Minesweeper

About Minesweeper

Minesweeper is a logic puzzle played on a grid of hidden squares. Some squares contain mines. Every safe square you open shows a number: how many of its eight neighbours hide a mine. Using those numbers you work out which squares are safe to open and which ones to flag.

You win by opening every square that doesn’t contain a mine. Your first click is always safe, and if it lands on an empty area, a whole region opens up at once. From there it’s all reasoning — most positions can be solved without guessing.

How to play

1. Choose a level: Easy (9 × 9, 10 mines), Medium (12 × 12, 24 mines) or Hard (16 × 16, 40 mines).
2. Click or tap a square to open it. Your first click is always safe.
3. Numbers show how many mines touch that square, including diagonally.
4. Mark a square you know is a mine with a flag: right-click it, long-press it on touch screens, press F, or switch on Flag mode.
5. Click an opened number whose mines are all flagged to open all its other neighbours at once (“chording”).
6. Open every safe square to win. The timer starts on your first click.

Tips and strategy

• A “1” next to exactly one hidden square means that square is a mine. Flag it.
• If a number already has as many flags around it as its value, every other neighbour is safe.
• Learn the 1-2-1 pattern: along a straight edge, the squares next to the two 1s are mines and the square next to the 2 is safe.
• Work from the edges of opened regions — that’s where the information is.
• Use chording to speed up. It’s the biggest difference between beginner and expert times.

Frequently asked questions