, that lets us deduce a few more things and then... we're blocked by the mines. So I guess we'll have to go around the top.

Well, as soon as we use up this health we're going to upgrade, zap the lich, and defuse the bombs. But I feel like they're harder to find when they're zeroes, so I'd like to identify as many as possible first.

Is that true? I'm not sure. I'll have to stop and think about that sometime.

Oh wait, we have that 204 with both its mines a bit to the right of the dragon. We can explore there.

A skeleton, a rat, and... oof, not quite enough question marks to locate the gazer. What are we going to do with our 5 HP? Ah, zap the slime below the 305. That might give us a good clue.

Oof, that's a tricky deduction. Can we do it? The 129 says that of the bottom ttwo cells in the column, one is a mine and one is empty. The 205 says the top one must also be a mine.

Ah, but after marking that, the 300 says the middle one now cannot be a mine, so it must be the bottom one, and the middle one is empty.

And there's a 204 clue in the middle. How many mines do we have marked? 8 out of 9. The other has to be just to the right somewhere. I don't think I can identify it yet?

But bashing the lich and grabbing the gold from the 8 mines we do have should get us an upgrade so we don't have to use a health scroll. Perfect.

Yeah, collecting the dead mines gives us more clues, identifying a bunch more stuff including the last mine. Great. Now where to?

Ah, there's a question mark under that last mine. Which reminds me to kill thes second gazer. I think we already knew where it was? Yeah.

Hmm. From this point it's mostly just mopping up, though there's still the gnome out there. And one more minotaur, but otherwise everything left is a gargoyle or less. That's pretty cool: I don't usually pay enough attention to know that.

Oh, that's not true, we haven't seen the rat king yet? Oh wait, he must be the 5 that isn't a slime. OK.

Yup, we can identify all the rest on one round of health. Now it's just not fucking up on the mop-up.

I usually try to start with the bigger numbers, but then I fit them in so that I save as many of the rats and bats as possible so I don't end up with a small number of HP that I can't use.

...nooooo! So close. I knew I was worried that we didn't find the gold items until late, but that's just... gah.

Oh well. Kill the dragon, win the game with 302 points (max score is 303).

Ironically, if I hadn't found the crystal ball, I would have kept pushing toward that corner, I probably would have found the gnome, which would have allowed me to upgrade and save the use of a health scroll for another level... earning me that last lousy hit point to kill that last lousy rat.

This game... this game.