Minesweeper

How to play Minesweeper

Ten mines are hidden somewhere in the 81 squares. Click a square to reveal it. If it's a mine, the game ends. Otherwise you'll see a number telling you how many mines touch that square (including diagonals) – or a blank area if no mines are nearby. Use those numbers to deduce where the mines must be, right-click (or enable flag mode on mobile) to mark them, and reveal every safe square to win.

Reading the numbers

A "1" touching exactly one unrevealed square means that square is certainly a mine. A "2" with only two hidden neighbours marks both as mines. Conversely, once a number already touches its full count of flagged mines, every other neighbour is guaranteed safe. Almost the entire board can be solved with these two simple deductions applied over and over.

Tips for faster games

• Your first click is always safe – start near the middle to open a bigger area.
• Look for the classic 1-2-1 pattern along a wall: the mines sit under the 1s, and the square under the 2 is safe.
• Don't guess early. Exhaust every logical deduction first; most boards need no guessing at all.
• Flag only when it helps your reasoning – expert players often flag nothing and just remember.

Minesweeper has shipped with Windows since 1990 and remains one of the purest logic games ever made: every deduction is either right or wrong, and speed comes only from clear thinking.