How to Play Minesweeper Online

What Is Minesweeper?

Minesweeper is a single-player puzzle game that has been captivating players since the early 1990s. The goal is simple: uncover every safe cell on a grid without detonating any hidden mines. Each uncovered cell either shows a blank space or a number that tells you how many mines are hiding in the eight surrounding cells. Using that information, you deduce which cells are safe and which ones contain mines — then flag the dangerous ones and clear the rest.

Despite its simple premise, Minesweeper rewards logical thinking, pattern recognition, and — at the highest levels — fast, accurate mouse control. It's one of the few casual games that professional competitors have turned into a genuine speed sport, with world records measured to the hundredth of a second.

The Objective

Your goal is to reveal every cell that does not contain a mine. You win when all safe cells are uncovered. You lose the moment you click on a cell that hides a mine. The game tracks your time, so the faster you clear the board, the better your score.

Optionally, you can flag all mines as well — placing a flag on every mine cell in addition to clearing all safe cells. Most rulesets count a win as soon as every safe cell is revealed, even if some mines remain unflagged.

Difficulty Levels

Minesweeper Online offers three standard difficulty levels. Each changes the grid size and number of mines, dramatically affecting how long and how challenging each game is.

Start on Beginner and move up only when you can clear the current difficulty consistently. Rushing to Expert before mastering the logic will only reinforce guessing habits.

Controls

Minesweeper uses just two mouse buttons (or equivalent touch gestures on mobile):

Understanding the Numbers

Every revealed number tells you exactly how many of the eight surrounding cells (up, down, left, right, and the four diagonals) contain mines. A 1 means exactly one adjacent mine. A 8 — the maximum — means all eight neighbors are mines.

The entire game is about combining these clues. A single number by itself might not tell you which specific neighbor is the mine. But two or three overlapping numbers usually narrow it down to one cell or prove that a specific cell is safe. This overlapping-constraint logic is the core skill of Minesweeper.

When a cell has no adjacent mines at all, it appears blank. Clicking a blank cell triggers a cascade: the engine reveals all connected blank cells and their numbered borders automatically, which can open up large portions of the board in a single click.

Step-by-Step: Your First Game

1. Select Beginner difficulty and click New Game.
2. Click anywhere on the board to start your new Beginner game. Its first click is safe and opens a blank area. Daily challenges instead start with a fixed opening; your next covered square is not automatically safe.
3. Read the numbers around the opened area. Find a 1 whose only possible mine is one covered neighbor, with its other neighbors known safe. That covered cell must be a mine — right-click it to place a flag.
4. Use flagged mines as new clues. If every adjacent flag is correct and their count matches a clue, its remaining neighbors are safe. Chording opens those neighbors together; an incorrect flag can cause a loss.
5. Keep expanding outward using the same logic. When you get stuck, look for pairs of numbers that constrain each other.
6. Win by revealing the last safe cell. The timer stops and your score is recorded.

Beginner Tips

• Take your time. The first click is safe on a fresh standard board. The size of its opening varies; use the numbers it gives you.
• Flag only what you can prove. A wrong flag can mislead later deductions or make a chord hit a mine.
• Compare neighboring clues. The practice above explains how a 1-2-1 can prove two mines and a safe square.
• Read the counter carefully. Zero means you have placed as many flags as there are mines. The remaining squares are safe only if all those flags are correct.
• Guesses can happen at any difficulty. Scan the rest of the board before guessing. No-Guess mode searches for boards our solver can complete by logic. If it reaches its attempt limit, the game labels the fallback as a standard board that may require guesses.
• Practice without a deadline. Clear boards at your own pace. You can work on faster times later if you enjoy it.

What's Next?

Once you're comfortable clearing Beginner boards, try Intermediate. The larger grid introduces longer chains of logical deduction and more situations where you need to consider multiple number constraints simultaneously. Expert is where dedicated players spend most of their time, optimizing every click and cursor path to shave tenths of a second off their personal best.

This site tracks your best times, progression, and awards XP and achievements as you improve. Compare your browser-recorded times on the community leaderboard, or try another puzzle in All games.