Minesweeper

How to play Minesweeper

1. The field hides mines under some of its squares. Open every square that is not a mine to win; open a mine and the game is over.
2. Click or tap a square to open it. Your first square is never a mine, and it always opens an area around it.
3. An open square shows how many mines touch it, counting all eight squares around it, diagonals included. A blank square has none, and opens its neighbours for you.
4. Mark a square you are sure hides a mine with a flag: right-click it, or press and hold it on a touchscreen. Turn on the flag button to flag with a plain tap instead.
5. Click or tap a number that already has that many flags around it to open all its other neighbours at once. A wrong flag there sets off the mine it missed.
6. The counter shows how many mines are left to flag, and the clock starts with your first square. Clear a beginner, intermediate or expert field to put your time on its leaderboard.

About Minesweeper

Minesweeper comes in three standard sizes: beginner is a 9×9 field with 10 mines, intermediate is 16×16 with 40, and expert is 30×16 with 99. Custom lets you pick any field from 5×5 to 30×24 and how many mines it holds, for practice off the leaderboard.

Every number is a clue. A 1 with a single hidden square beside it points straight at a mine, and a number whose mines are all flagged leaves its other neighbours safe to open. Most fields give way to reasoning alone, but now and then two squares are exactly as likely as each other and a guess is the only way on.

The fastest times for each standard level go on its leaderboard, quickest first, and your own best is remembered in this browser. On a phone a wide field stands on its side so the squares stay big enough to tap, and a game in progress stays where you left it if you close the page.

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