How to play Minesweeper, no guessing
The rules fit on one page. The rest is reading the numbers calmly: no board on this site asks you to guess.
The aim
Open every square that is not a mine. Each number says how many mines sit in the eight squares around it, or fewer if the square is on the edge.
You win when everything that is not a mine is open. If you open a mine, the game ends. Start another: nothing is held against you, except the time, if you win.
What a number guarantees
If the number equals the count of closed squares around it, all of them are mines. Flag them.
If the flags around it already add up to the number, the other neighbours are safe. Tap the number to open them at once. If a flag is in the wrong place, that tap can open a mine.
The first click is safe
The first square you open is never a mine, and neither is any square within two steps, adding across and down. That covers the whole ring, diagonals included, plus one more square on each side. That is why the first click usually opens a wide clearing.
Start from the edge of that clearing. The numbers there tell you the next move.
On a computer
- Left-click to open. Right-click, or Ctrl and click, places or removes a flag.
- Click a number that already has the right flags (or use the middle button, or both buttons together) to open its neighbours.
- With the keyboard: the arrows move, Enter or space opens, F places a flag, R starts a new game, M turns the sound on and off. With the focus on a number, Enter or space also opens the neighbours, once the flags add up.
- In Settings, Flag mode makes a click place a flag instead of opening.
On a phone
One tap selects the square and shows three buttons: the shovel opens, the flag marks, the X clears the selection. A second tap on the same square, within 350 ms, opens it directly. Holding the square for 700 ms places a flag. If your finger slides more than a little, the long-press cancels and does not flag.
Tap a number that already has the right flags to open its neighbours. Near the edge of the screen, the buttons flip to the other side of the square so they do not sit on top of it.
No guessing
Every game, on every level and in the daily challenge, is built so it can be solved with logic alone: a number that matches its closed squares, or a number already satisfied by its flags. If you are stuck, the certain move is on some number you have already opened, maybe on the other side of the board.
The classic shapes, such as 1-2-1, are a shortcut for that same count. They are on the patterns page.
Where the game came from, and why it shows up in a class on logic and probability, is on the history page.
Common questions
What does no guessing mean?
No guessing means the next square is decided by the numbers, without a blind choice between two possibilities. If a number equals the count of closed squares around it, all of them are mines. If the flags around it already add up to the number, the other neighbours are safe. Shapes such as 1-2-1 are a shortcut for that same count.
Can every board be solved by logic alone?
The generator lays the mines and keeps the board when a solver can open every square that is not a mine from the first click, using only those two counts. In the daily challenge the search does not watch the clock: it repeats until it closes and, if the first run does not get there, it continues with another run fixed by the same date. On the other games the same rule holds, with a ceiling of five seconds so the page does not freeze. Only if that ceiling runs out does the guarantee stop, and the board that comes in may still ask for a guess. If you were stuck before that, the certain move is on some number you have already opened.
Can the first click be a mine?
In an ordinary game, no. The first square you open is never a mine, and neither is any square within two steps, adding across and down. That covers the whole ring, diagonals included, plus one more square on each side. In the daily challenge you do not choose that square: when you tap Play, a square in the middle of the largest clearing is already open.
How do I flag on a phone?
One tap selects the square and shows three buttons: the shovel opens, the flag marks and the X clears the selection. A second tap on the same square, within 350 ms, opens it directly. Holding the square for 700 ms places a flag. If your finger moves more than 10 pixels, the long-press cancels and the flag does not go in. Near the edge of the screen, the buttons flip to the other side of the square so they do not sit on top of it. In Settings, Flag mode makes the tap or the click place a flag instead of opening.
How does the daily challenge work?
It is one game a day, the same for everyone on the same date: 12 by 12 squares and 25 mines, on a phone and on a computer. The date on your device chooses the board, and the starting square is already open, in the middle of the largest clearing. Only the first win of the day lights the star. A loss before that win is marked as a day you tried. After the win, playing again is practice and does not change the record. The streak counts consecutive days with a win; if you have not played today, it continues from yesterday. You can play from 1 October 2026 up to today. An older day uses that date’s board and can fill a hole in the streak.
What happens if I click a number?
If the flags around it already add up to the number, the click opens the closed neighbours that have no flag. On a computer, the middle button, both buttons together, or Enter and space with the focus on that number, do the same. If a flag is in the wrong place, that opening can land on a mine. If the flags do not yet close the count, clicking the number opens nothing.
Do I need an account?
No. The game opens in the browser, with no sign-up. Statistics stay only in this browser. A game counts when it reaches the end, a win or a mine. Switching level in the middle, starting over or closing the page does not count. Clearing the site data also clears the daily challenge record.