Minesweeper patterns: how to clear a board without guessing
Seven Minesweeper patterns in the order you need them, each shown on a real board before and after. The first two clear every easy board; the rest turn two or three numbers into one safe square.
This page assumes you know the rules: open every square without a mine, and a number counts the mines around it. If not, read how to play Minesweeper first.
Technique 1 · basic
A number that has its mines
Count the flags around a number. When there are as many as the number says, every other closed square around it is safe: open them all. Tapping the number does it in one go.
This is the move you make most often. It only works with flags in place, which is why flagging pays off.
Where to look: numbers next to the flags you just planted.
Technique 2 · basic
Just enough squares
Count a number's closed squares. When there are exactly as many as the mines it still needs, all of them hide mines: flag them.
Corners and edges are where this happens most, because a number there touches fewer squares. A 1 with one closed square is the simplest case.
Where to look: big numbers in tight places, and numbers at the edge of the open area.
Technique 3 · intermediate
The 1-1
Two 1s side by side along a wall of closed squares, the first at the edge of the board. The first 1 touches only two closed squares, and the second 1 touches both of them too. The second 1's mine is in those two, so its third square is safe.
Read it from the edge inward. The same works from any point where a wall turns a corner, not only from the edge of the board.
Where to look: a 1 at the edge of the board, or at a corner of the open area, with another 1 beside it.
Technique 4 · intermediate
The 1-2
A 1 and a 2 side by side along a wall, the 1 at the edge. The 1's mine is in the two squares they share, so the 2 needs one more mine, and only its third square is left for it: that square is a mine.
It is the 1-1 with one more mine. The rule behind both: when one number's squares are all inside another's, the other squares hold the difference.
Where to look: a 2 next to a 1, where the 1 touches fewer closed squares.
Technique 5 · intermediate
One number inside another
The 1-1 and the 1-2 are two cases of one idea. Find a number whose closed squares all lie around a second number too. The second number's mines in the shared squares are the first number's, so its other squares hold only the difference.
When the difference is 0, the other squares are safe; when it equals the number of other squares, they are all mines. It works at any bend of the wall, not only along a straight edge.
Where to look: where the wall of closed squares makes a step or a corner.
Technique 6 · advanced
The 1-2-1
Three numbers 1, 2, 1 in a row along a straight wall. The squares above the 2 can hold only one mine that also touches a 1, so the 2 needs its other mine on the far side, and the same from the other end. The mines are above the two 1s; the square above the 2 is safe.
This is the first pattern that reads two numbers whose squares overlap without one containing the other. Learn it by its look: 1-2-1 means mine, safe, mine.
Where to look: a straight wall where a 2 sits between two 1s.
Technique 7 · advanced
The 1-2-2-1
Four numbers 1, 2, 2, 1 in a row along a straight wall. Read the 1 and the 2 at each end as a pair: each 2 needs a mine the 1 next to it can't share. The mines are above the two 2s, and the squares above the 1s are safe.
Like the 1-2-1, it is two overlaps read one after the other. Once you see it, it reads as safe, mine, mine, safe.
Where to look: a straight wall with two 2s between two 1s.
Common mistakes
- Opening a square because it feels safe. Every board here has a square you can prove. If you can't find one, the hint can.
- Counting a flag that is wrong. One wrong flag makes every number around it lie. If the numbers stop adding up, check your flags first; the hint points at a wrong one.
- Forgetting the diagonals. A number counts all eight squares around it, the corners too.
- Looking for patterns too early. Most stuck moments are a number that already has its mines. Check those once more before you look for a 1-2-1.
Practice
A technique sticks once you have used it on a few real boards. Start with today's Minesweeper, then work through the archive: every past daily is there, from gentle Mondays to tough Sundays.
Play today's Minesweeper Past Minesweeper puzzles
Questions
What should I learn first in Minesweeper?
The two basic rules: a number that already touches all its mines makes its other squares safe, and a number with just enough closed squares makes them all mines. Those clear every easy board.
What does 1-2-1 mean in Minesweeper?
Three numbers 1, 2 and 1 in a row along a wall of closed squares. The mines are next to the two 1s, and the square next to the 2 is safe. 1-2-2-1 works the same way, with the mines next to the two 2s.
Can every Minesweeper board be solved without guessing?
Not in classic Minesweeper: random boards often end in a 50/50. Every board here is checked by a solver before it is published, so it can always be cleared by logic.
Do I have to use flags?
No, but they help. The two basic rules are much easier to see with the mines flagged, and a number whose mines are all flagged fades, so you can tell it is done.
Techniques for the other games
- Minesweeper patterns (Minesweeper)
- Sudoku techniques (Sudoku)
- Star Battle techniques (Starlit)
- Takuzu techniques (Evenly)
- Akari techniques (Lampwise)
- Hitori techniques (Shadeout)
- Nonogram techniques (Rowcall)
- Number path puzzle techniques (Wayfold)
- Shikaku techniques (Parcels)
- Tents and Trees techniques (Campfire)
- Skyscrapers techniques (Rooftops)
- Slitherlink techniques (Lasso)