What is hidden beneath the next square? MineSweeper is the classic puzzle of reading numbers, marking danger, and opening safe ground. One click can reveal a broad area, while a single small clue can determine your next move. Simple rules combine observation, deduction, and sometimes luck into a tense and absorbing challenge.
Your goal is to uncover every square that does not contain a mine. Study the numbers, flag the locations you believe are dangerous, and gradually make sense of the board. The reward is the moment when separate clues fit together and a safe choice becomes clear.
How to play
- Press START and choose EASY, NORMAL, or HARD. EASY has an 8-column by 12-row board with 10 mines. NORMAL uses 12 columns and 18 rows with 32 mines, while HARD expands to 15 columns and 22 rows with 64 mines.
- Select the shovel button at the bottom and tap a covered square to open it. Safe squares reveal a number or an empty area. Opening a mine ends the game, so inspect the available information before your next choice.
- A revealed number counts the mines in the immediately surrounding squares, including diagonals: up to eight neighboring squares in total. A 1 means one nearby mine, and a 2 means two. It does not count mines across the entire row.
- Switch to the flag button to mark a square you believe contains a mine. Flags help record your reasoning, but placing one does not prove it is correct. Keep comparing your marks with the surrounding clues.
- Switch back to the shovel when you want to open safe squares. As new numbers appear, review them alongside the open spaces and existing flags. Check which input mode is selected before tapping.
- Reveal all non-mine squares to complete the board. Follow the timer and remaining-mine display at the top, and work toward a best-time record for each difficulty. A pause button is available when you need a break.
Read the relationships between clues
If a 1 has only one covered neighbor remaining, that square must contain its mine. Conversely, when the required number of neighboring mines has been correctly identified, the other adjacent squares are safe. Remember that this deduction depends on the identified mines being correct.
When one number is not enough to locate a mine, compare its neighboring area with the area covered by the next number. Restricting the possible positions on one side can reveal a safe square on the other. Start with a boundary that contains useful information rather than trying to understand the entire board at once.
An empty region can open up the board, but the numbers along its edge are where the next deductions begin. Follow that boundary and look for places where several clues refer to the same covered squares.
Separate marking from opening
Flagging a suspected mine and uncovering a square are different actions. Mark the positions you have established, review the numbers, and then return to shovel mode to open the safe spaces. This routine makes it easier to keep track of your current reasoning.
The remaining-mine display provides another reference, but local clues come first. If a flag does not fit the numbers around it, reconsider the assumption before relying on it for further moves.
Not every position immediately offers a certain answer. When information is limited, check whether another part of the board still contains a useful deduction. Make the most of what you know before committing to an uncertain square.
Three sizes of classic challenge
Begin with EASY to become comfortable with the relationship between numbers and flags, then explore larger boards with more mines. Each difficulty offers a different amount of information to manage and its own best-time target.
Even when you are chasing a faster finish, accurate decisions matter more than hurried taps. Open a square, read its clue, mark the danger, and repeat. Find your own steady rhythm in MineSweeper and turn a field of covered squares into a solved puzzle.
