How do you play Minesweeper?
Click a square to reveal it. A number shows how many of the eight surrounding squares hide mines. Use the numbers to work out where the mines are, flag them with a right-click or long-press, and reveal every safe square to win. Your first click is always safe. In no-guessing mode, every board can be finished with pure logic, with no 50/50 coin flips.
Minesweeper rules
- Beginner: 9×9 with 10 mines. Intermediate: 16×16 with 40. Expert: 30×16 with 99 (shown 16 wide on phones).
- Numbers count mines in the eight adjacent squares.
- Revealing a mine ends the game.
- No-guessing mode only deals boards that a logical solver can finish without guessing.
Tips and strategy
- A 1 touching exactly one hidden square means that square is a mine.
- Look for the 1-2-1 and 1-2-2-1 patterns along walls; they tell you exactly where the mines are.
- Subtract: if a 2 shares squares with a nearby 1, the squares only the 2 touches must hold the difference.
- Use chording on cleared numbers to open large areas quickly.
A short history of Minesweeper
Minesweeper grew out of mainframe games of the 1960s and 1970s and became a standard desktop game in the 1990s. Its logic, deducing hidden positions from counts, is the same idea used in constraint-solving puzzles today.
Minesweeper questions
What is no-guessing Minesweeper?
A mode where every board can be solved by logic. Classic Minesweeper sometimes leaves you with a 50/50 guess you cannot reason through; no-guessing boards are generated and checked by a solver so that never happens.
How many mines are on an Expert Minesweeper board?
Expert is 30 by 16 squares with 99 mines. Intermediate is 16 by 16 with 40 mines, and Beginner is 9 by 9 with 10.
Is the first click in Minesweeper always safe?
On PuzzlePage, yes. Mines are placed after your first click, and the squares around it are kept clear so you start with an open area.
Is Minesweeper free to play?
Yes. Minesweeper on PuzzlePage is free in any browser on a phone, tablet or computer, with no download and no sign-up. Your streaks and best times are kept on your device. The page shows a few ads, which never cover the game, and the Player Club removes them.
Can I put Minesweeper on my own website?
Yes. Sign up free with your email at puzzlepage.app/embed, click the link we send, and copy the embed code. The game runs inside your page, restyled to your colors, with a small PuzzlePage credit.
Put Minesweeper on your website
Teachers, bloggers and activity coordinators can add Minesweeper to their own page for free. Sign up with your email on the embed page, click the link we send you, and copy the code. It matches your site's colors and keeps a small PuzzlePage credit.
More classic games
Minesweeper on PuzzlePage is an original implementation of a traditional game, with its own design. It is not affiliated with any operating system or software publisher.