The rules in four steps
To win Minesweeper, reveal every square that does not contain a mine. Each number counts mines in the squares touching it, including diagonals. Flag squares you know contain mines, and use the remaining clues to find safe squares.
- Open a square. Click or tap a covered square to reveal it. Your first reveal is safe in this version.
- Read its number. A 1 touches exactly one mine; a 2 touches exactly two. The number does not tell you which direction to look.
- Mark certain mines. Right-click, hold a square, or choose Flag mode and tap. A flag is a note you place, not proof supplied by the game.
- Open the safe squares. You win when every non-mine square is open. You do not need to flag every mine.
Read all eight neighbors
A square in the middle of a board touches eight neighbors: three above, one on either side, and three below. Edge squares touch five; corner squares touch three. A diagonal mine counts just as much as a mine directly above or beside the number.
The number stays the same after you place a flag. For example, a 2 next to one correct flag still has one other mine among its remaining covered neighbors.
Find a mine
If a 1 has only one covered neighbor, that neighbor must be a mine.
Find a safe square
If a 1 already touches one correct flag, every other unflagged neighbor is safe.
A blank square touches no mines. In the real game, opening a blank automatically opens the connected empty area and its bordering numbers.
Try your first two moves
This small board starts partway through a game. One mine is already flagged correctly. Select the squares that answer each prompt; a mistaken answer will explain what to check without ending the exercise.
Two moves. One useful rule.
A is already correctly flagged. Use the numbers to work out C, then B. This is a complete 2 × 3 practice board.
Step 1 of 2
Which covered square must be a mine? Select it to place a flag.
Select squares to answer the prompt. Mistakes are safe here.
Read the solution and reasoning
- C must be a mine: the bottom-left 1 touches C and two open squares. C is its only possible mine.
- B is safe. The middle-right 2 already touches the two correctly flagged mines, A and C, so its other neighbor B cannot be a mine.
Count the covered neighbors. When all the mines touching a number are correctly flagged, its other neighbors are safe.
Take the same reasoning to a full game
Start with Beginner: 9 × 9 squares with 10 mines. After your opening click, look around the boundary between open and covered squares. Check one number at a time, counting both covered squares and any flags you have placed.
On this site, the first square and its surrounding squares are protected from mines. That gives you an opening area; it does not guarantee that the entire board can be finished without a guess.
The mine counter shows the total mines minus your flags. It does not check whether those flags are correct. A counter of zero is not a win: you still need to open all safe squares.
On a phone, use Reveal and Flag above the board to choose what a tap does. Adjust Cell size for comfortable targets. For a wide board, swipe the board sideways; the timer and restart control stay in place.
What to do when you get stuck
First, look for a number whose mines are all accounted for, then a number whose remaining covered neighbors must all be mines. Check other parts of the board before deciding that you need a guess.
If single numbers give you no move, compare overlapping groups of neighbors. The 1–2–1 and 1–2–2–1 patterns show how two clues can prove something that neither clue proves alone.
Some randomly generated positions do require guessing. If two different mine arrangements fit every visible clue, the clues alone cannot distinguish them. An unresolved square is not automatically a 50/50 chance: there may be more than two possible arrangements.
Place a flag because you can explain the clue that forces it. Once that feels natural, learn chording to open safe neighbors together.