The middle board
Intermediate is 16 squares by 16 with 40 mines, about one mine in every six squares. It is dense enough that you meet every classic pattern, the one-two along a wall and the pairs of ones that share a mine, and small enough to finish over a cup of tea.
A good time on Intermediate comes from steady flagging rather than speed. Clear the easy edges first, then come back to the corners where two numbers have to be read together.
How to play
Each number tells you how many mines touch that square, counting the eight squares around it. Use the numbers to work out where the mines are, flag them, and open every other square to clear the board.
With a mouse
- Left-click opens a square. Your first click is always safe and opens an area.
- Right-click places or removes a flag.
- When a number already has all its flags around it, click it (or click with the middle button, or both buttons together) to open the rest of its neighbours at once.
On a tablet or phone
- Tap opens a square. Press and hold to place a flag.
- The Reveal and Flag switch under the board changes what a tap does, if you prefer flagging with a tap.
- Tap a number whose flags are all placed to open around it.
- On big boards, pinch to zoom and drag to move around, or use the zoom buttons.
With a keyboard
Arrow keys move between squares, Space opens, F flags, and C or Enter opens around a number. H asks for a hint. Press ? on the board for the full list.
Hints
Hint lights up one square that is certainly safe (or certainly a mine) and the numbers that prove it, with one plain sentence explaining why. Each hint adds 10 seconds to your time, and your statistics count how many you used.
Other sizes
Try Beginner for a quick game, or Expert for the full 30 by 16 board with 99 mines.