How to play Minesweeper: rules and tips
Minesweeper is a puzzle on a grid of closed squares, some of them hiding mines. Open a square and it shows a number: how many mines touch it. Read the numbers, flag the mines and open every safe square. Here every board can be cleared by logic alone, with no guessing.
The rules
- Open every square that has no mine. That is the whole goal: you win when the last safe square is open.
- A number counts the mines around it, in the eight squares that touch it, diagonals included. An open square with no number has no mine around it, and the board opens on around it by itself.
- Flag the squares you know hide a mine. Flags are your notes: they keep you from opening a mine and let you count.
- The board starts open. A patch of it is already open when you start, so you never have to guess a first square.
Every board here has been worked through by a solver before it is published: from the opening, one step at a time, using only the numbers on show. If it ever has to guess, the board is thrown away. So there is always a square you can prove.
Controls
- Tap a closed square to open it. If it shows nothing, the empty area around it opens by itself.
- Flag a mine with a long press on the square, or turn on Flag under the board so that taps plant flags. With a mouse, right-click. Do the same again to take a flag off.
- Tap a number whose mines are all flagged to open every other square around it at once. You can turn this off in Settings.
- On a keyboard: arrow keys move, Space or Enter opens, F plants or lifts a flag, and Ctrl + Z undoes.
- Hint highlights the next step you can prove and explains why.
- Opened a mine by mistake? The board stops and Undo takes the move back. The clock keeps running, so a mistake costs a few seconds, not the day. The counter beside the tools shows how many mines are still to flag.
Five techniques that solve every board
Every board here can be cleared with the moves below. Easy boards need only the first two. Medium ones add two numbers read together. Hard practice boards also use the 1-2-1 and its cousins.
All seven Minesweeper patterns, with worked boards, from the 1-1 to the 1-2-2-1.
1. A number that has its mines
When a number already touches as many flags as it says, its other closed squares are safe. A 1 next to one flag, a 2 next to two: open everything else around it.
2. Just enough squares
When a number has exactly as many closed squares around it as it needs mines, every one of them is a mine. A 2 in a corner with two closed squares next to it: flag both.
3. Two numbers together
When the closed squares of one number all sit around a second number too, the second number's other squares hold the difference. A 1 and a 1 side by side at the edge of the board: the third square of the second 1 is safe. A 1 and a 2: it is a mine.
4. The 1-2-1 along a wall
Three numbers 1, 2, 1 in a row under closed squares: the mines are under the two 1s, and the square under the 2 is safe. With 1, 2, 2, 1 the mines are under the two 2s. Both follow from reading the numbers in pairs.
5. Flag what you know
Flags cost nothing and make the next step easier to see: a number whose mines are flagged steps back, so you know at a glance it is finished. The counter shows how many mines are left, which helps at the very end.
Easy, medium and hard boards
Monday to Thursday the daily board is easy: single numbers are enough, on an 8×8 or 9×9. Friday is a light medium and the weekend a full medium on a 10×10, where you read numbers in pairs. Hard boards, with more mines and the 1-2-1 family, are in the practice sets.
Want another one? Play an easy board, a medium board or a hard board, or a small 6×6 to learn on.
Questions
Can I play Minesweeper online for free?
Yes. The daily board, every past day in the archive and all the practice boards are free in your browser. There is no sign-up and no app to install.
What is no-guess Minesweeper?
A board you can always clear by logic. In classic Minesweeper the mines are placed at random, and some boards end in a 50/50 you can only guess. Here a solver checks every board before it is published, and keeps it only if every safe square can be proved from the numbers.
Why is part of the board already open?
So that nobody has to guess a first square. The opening is the same for everyone who plays that day, so times can be compared fairly.
What happens if I open a mine?
The board stops and shows the mine. Undo takes the move back and you carry on. The clock keeps running, so a mistake costs time, not the puzzle or your streak.
Do I have to flag every mine?
No. You win once every safe square is open. Flags only help you keep track; the last mines are flagged for you when you finish.
What makes a board easy or hard?
Not only the number of mines, but the hardest step the board needs. An easy one needs only single numbers. A medium one needs two numbers read together, as in the 1-1 and 1-2. A hard one also needs overlaps, as in the 1-2-1.
When does a new puzzle come out?
At midnight in your own time zone. Monday to Thursday are easy, Friday is a light medium and the weekend is medium. Every past daily stays in the archive.
Can I print Minesweeper puzzles?
Yes. The printable page has this week's boards and a practice pack, with the numbers you need already printed and the answers at the end.