How to Play Minesweeper
Minesweeper is a logic puzzle played on a grid of hidden squares. Some squares hide mines. Your goal is to open every safe square without ever opening a mine.
When you open a square, it shows a number. The number tells you how many of the eight surrounding squares contain a mine. A square showing 1 has exactly one mine next to it, and a square showing 3 has three. If a square shows nothing, none of its neighbors are mines, so the game opens the whole empty area for you.
Controls
- Touch: tap a square to dig it. Press and hold for about half a second to plant or remove a flag.
- Mouse: left click digs a square, and right click plants or removes a flag.
- Chording: tap or click an opened number whose surrounding flags already match it, and the game opens all of its remaining neighbors at once.
- First move: your first dig is always safe, so you cannot lose on the very first tap.
Difficulty Levels
Easy uses a 9 x 9 board, Medium uses 11 x 11, and Hard uses 14 x 14. Larger boards have smaller squares and more mines, so you have to keep track of more information at the same time. Changing the level or pressing Restart always starts a fresh board.
Strategy Tips
- Start from the numbers. After your first dig, look for a number whose count already equals the number of hidden squares around it. Every one of those squares is a mine.
- Flag what you are sure about. Flags help you count. When a number has all of its mines flagged, every other neighbor is safe to open.
- Learn the 1-2-1 pattern. Three numbers 1, 2, 1 in a row along an edge usually mean that the two outer hidden squares are mines and the middle one is safe.
- Work along edges and corners. Squares at the border have fewer neighbors, so their numbers give you stronger clues.
- Use the mine counter. The counter at the top shows how many mines are left. Near the end of a game it can settle a situation that the numbers alone cannot.
- Guess only as a last resort. If no safe move exists, pick the square that is least likely to be a mine, and avoid squares next to many numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the game free? Yes. The game is free to play in your browser, and you do not need an account.
Does the game save my data? No. The game does not ask for personal information, and the state of a board is kept only while the page is open. Read our Privacy Policy for details about advertising.
What happens when I hit a mine? The mines are revealed and the game ends. You may be offered one chance to revive after watching a short ad, or you can simply restart.
Does it work on a phone? Yes. The board is sized to fit your screen, and the controls are designed for touch.
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