Discussion

Hormuz Minesweeper

seydor: Hormuz is not a minefield though. According to sources, ships are moving near the coast of Iran, according to other sources they are being charged $2M per passage. According to other sources only Yuan paid oil is allowed.

jonplackett: I’m not sure this is intended to be factually accurate

ginko: So is the message here that demining the strait of Hormuz will be fairly easy?I was expecting some curve balls at the end with undecidable constellations but it was all quite straightforward.

galad87: It's missing the double click on a number feature from minesweeper.

kentwistle: Looks good but can’t play on iPad due to lack of right click.

notrealyme123: You win if there are no more fields without mines.

0dayman: correct

0dayman: and missiles too, not just mines

diath: You can see for yourself if anything is passing: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:57.7/cente...

mmmwww: I've seen reports of ship turning off their AIS before attempting the strait, not sure if this is still valid but Marine Traffic only shows AIS signals that are turned on, which is as simple as flipping a switch.Also something Chinese fishing ships do around the galapagos and other regions to fish illegally.

fbcpck: chording is available only during peace times

BoredPositron: It's a piece about showing the detachment from war and you are arguing like idiots again.

ghywertelling: This is symptom of the misunderstanding among people that somehow more people being knowledgeable about politics will bring about a change. "Pen is mightier than sword" was probably written by a person who only wielded pen. It's a collective psyops inflicted by people on themselves, belonging to an era where it made sense. In today's world, it doesn't matter. Bring missles to a sword / knife fight. Only true power is respected.

mulnz: Cool man, can you please just pass the blunt.

sandworm101: The tie-in with Apple is what doomed the littoral combat ship program. Things got better once they shifted to xbox controllers.

raincole: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4geg0eeyjeo> Before the war, about 138 ships passed through the strait each day according to the Joint Maritime Information Centre, carrying one fifth of the global oil supply.> The data provided by shipping analysts Kpler shows 99 vessels passing the narrow strait so far this month, an average of just 5-6 vessels a day.I mean, it's bad, but it's factually not a minefield. The threat isn't coming from mines anyway.

FerretFred: Someone leaked this to POTUS and he based his whole strategy on it!

beloch: It might not be. It might be. Uncertainty is the point of what Iran is doing.There might be mines in the straight that are sophisticated enough to be armed, disarmed, or moved on command, or there might not. There might be artillery emplacements* hidden and not found, ready to pop up... or there might not. There are probably still plenty of drones and missiles all over the country that can be called down on Hormuz at will. Iran might choose to save them for something else... or they might not.If a few oil tankers get through without Iran's permission, one might conclude everything Iran has in place has been found and that the straight is safe. Then again, it might not be. The Iranians might save a few choice surprises for the first aircraft carrier that gets too close. They might also choose to actually sink a large ship**, blocking the straight long-term. The Iranian regime has been planning specifically for a U.S. invasion since it's inception*** and they probably have some very well hidden and nasty surprises as well as plans to use them to maximum effect.Merchant vessels can't get insurance to go through because of all this uncertainty. The U.S. Navy has completely refused to go in there because losing a multi-billion dollar military vessel along with hundreds or thousands of sailors for a war that's already unpopular would likely knock the U.S. out of it completely. This is why Trump is desperate for other nations to come in and clear the straight. He doesn't care if they lose ships, but he can't afford to lose even one American ship for a "Wag the Dog" war that's already exploded the budget.-------------------*The straight is narrow enough that artillery can actually cover it. Even the most sophisticated anti-missile defence systems aren't meant to deal with artillery shells fired from nearly point blank range.**The straight has only a couple of channels deep enough for large vessels to transit. One or two well positioned wrecks could block the works.*** They rebelled against an American puppet Shah after all.

oxfeed65261: A small number of ships are crossing with AIS off (and without the benefit of GPS, because it is jammed) by coordinating with Iran. For example: https://gcaptain.com/iranian-navy-guided-indian-tanker-throu.... These will not show up on Marine Traffic as they are transiting the strait.

sandworm101: Clearing more than one sector at a time requires allied support.

abdusco: Wonderful! Now make another app that lets you pick which children are ok to kill

CraftThatBlock: Long press flags on touch screens

us321: The missile feature is missing.

jacquesm: That's easy, just a color range match. /sThis would all be funny if it wasn't so sad.

