Minesweeper
Open every safe square. Use the numbers to find the mines.
How to play Minesweeper
Minesweeper is a logic game for one player. The board is a grid of covered squares. Some of them hide mines. You do not know where the mines are, but the numbers you uncover tell you how many mines are close by.
Goal
Open every square that does not hide a mine. You do not have to flag the mines to win, but flags help you keep track of them.
Turn by turn
- Click or tap any square to open it. Your first click is always safe and opens an area of the board.
- A number shows how many mines touch that square, counting all eight squares around it, including the corners.
- An open square with no number has no mines next to it. The game opens all of its neighbours for you.
- When you are sure a square hides a mine, mark it with a flag. Right-click it, press and hold it on a touch screen, or turn on Flag mode and tap it.
- If a number already has the right count of flags around it, click or tap the number. This is called chording: it opens all the other squares around it in one go.
Keyboard
Use the arrow keys to move, Enter or Space to open a square, and F to place or remove a flag.
Levels
Easy is a 9×9 board with 10 mines. Medium is 16×16 with 40 mines. Hard is 16×30 with 99 mines. On a narrow phone screen the Hard board turns on its side so it still fits.
End of the game
You win when all safe squares are open. If you open a mine, the game is over and all mines are shown. The counter shows how many mines are left to flag, and the timer shows how long you took. Like logic puzzles? Try Sudoku next.
Strategy tips
- Start with the easy numbers. A 1 that touches only one covered square means that square is a mine. Flag it, then look again.
- Count what is left. If a 2 already has two flags next to it, every other square around it is safe. Chord it to open them all.
- Look for the 1-2-1 pattern. Along a straight wall, a row that reads 1-2-1 has mines next to both 1s and none next to the 2.
- Work at the edges of open areas. The border between open and covered squares is where all the clues are. Squares far from any number tell you nothing.
- Guess only when you must. Sometimes the numbers cannot tell you the answer. Then pick a square that has the fewest mines around it, or a corner far from the open area.
Minesweeper FAQ
Can I lose on my first click?
No. The mines are placed after your first click, and never on that square or the squares next to it, so you always start with an open area.
How do I place a flag on a phone?
Press and hold a square for a moment, or tap Flag mode above the board and then tap squares. Tap Flag mode again to go back to opening squares.
What does clicking a number do?
If the number already has that many flags around it, clicking it opens all the other covered squares next to it. If a flag is wrong, you will hit a mine.
Is my game saved?
Yes. The board and the timer are saved in this browser, so you can close the page and finish later.
