Why some Minesweeper games end in a guess
On a board where the mines are placed purely at random, you sometimes reach a point where two squares look exactly alike: one hides a mine, the other does not, and nothing on the board can tell you which. All you can do is guess. After twenty minutes of careful play on Expert, losing to a coin toss is no fun.
How these boards are made
Before a board reaches you, a solver plays it from your first click, using only what a player could see. If it ever gets stuck, the board is adjusted and played again, until logic alone can clear it from start to finish. So whenever you feel stuck here, there is always a safe square to find, and Hint will show you where and why.
Every board on this site is made this way unless you turn on Allow guessing in Settings, including Beginner, Expert, Zen and the daily board.
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.