How to play Minesweeper
- Pick a difficulty and click any square. The first one is never a mine, and it opens up a patch of the board.
- Each number says how many of the eight squares around it hide a mine. Right-click (or long-press on a phone) to flag a square you know is a mine.
- Open every square that isn't a mine to win. Click a number once its mines are flagged to open the rest of its neighbors at once.
Reading the numbers
A number counts the mines in the eight squares that touch it, including the diagonals. A 1 next to a single hidden square means that square is a mine. When a number already has as many flags around it as it shows, every other square around it is safe.
Patterns worth learning
- 1-2-1 along a wall. The squares under the two 1s are mines and the one under the 2 is safe.
- 1-1 from an edge. When two 1s share a hidden row that starts at a wall, the third square along is safe.
- Corners first. A number in a corner touches only three squares, so it gives away more than one in the middle.
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