Once you know the rules, what is left is the order. Boards here are built to be solvable without guessing, so alternating the two moves below will take you to the last square.
Start anywhere
The board is built after you click. Any square is safe and opens a region, so there is nothing to weigh up about where to begin. You will hear that you should start at an edge. On a board with a safe first click, that advice rests on nothing.
The two moves that do the work
Both are mines. When a number can see exactly as many unopened squares as it counts, there is nothing left to work out. The reverse is just as useful: once a number has found all its mines, everything else it sees is safe. These two open most of a board.
The left 1 sees two squares, and the 1 beside it sees both of them too. Both numbers are pointing at the same single mine, so the square only the right 1 can see holds no mine. Counting alone settles nothing here. Chaining this comparison is what makes 1-2-1 and 1-2-2-1.
The two 1s see exactly the same squares, so nothing tells them apart. That is a coin flip, not skill. With mines scattered at random, twenty-four out of twenty-five expert boards end up with a spot like this somewhere — which is why every board is checked before you get it.
When you are stuck
The hint does not lead with the answer. It says where to look, why it follows, and what to do, one card at a time, and only touches the board on the last one. Opening a hint and closing it again does not use one up.
Minesweeper patterns
The same runs of numbers appear over and over, so knowing the answer makes you faster. But these names are not single moves — 1-2-1 takes three, 1-2-2-1 takes four, and the order is written under each one.
1-1
The 1 at the wall sees two squares, and the 1 beside it sees both. Both point at the same single mine, so the square only the second 1 can see is safe. Open it and the rest falls out by counting.
3 moves — safe by comparing → mine by counting → safe by counting
1-2-1
The squares under the two 1s are mines and the one under the 2 is safe. This is the run people memorise first, and it keeps appearing as you work along a wall.
3 moves — mine by comparing → safe by counting → mine by counting
1-2-2-1
The squares under the two 2s are mines and the ones under the 1s are safe. It is easy to mix up with 1-2-1 because the answer is inverted — the mines sit under the larger numbers.
4 moves — mine by comparing → safe by counting → mine by counting → safe by counting
Why they work
All three come from one thing. When everything the first number sees is also seen by the second, the squares only the second one sees hold exactly the difference between them. A difference of zero means safe; a difference equal to the number of squares means all mines. The run is the answer you memorise — this sentence is the reason.
Getting faster
| Use chording | Click a number you have fully flagged and the rest opens at once. It cuts far more clicks than opening one square at a time |
|---|---|
| Flag less | Flags are not needed to win. Fast players place only the ones chording needs |
| Watch your 3BV | Two boards cleared in the same time can need very different numbers of clicks. Time on its own mixes in luck |