Game | Display configuration (try it) | Controls
Game ×
Height Width Mines
9 9 10
16 16 40
16 30 99
Display ×
Zoom

Position
Controls ×
Desktop
  • Left-click an empty square to reveal it.
  • Right-click (or Ctrl+click) an empty square to flag it.
  • Midde-click (or left+right click) a number to reveal
    its adjacent squares.
  • Press space bar while hovering over a square to flag
    it or reveal its adjacent squares.
  • Press F2 to start a new game.
Mobile
  • Tap an empty square to reveal it.
  • Long-press an empty square to flag it.
  • Tap a number to reveal its adjacent squares.
×
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Minesweeper Rules

Minesweeper: Rules and Basics

At first glance, Minesweeper is a simple game of thought and logic. The goal: The player has to uncover the empty fields and avoid those fields behind which mines are hidden.

The field

With Minesweeper you can choose between three standard playing fields with different levels of difficulty.

Playstyle

The Minesweeper rules are simple:

Hints and tips Mark the mines. If you assume that a mine is hidden behind a field, right-click on it. This marks the field. You can deselect the field by right-clicking on it again. Study the patterns. If the numbers 2-3-2 are displayed in three consecutive fields, then there are probably three mines next to this row. If the number 8 is displayed in one field, each of the adjacent fields contains a mine. Don't know which field to click on next? Advance into unexplored terrain. It is better to click in the middle of an area of unmarked fields than in an area where you think there might be mines. Below is an example of a solved minefield. You can follow the marking logic using the individual numbers for the fields.

Play Minesweeper the right way

AI vs Minesweeper

Minesweeper Summary

Minesweeper is a simple computer game which comes with the operating system Microsoft Windows up to and including version Windows 7. It is a combination of logical thinking and (sometimes) random guessing which fields contain mines. The goal is to uncover all fields behind which no mines are hidden. An additional challenge is a stopwatch, so the game is mostly played for time.

Minesweeper History

Minesweeper was originally developed by Microsoft for Windows 3.1 and was then included with every successor version for the PC; since Windows 8 it has to be installed as an app from the Windows Store. The game is missing with Windows Mobile up to the version Windows Mobile 2003 SE. In many countries a free Xbox Live Minesweeper app is offered for Windows Phone via the integrated Windows Phone Store. With Windows Vista it was completely reworked and has for example the possibility to replace the mines with flowers. Minesweeper was also integrated into the 1999 Siemens S25 mobile phone. Records, which were achieved on Windows enclosed program versions, are not accepted for international and national best lists, because the current version gives the player the possibility to play on a playing field with the same mine positions several times in a row (restart) and previous versions are not safe against cheats and hacks. For competitions and rankings only the programs "Minesweeper Arbiter", "Minesweeper X" and "Viennasweeper" are used. Based on Minesweeper, the paper-based game lighting was developed.

Minesweeper Overview

The original Minesweeper for Windows 3.x and 9x has four different difficulty levels:

In the Windows versions from Windows 2000 the beginner field size is 9 times 9 with the same number of mines as before (10, now 12%). This lower mine density results in an advantage compared to the 8 x 8 game fields in several games, since the number of clicks required for victory is reduced on average by a lower mine density. The user-defined mode of the versions Minesweeper Clone 2007 and Minesweeper X accepted for official rankings allow a maximum playing field size of 50 times 50 or the entire screen size.

Minesweeper Gameplay

At the beginning one of three difficulty levels is chosen, which determines the size of the playing field (number of fields) and the number of mines. Before the start of the game all fields are covered. The aim of the game is to uncover all fields behind which there is no mine. With the left mouse button the player uncovers a field; if there is a mine under this field, the game is lost. In the Windows versions and the versions accepted for rankings, however, the first click in normal game mode is never a mine. With the right mouse button he marks a field as a mine. A red flag then appears there. In order to undo this marking, one or two further right mouse clicks on the same field are sufficient (depending on the selected setting). To win, it is not necessary to mark mines with the right mouse button. It is sufficient to uncover all fields that do not contain mines with the left mouse button. Optionally, you can activate so-called markers if you are not sure whether there is a mine under a field. These appear in the form of a question mark on the fields and are also set with the right mouse button. Fields uncovered with the left mouse button that do not contain a mine reveal the number of mines located in the adjacent eight fields. An uncovered field surrounded by mines on all sides will show an 8. By the numbers of the uncovered fields it is usually possible to find out the whereabouts of the mines. If you double-click with the left mouse button on a uncovered field, in whose neighborhood all mines are already marked or click on it with the left and right mouse button at the same time, the remaining fields are uncovered all at once. A special role is played by fields that have no mines in their neighborhood: On the one hand, these do not show a 0, but are displayed in a different color. On the other hand, all still hidden fields in your neighborhood are automatically uncovered. If such a newly uncovered field is also a zero field, this process is continued recursively. At the start of the game and especially at the higher levels there are situations in which you can only guess under which field a mine is.

Destribution and variants

Minesweeper Flags In MSN / Windows Live Messenger there is the possibility to play against a contact in the list. In this version of the game there are 51 mines distributed on the field, the first thing to do is to uncover 26 mines. One field is uncovered alternately; whoever finds a mine may uncover one more. In addition, each player has the option to detonate a bomb once in each game, which will reveal a 5x5 field of his choice completely at once (if the player is behind). Do not mark mines (non-flagging - NF) In this version of the game the player does not mark any mines. So you are not allowed to use the right mouse button during the game. You have won automatically, if you have cleared all fields, except the mined ones, with the help of the left mouse button. The difficulty of this game variant lies in the fact that you have to remember the identified mine positions. In order to achieve best times on the beginner and advanced level, many professionals use this variant partially even on the whole playing field. Since the best times of the world's best players in the variant non-flagging are only slightly lower than their best times in the normal game and non-flagging is played less often, it can be assumed that non-flagging, although more difficult for the beginner, is not slower than flagging. Since 2009, in addition to the official world ranking, which includes both flagging and non-flagging games, there is also an official ranking, which is exclusively reserved for non-flagging best times. Increase mine density Another difficulty is the increase of the mine density in the custom/user defined variant. The starting point is usually the largest playing field, which is occupied by 99 mines in the standard variant. Such a field can still be solved with some practice; however, times under 150 seconds require good practice. However, clearing a square of this size becomes more difficult the more densely the square is occupied. Fields with 130 to 140 mines (28%) already have a very high degree of difficulty. Having even more mines laid already results in many failed attempts to get only a first approach to mine clearance.