What is Minesweeper?
Minesweeper is played on a grid in which a fixed number of mines have been hidden at random. Clicking a square reveals it. If the square is empty it shows a number from 1 to 8 — the number of mines in its eight neighbouring cells — and if it has no neighbouring mines at all it shows nothing and automatically opens the connected blank area around it.
Your goal is to reveal every square that does not contain a mine. Reveal a mine by mistake and the game ends. The numbers are the whole puzzle: each one is a small constraint, and by comparing overlapping numbers you can prove where mines must be and where they cannot.
- Some squares hide mines; the rest are safe.
- A revealed number is the count of mines in the eight neighbours.
- An empty (zero) square opens its whole blank region at once.
- Reveal every safe square to win; reveal a mine to lose.
- The first click is always safe and opens a starting area.
How to play here
Left-click a covered square to reveal it. To mark a square you believe is a mine, right-click it, or switch on Flag mode and tap. The mine counter at the top shows how many mines you have left to find, based on the flags you have placed.
Once a number has all of its mines flagged, click the number itself to 'chord' — the game instantly reveals all the remaining unflagged squares around it. It is the fastest way to open up a board you have already worked out.
- Left-click to reveal a square.
- Right-click, or use Flag mode, to flag a mine.
- Click a satisfied number to reveal its safe neighbours.
- The counter shows mines left minus the flags you place.
- Choose Easy to Expert for larger grids and more mines.
The basic deductions
Start with the small numbers next to the blank area. A 1 that touches only one covered square means that square is the mine. A number whose covered neighbours exactly equal its value means every one of them is a mine — flag them all.
The opposite is just as powerful. Once a number already touches enough flagged mines, every other covered neighbour must be safe, so you can open them freely. Most of Minesweeper is alternating between these two moves: 'these must all be mines' and 'these must all be safe'.
- Covered neighbours equal to the number: all are mines.
- Mines already flagged equal to the number: the rest are safe.
- Work the edges and corners first — fewer neighbours, clearer logic.
- Open every blank region you can to expose more numbers.
- Re-check each number whenever a neighbour changes.
Pattern reasoning
Faster solving comes from reading shapes rather than single cells. Along a straight wall of covered squares, a 1-2-1 pattern forces the mines under the two 1s and leaves the middle safe, while a 1-2-2-1 puts the mines under the two 2s.
When two numbers overlap, subtract one constraint from the other. If a 2 and a 1 share some covered squares, the extra squares belonging only to the 2 must contain the extra mine. This 'subset' counting cracks positions that look impossible at first glance.
Difficulty levels and why play online
Easy uses a 9x9 grid with just ten mines, a gentle reintroduction to the numbers. Medium and Hard grow the board and the mine count, and Expert spreads eighty mines across a large 20x20 grid for a real test of speed and nerve.
Playing online keeps everything smooth: the blank areas flood open instantly, flags and the mine counter track your progress, the timer records your solve, and your game saves locally in your browser so you can come back to it. Every board gives you a safe first click, so a clear head and the numbers are all you need.
- Easy: a 9x9 grid with 10 mines to learn the basics.
- Medium: a 13x13 grid with 28 mines.
- Hard: a 16x16 grid with 45 mines.
- Expert: a 20x20 grid with 80 mines.