The object is to cross a dangerous mine field without being near any mines when they explode (guess what happens if you are?). The mines get closer to detonating with every step you take. To help you get across, you have clues beside the field. For every mine within two steps of you, you will see the Row, Column and Time left. But they are shown randomly, so you don't know which is which! Mine Field is a 20*20 grid with hidden mines. You use the arrow keys to navigate to the top of the screen avoiding mines before running out of time. After each move the game tells you the location is safe (no mines within 2 steps) or gives the location of nearby mines using clues. Each clue consists of 3 letters giving the column, row and time remaining but the order of these letters is random. With practice you can learn to read these clues. If you successfully reach the top of the screen a new grid with more mines appears and you keep playing until a mine explodes (under you or within 2 steps). The Highscore lists saves the best 25 scores (level, row) for players on the network.

The original version was written in 1975 at Caltech for a PDP-10 mainframe. You could connect to the PDP-10 using either a teletype or a terminal. The following year, Dirk transferred to Iowa State University and converted the game into TUTOR for their PLATO IV machines. In 1985, he modified it to work on the Modcomp IV using their version of TUTOR called SIMPLER. Finally, in 2010 he ported it to the Cyber1 PLATO IV emulator.

The following attributes can be used to map the evolution of Minesweeper. Blue cells are confirmed attributes for official versions of Minefield. Yellow cells are unknown.