PythonicNinja: Added double click feature

jacquesm: > "Pen is mightier than sword"You completely misunderstood that. Take into account that you see the swords failing all around you whilst one nation effectively messed up the rest of the world through propaganda and maybe you'll begin to understand the true meaning of that sentence.Information, used well or abused well, is more powerful than any other weapon of war.

donalhunt: Lloyds who are one of the biggest players have indicated cover is available.https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/20/risk-london...

donalhunt: Iran has indicated they will only target ships tied to countries that are involved in the conflict.That likely means US and Israel. Unclear if countries like the UK that are facilitating the US through use of their bases would be considered legitimate targets (likely yes).

general_reveal: Trump is trying to prompt the Straight like it’s ChatGPT.

PythonicNinja: added support for ipad using long press for flags

noduerme: So what's left of the Iranian regime is basically like the Houthis now, reduced to getting world attention by committing random acts of piracy and firing at random ships off their coast. To make whatever point they were trying to make. Seems like a win to me. Declare victory, say the straight is open, just like the Red Sea is open. If anything moves at shipping, destroy its source. They don't have a right to attack merchant vessels, and there's no reason to negotiate with them either.

roysting: I have not finished a game, but I would be very disappointed if I didn’t get credit for stopping a war once I’ve won.

ChristianJacobs: Next FIFA peace price for you!

lukan: "Information, used well or abused well, is more powerful than any other weapon of war."Indeed, because people with the swords will decide on that information who to slain or who to defend. If you do it right, you don't need to fight the enemy soldiers, but they will fight for you.

9dev: This sort of ridiculous reductionism has never been true. Do you seriously think all the conflicts we experience have never been there before?"Only true power is respected"—what’s this even supposed to mean? Right now, the American military is shooting with all its mighty glory on Iran, yet loosing the war, money, and yes, respect from the rest of the world. Well, except for Putin maybe, who is unilaterally benefiting from this disaster.This little incel power fantasy of rule by force you guys are cooking up their is complete and utter bollocks.

ghywertelling: Listen to Netanyahu speech where he said Evil can win over Good through sheer power.

justintiime: Missing feature where you blanket nuke the whole area to destroy mines.

leetrout: It has a bug calculating diagonal numbers. I clicked on a cell beside a 1 that should have been clear but it was not because the 1 should have been a 2 due to diagonal touching.

simonw: Doesn't seem to work on iPhone. I suggest having a button to toggle between mine marking mode and regular mode - I used that on my own little vibe-coded minesweeper clone here: https://tools.simonwillison.net/minesweeper

lukan: Ok, I did win. Do I get cheaper gasoline now?

specproc: WHO is currently doing readiness for a nuclear attack in the region.This is America, the country willing to do the unconscionable when they're not winning fast enough.https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politic...

leetrout: Does not work on iPhone with iOS 26. Long press goes into text select mode.

seboapps: Great

tclancy: Do not fix this perfect Freudian slip!

lukan: Unfortunately Iran's leadership is in a bit of distress and communication disrupted, and "involved in the conflict" is a very broad term - so they do make some effort to get chinese oil out, but any ship not asking for explicit permission from Iran - will have some great risk of being targeted.Remember, the strait is not Iranian property, but International waters. So no one would have to ask them for permission, but that is the way it is and most do not risk it (insurance won't cover).

anonymars: Other than that, of course, WWII was perfectly civilized

amelius: What strategy?

notrealyme123: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/04/sport/soccer-world-cup-pe...

seydor: sounds like it's more realistic that way

alecco: https://sweepthestrait.com/ This one was made the first week of the war.