Mine8 was written in 1976 by Doug Felt.

The aim is to cross the minefield and stay alive, under a time limit of three minutes. You can see only small area around you, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on where you stand and what just happened to you. You then enter the direction you wish to turn, and how long you intend to travel, and if the inputs are acceptable, away you go. The maximum amount of time you can travel in one 'turn' is 8.5 seconds, and an input larger than that is refused. An input less than or equal to zero allows you to change your direction again. The actual distance you travel on clear land is related to your pain level - the higher it is, the slower you go. A pain level of zero allows you to travel three squares (30 ft.) in a little over one second."

The game rotates when you 'turn' so you are always moving in one direction. When you are on 'clear land' you see a 7*7 grid but this changes for hills (8*8), the top of hills (11*11), bushes (5*5) and the middle of bushes (3*3). You leave visible tracks when you walk except on rocks and when swimming in lakes. Stepping on a mine can so many things randomly: you can be stunned, knocked unconscious, thrown, spun and killed. When you finally cross the USA border you are shown the game map and your path.

A detailed article describing the game was published in the March 1977 People's Computer Company newsletter. The game was written in BASIC. Mine8 was actually written in 1976 as PCC apologised for losing Doug's letter and he wrote in the article that Mine8 was 'the product of several months'.

The following attributes can be used to map the evolution of Minesweeper. Blue cells are confirmed attributes for official versions of Mine8. Yellow cells are unknown.