About Minesweeper
Minesweeper is the classic logic game of clearing a hidden minefield: open every safe tile, use the numbers to work out where the mines are, and never click on one. Our free Minesweeper online plays instantly in your browser on a computer, tablet or phone, with the three classic board sizes, custom boards, chording, flags and a mobile-friendly flag mode.
Every number is a clue. A 3 means exactly three of the eight surrounding tiles hide mines, so by comparing neighboring numbers you can prove which tiles are safe and which must be flagged. It starts out feeling like luck, but experienced players solve almost entire boards by pure deduction — and then race to do it faster.
This version keeps the familiar classic Minesweeper rules and adds a few modern comforts: the first click is always safe and always opens an area, boards can be generated so they never need a 50/50 guess, your game is saved if you leave the page, and Beginner, Intermediate and Expert times go on the global leaderboard.
How to play Minesweeper
- 1
Make your first click
Click or tap any tile to start. The first click can never be a mine — it always opens a patch of empty tiles surrounded by numbers, giving you something to work with. The timer starts now.
- 2
Read the numbers
Each number tells you how many mines touch that tile in the 8 surrounding squares. A blank tile has no neighboring mines, so the game opens everything around it automatically.
- 3
Flag the mines you've found
When a number can only be satisfied one way, mark those mines with a flag (right-click on desktop, long-press on a phone, or switch the toggle to Flag mode). The mine counter shows how many mines are still unflagged.
- 4
Chord to clear faster
Once a number has as many flags around it as its value, click that number to open all of its other neighbors in one go. Chording is the key to fast times — but a wrong flag will set off a mine, so be sure first.
- 5
Clear every safe tile
You win the moment every tile without a mine is revealed — you don't have to flag them all. Hit a mine and the board is revealed so you can see what you missed.
Controls
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Left click / tap | Reveal a tile |
| Right click / long-press | Place or remove a flag |
| Click a number · middle click · both buttons | Chord: open all unflagged neighbors of a satisfied number |
| Reveal / Flag toggle | Choose what a tap does on touch screens |
| Arrow keys + Enter or Space | Move the cursor and reveal (F flags) |
| H · N or F2 · P | Hint · new game · pause |
| Zoom button | Enlarge big boards on small screens (drag to scroll) |
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Minesweeper tips and strategy
Start with the 1s next to corners
A 1 that touches only one hidden tile has found its mine — flag it. Then every other hidden tile around the numbers it satisfies is safe. Most boards unravel from these easy spots.
Learn the 1-2-1 and 1-2-2-1 patterns
Along a straight edge, 1-2-1 means the mines sit under both 1s, and 1-2-2-1 means they sit under the two 2s. Recognizing these shapes instantly saves a lot of thinking time.
Subtract one number from another
If a 1 touches tiles A and B, and the 2 next to it touches A, B and C, then C must be a mine. Comparing overlapping numbers like this solves most of the situations that look like guesses.
Use the mine counter late in the game
When only a few tiles remain, count the mines left. If three hidden tiles share two mines and the counter says two, every other hidden tile on the board is safe.
Guess smart when you must
On classic boards a true 50/50 can happen. If you have to guess, guess early (less time lost) and prefer tiles that would open new information, such as corners or tiles far from the numbers.
Turn on No-guess boards
If lucky losses frustrate you, keep No-guess switched on. Every board is checked by our solver so it can be cleared with logic alone.
Board sizes and custom games
- Beginner: 9×9 with 10 mines — perfect for learning and for quick speed runs.
- Intermediate: 16×16 with 40 mines — the classic step up, with more patterns to spot.
- Expert: 30×16 with 99 mines — the traditional test of skill. On a phone held upright the board turns to 16×30 so it fits your screen, and you can zoom in and drag to scroll.
- Custom: choose any width, height and mine count for practice. Custom games are not ranked.
Beginner, Intermediate and Expert times are ranked on the global leaderboard, as long as you finish without using a hint.
No-guess boards, 3BV and efficiency
In classic Minesweeper some boards reach a point where no amount of logic can tell two tiles apart, and you simply have to guess. With No-guess mode on, each board is generated after your first click and run through a logical solver before you see it; if the solver would get stuck, the mines are rearranged until it can finish. You still have to find the solution — it's just guaranteed to exist.
After a win you'll see your 3BV (Bechtel's Board Benchmark Value, the minimum number of clicks the board needs), your 3BV per second and your efficiency (3BV divided by the clicks you actually used). They're the stats serious players use to compare boards fairly, since some boards are simply easier than others.
A short history of Minesweeper
Games about uncovering hidden mines on a grid appeared on home computers in the early 1980s, but the version most people know was written by Robert Donner and Curt Johnson for Microsoft. It first shipped in a Microsoft Entertainment Pack in 1990 and was included with Windows 3.1 in 1992, which put it on hundreds of millions of office and home PCs. Its right-click flagging was even said to help people get comfortable with using a mouse.
Minesweeper also has a place in computer science: deciding whether a partly revealed board is consistent was shown to be NP-complete, the same family of hard problems as many famous puzzles. If you enjoy its blend of logic and nerve, try Sudoku, picture-revealing Nonograms or Einstein-style Logic Puzzles, and browse all of our puzzle games.
Frequently asked questions
Is the first click in Minesweeper always safe?
Yes. The mines are placed after your first click, and neither that tile nor the eight tiles around it can contain a mine. That means your first click always opens an area rather than a single number.
What do the numbers in Minesweeper mean?
A number shows how many mines are in the eight tiles touching it — above, below, left, right and the four diagonals. A blank revealed tile means none of its neighbors is a mine.
How do you flag a mine on a phone?
Long-press a tile to flag it, or switch the Reveal/Flag toggle below the board to Flag so every tap places a flag. Tap a flag again in Flag mode to remove it.
What is chording in Minesweeper?
Chording means clicking a revealed number that already has the right number of flags around it. The game then opens all of that number's other neighbors at once. You can chord with a normal click on the number, a middle click, or by pressing both mouse buttons.
Is Minesweeper luck or skill?
Mostly skill. The vast majority of moves can be worked out logically from the numbers, and strong players rarely guess. Classic boards can occasionally force a 50/50 guess — turn on No-guess boards to remove that luck entirely.
What are the standard Minesweeper board sizes?
Beginner is 9×9 with 10 mines, Intermediate is 16×16 with 40 mines and Expert is 30×16 with 99 mines. You can also build a custom board of up to 40×30.
Does the game save my progress?
Yes. An unfinished game is saved on your device after every move, so you can close the page and pick up where you left off. The timer pauses while you're away and restarts on your next move.
Is this Minesweeper free?
Yes — it's completely free, with no download or account needed. It works in any modern browser on Windows, Mac, Chromebook, iPhone and Android.