How to Play Minesweeper

The rules take a minute to learn. The patterns below — each drawn on a real board — are what turn the rules into fast, confident play.

The rules

The board is a grid of closed squares. Some of them hide mines; the counter above the board shows how many. Your goal is to open every square that is not a mine. If you open a mine, the game ends.

When you open a safe square, it shows a number: how many of its eight neighbours — up, down, left, right and the four diagonals — are mines. A square with no mines around it shows nothing, and the game opens all of its neighbours for you, which is why one click can open a large area.

Your first click is always safe. Here the board is created after that click, and neither the square you clicked nor its eight neighbours can be a mine.

Flags and chording

When you are sure a square is a mine, mark it with a flag: right-click on a computer, or long-press on a touch screen. You can also turn on flag mode under the board so that every tap places or removes a flag. Flags are optional — you win as soon as every safe square is open — but they make chording possible.

Chording means clicking an open number that already has as many flags around it as its value. The game then opens all of its other neighbours at once. It is the single biggest time-saver in Minesweeper. Be careful: if one of the flags is wrong, chording opens a mine.

Basic patterns, on real boards

Every diagram below is a piece of a real game. Thick edges are the edge of the board; dashed edges mean the board continues. The marked conclusions were checked by an automatic test that tries every possible mine layout.

  • Closed
  • ✓Safe to open
  • ⚑Must be a mine
  • ⚑Flagged mine
  • 1Look here

What the numbers mean

This finished board shows every mine. The highlighted 3 touches exactly three mines among its eight neighbours. Every number works the same way, counting diagonals too.

A 1 with only one closed neighbour

The highlighted 1 has just one closed square next to it, so that square is the mine. Now the 1 to its right and the 1 below it already have their mine, which makes their other closed neighbours safe.

1-1 against a wall

The first 1 sits against the edge of the board, so its mine is in one of the two squares below it. The second 1 sees those same two squares plus one more. Its mine is already accounted for, so the third square is safe.

1-2-1

The 2 needs two mines among the three squares below it, but neither 1 can have two. The only way to satisfy all three numbers is a mine under each 1 and a safe square under the 2 — and then the squares beyond the 1s are safe too.

1-2-2-1

Comparing each 2 with the 1 beside it shows that the extra mine must be in the square only the 2 can see. So both squares under the 2s are mines, and the squares under the 1s are safe.

Chording

The highlighted 1 already has its flag. Click it, and both closed squares below it open at once instead of one by one. Chording works on any number whose flags are complete.

When no pattern fits

Most positions are solved by the basic rules and the patterns above. When they are not, pick a closed square on the boundary and ask: if this were a mine, what would the numbers around it require? Follow the consequences. If they lead to a number with too many or too few mines, the square is safe. If assuming it safe leads to a contradiction, it is a mine.

Near the end, use the mine counter. If only one arrangement of the remaining closed squares uses exactly the number of mines left, that arrangement is the answer. On this site every board can be finished this way, because each board is checked by a solver that uses exactly these steps and nothing else.

Practice in order

Start on Beginner until the basic rules feel automatic, then move to Intermediate, where 1-1, 1-2-1 and 1-2-2-1 appear on almost every board. Expert combines everything and adds long chains of reasoning and endgame mine counting. The daily board is a good habit too: one board a day, and the same one for everyone.

BeginnerIntermediateExpertDaily Minesweeper

Questions

What do the numbers in Minesweeper mean?

Each number shows how many of the eight squares touching it — including diagonals — contain a mine.

How do you win Minesweeper?

Open every square that is not a mine. You do not need to flag the mines; the game is won as soon as the last safe square is open.

What is chording in Minesweeper?

Clicking an open number that already has the right number of flags around it. All its other closed neighbours open at once.

What is the 1-2-1 pattern?

Three numbers 1, 2, 1 in a row along a straight edge of closed squares. The squares next to the two 1s are mines and the square next to the 2 is safe.

Do I ever have to guess?

Not on this site. Every board is checked to be solvable by logic alone. In ordinary random Minesweeper, forced guesses are common, especially on Expert.