Intermediate is the 16×16 board with 40 mines, about one square in six. This is where patterns start to matter: the first opening is smaller, the edges fill with 1-2 and 1-1 shapes, and a board takes around 63 clicks instead of a handful. The daily board is this size too, so what you learn here carries straight over.
This size in numbers
| Board | 16 × 16, 40 mines |
|---|---|
| Share of squares that are mines | 15.6% |
| Clicks to clear it (3BV), median | 63 |
| Random boards that would need a guess | 47% |
| First click opens (share of safe squares, median) | 30% |
| Time for the speed badge | 1:00 |
Measured on 300 boards from the same generator that deals yours. 3BV is the fewest clicks that clear a board. A board needs a guess when the three rules the hint uses — counting one number, comparing two numbers, and the total mine count — cannot finish it.
What changes from beginner
Counting one number at a time stops being enough. You will reach places where no single number decides anything, but two neighbours compared do — that is the 1-1 and the 1-2, and the hint calls them by name when you are stuck. Drawn at random, 47% of boards this size would end in a guess somewhere; the ones dealt here have been checked not to.
Questions about this size
- How many mines are in intermediate Minesweeper?
- Forty, on a 16×16 board — about one square in six. It is the middle one of the three sizes the record lists rank.
- How much does the first click open on intermediate?
- A median 30% of the safe squares — less than half of what it opens on beginner. Reading the edge of that first region matters more here.
Board sizes and the sizes record lists use come from the record keepers' ranking rules: minesweepergame.com/ranking-rules.php
Other sizes
- Beginner 9×9
- Intermediate 16×16
- Expert 30×16
- No-Guessing Minesweeper
- 3BV and 3BV/s
- How to play