Minesweeper Strategy
Good Minesweeper players aren't doing harder maths than anyone else. They recognise a small set of shapes instantly, so they spend their thinking on the few spots that really need it.
In the examples below, red squares are mines and green squares are safe. Covered squares are blue.
1. Start with single numbers
Before looking for anything clever, go round the edge of your opening and check each number on its own. If it touches exactly as many covered squares as its value, they're all mines. If its mines are already flagged, the rest are safe. On most boards this handles well over half the work.
2. The 1-2-1
Along a straight edge, the numbers 1, 2, 1 in a row mean the mines sit next to the two 1s, and the square next to the 2 is safe. The 2 needs two mines among its three squares, and each 1 can only take one, so the mines have to be on the outside.
3. The 1-2-2-1
A close cousin. With 1, 2, 2, 1 along a straight edge, the two mines sit above the two 2s, and the squares at each end are safe.
Both patterns still work if the row continues on either side, as long as the edge of covered squares is straight. They're so common on Intermediate and Expert that it pays to learn them until you don't have to think.
4. Compare neighbouring numbers
When no single number settles anything, take two numbers that share some covered squares. Ask what the first number forces on the shared squares, then see what's left over for the second. The 1-2-1 is just the most common case of this. The Hint button on this site uses the same idea, so if it finds a move you missed, look at the numbers around the square it shows you.
5. Use the mine count
The counter shows how many mines are left, less your flags. Near the end of a game it often decides a corner. If three covered squares remain and one mine is left, and two of those squares are already ruled out, the last one is your mine.
6. Chord, and flag only what helps
Chording opens every other neighbour of a fully flagged number in one click. On big boards it saves hundreds of clicks. Some fast players go further and never flag at all, just opening safe squares directly. It's quicker once you're very comfortable, but flagging is easier to keep track of, so start there.
7. When you have to guess
- Clear everything certain first. A new number elsewhere can remove the need to guess.
- Guess early. If a guess is unavoidable, making it before you've spent five minutes on the board hurts less.
- Pick good odds. A square in the open, far from any numbers, has roughly the average chance of being a mine: mines left divided by covered squares left. A 50/50 at the edge is worse than that on most boards.
- Pick useful squares. Between two similar guesses, choose the one that would tell you most if it's safe.
Or skip guessing entirely with No guess mode, where every board can be solved with the steps above.
Questions people ask
What is the 1-2-1 pattern?
Three numbers in a row, 1, 2 and 1, along a straight edge of covered squares. The mines are the covered squares next to each 1, and the one next to the 2 is safe.
Is Minesweeper all luck?
No. Most of each board can be solved by logic. Guesses do come up on the classic levels, but good players need far fewer of them because they see more of the logic.
Where is the best place to guess?
Somewhere the odds are clearly better than average, often a square far from any numbers, or one that would open up lots of new information if it is safe.