Minesweeper
Click to open, right-click to flag. On a number with all its flags placed, press both buttons (or the middle one) to open around it. Arrows, Space and F work too.Tap to open, long-press to flag. Tap a number with all its flags placed to open around it.
About the game
Minesweeper
- Early version
- 1983, Mined-Out
- Part of Windows
- 1992 to 2012
- Board sizes
- 9×9 to 30×16
- Levels here
- Easy to Hard, Daily
How to play
The board is a field of covered squares, and some of them hide mines. Open every square that is not a mine and you win. Open a mine and the game is over.
Each open square shows how many mines touch it, counting all eight neighbours, diagonals included. A blank square has no mines around it, so the game opens its neighbours for you, and a single click can clear a large area. When you are sure a square hides a mine, put a flag on it. The Mines counter shows the number of mines minus the flags you have placed.
- Computer: click to open a square, right-click to place or remove a flag. Arrow keys move a cursor; Space or Enter opens, F flags.
- Phone and tablet: tap to open, long-press to flag. Or switch the tool below the board to Flag, and taps place flags instead.
- Opening around a number: when a number already has that many flags next to it, you can open all its other neighbours at once. Players call this a chord. On a computer, hold both mouse buttons (or the middle button) on the number, as in the Windows game: the squares around it press down while you hold and open when you let go. A plain left click on an open number does nothing. On a phone, tap the number. If one of the flags is wrong, a mine goes off.
Levels
- Easy: 9×9 squares, 10 mines.
- Medium: 16×16 squares, 40 mines.
- Hard: 30×16 squares, 99 mines. On a phone held upright the board is turned on its side (16 wide, 30 tall).
- Daily: a Medium board, the same for every player that day, with the middle already open.
These are the Beginner, Intermediate and Expert boards of the Windows game.
Strategy
- Start with the obvious. A 1 with only one covered neighbour: that neighbour is a mine. A number whose flags are all placed: every other neighbour is safe.
- Read numbers in pairs. Two numbers side by side share most of their neighbours. If a 2 touches every covered square the 1 next to it touches, plus exactly one more, that extra square is a mine.
- Learn the 1-2-1 and 1-2-2-1 patterns. On a straight edge, 1-2-1 means mines under both 1s; 1-2-2-1 means mines under both 2s. They come up in almost every game.
- Count at the end. When only a few squares are left, compare the Mines counter with the covered squares. The total often settles a corner that the numbers alone can’t.
- Flag only what you need. Flags help with chords and counting, but every flag costs time. Fast players flag just the mines next to numbers they want to chord.
- Never guess here. Every board on this site can be solved by logic. If you feel stuck, there is a deduction somewhere, often with the mine count or a pair of numbers.
Origins
Deducing hidden mines from numbers is older than Windows. In 1983 the British publisher Quicksilva released Mined-Out by Ian Andrew for the ZX Spectrum: you walked across a grid-shaped minefield while a detector showed how many mines were next to you. Its creator later suggested that Microsoft’s game may have come from a Macintosh copy of his; the exact line of descent is still debated. In 1987 Tom Anderson wrote Mines for Sun workstations running SunOS.
The version most people know was written at Microsoft by Curt Johnson, first for IBM’s OS/2, and brought to Windows by Robert Donner. It shipped in the Microsoft Entertainment Pack 1 in 1990 and became part of the standard Windows 3.1 installation in 1992. For the next twenty years it came with Windows, alongside Solitaire.
History
- 1983 Mined-Out by Ian Andrew for the ZX Spectrum, published by Quicksilva.
- 1987 Tom Anderson’s Mines for SunOS, later ported to X Windows.
- 1990 Minesweeper in the Microsoft Entertainment Pack 1, by Curt Johnson and Robert Donner.
- 1992 Included with every copy of Windows 3.1.
- 2000 Sadie Kaye proves that deciding whether a Minesweeper position is consistent is NP-complete, published in The Mathematical Intelligencer.
- 2000s After a campaign against the mine theme, localized editions of Windows 2000, ME and XP ship it as Flower Field. Windows Vista brings a redrawn version by Oberon Media.
- 2012 Windows 8 drops it from the standard install; a new version appears in the Microsoft Store.
- 2026 This version on Zippi, with no-guess boards, a daily board and a world leaderboard.
Why it’s fun
- Every number is a clue. The board is a logic puzzle that you write yourself as you open it, and each solved corner hands you the next one.
- Big openings. One click on a blank area can clear a third of the board. That burst is the reward for the careful work before it.
- Tension with a clear rule. One wrong click ends the game, so every move matters, but there is always a reason for the right one.
- Speed grows with skill. Beginners reason square by square. Experienced players see patterns at a glance and chord across the board, and the timer shows the difference.
What it trains
Minesweeper is practice in deduction under uncertainty: combining several small facts into a conclusion, keeping track of what you know and what you don’t, and checking a move before you commit to it. At higher speed it also trains quick pattern recognition and precise mouse or touch control.
FAQ
Do I ever have to guess?
No. Classic Minesweeper sometimes leaves you with two squares and no way to tell which one hides the mine. Every board here is checked by a solver before you play: starting from your first square, it can be cleared by logic, sometimes with help from the total mine count. The idea is the same as in Simon Tatham’s Mines.
Can the first click hit a mine?
No. On Easy, Medium and Hard the board is made when you first click, with no mines on that square or around it, so the first click always opens an area. The Daily starts with the middle already open.
How does the Daily leaderboard work?
Everyone gets the same board on the same day. Our server times you from your first move to the moment you clear the board. If you hit a mine, Try again gives you the same board from the start, but the leaderboard time keeps running. Only the Daily is ranked. No account is needed; add a name after your first result, or appear as Anonymous.
Is my game saved?
Yes. Your current Easy, Medium or Hard game and the Daily are kept on this device, so you can close the page and continue later. Best times and games won are kept for each level.
Why is there no question mark?
The Windows game let you mark a square with a question mark as well as a flag. On a board that never needs guessing, it adds a click without adding information, so this version only has flags.
This version
- No guessing: every board can be cleared by logic alone from your first square. We check each one with a solver before you see it.
- The first square you open is never a mine and always opens an area.
- The three classic boards (9×9, 16×16, 30×16) and a Daily board that is the same for every player, with a world leaderboard timed by our server.
- Dig and Flag modes for touch screens, long-press to flag. On a computer: right-click to flag, both buttons or the middle button to open around a number, and full keyboard play.
- Try again replays the same board from the start after a mine. Each level keeps its own saved game.
Updates
- A left click on an open number no longer opens around it; use both buttons or the middle button, as in the Windows game. Tapping a number on a touch screen still does.
- Two-button presses allow a quarter of a second between the buttons.
- Both mouse buttons (or the middle button) open around a number, as in the Windows game; the squares around it press down while you hold. Right-click on an open number no longer opens around it.
- First version on Zippi: no-guess boards, three levels, Daily board with a world leaderboard, sound.
Page last reviewed .