Minesweeper

Free Minesweeper, no sign-up

Minesweeper is a logic game you can play online for free, with nothing to install and no account. The board hides a set number of mines. Open a square and it shows how many of its eight neighbors are mines. Use those numbers to work out where the rest are, flag them, and open every other square to win.

Your first square is always safe and opens an area to start from. The clock starts with it, and your game is saved in this browser as you go, so you can close the tab and carry on later. Turn on No-guess for boards you can always clear by reasoning alone.

How to play

1. Click or tap a square to open it. A number is the count of mines touching that square, diagonals included. A blank square has none, so its neighbors open by themselves.
2. When you know a square hides a mine, flag it: right-click, long-press on a touch screen, or turn on Flag mode so a tap flags.
3. Open every square that isn’t a mine to win. You don’t need to flag them all. Open a mine and the game is over.
4. Mines left counts down with each flag, so it goes below zero if you place too many.
5. Pause hides the board and stops the clock. It also stops while you’re in another tab.

Levels

On a phone held upright, Expert is turned so that it’s 16 squares wide. Large boards scroll inside their frame, and Settings has a larger square size if you’d rather tap bigger targets.

Opening around a number

Once a number has as many flags around it as its value, click or tap the number to open all its other neighbors at once. A middle click, or pressing both mouse buttons together, does the same. This is called chording, and it saves a lot of clicks. You can turn off chording by click or tap in Settings. If one of your flags is wrong, chording opens the mine behind it, so flag carefully.

Patterns worth knowing

A number with all its mines found

A 1 with a single covered neighbor has found its mine: flag it. Any other covered square next to a number that already has all its mines is safe.

1-2-1 along a wall

Three numbers in a row reading 1, 2, 1 against a straight edge of covered squares mean a mine next to each 1, and a safe square next to the 2.

1-2-2-1 along a wall

With four numbers reading 1, 2, 2, 1, the mines sit next to the two 2s, and the squares next to the 1s are safe.

Subtract one number from another

When every covered neighbor of one number is also next to a second number, take the first number from the second. What’s left is the count of mines among the second number’s other neighbors. If it’s zero they’re all safe, and if it equals how many there are, they’re all mines.

Count the mines at the end

Near the end, Mines left can settle what the numbers can’t. If the mines you still need are all accounted for by the numbers you can see, every other covered square is safe.

No-guess boards

On most random boards you sometimes reach a spot where two squares are equally likely to hide a mine, and you have to guess. With No-guess on, each board is checked by a solver as you open your first square, and only boards it can clear by reasoning from there are used. It uses the same steps as the patterns above. No-guess games have their own statistics. It works for boards up to 22% mines, which covers all three levels.

Keyboard

Questions

Is the first square always safe?

Yes. The mines are placed after your first click, never on that square or the eight around it, so you always start with an open area.

Why do I sometimes have to guess?

A random board can leave two or more squares that the numbers can’t tell apart. That’s part of classic Minesweeper. Turn on No-guess if you’d rather every board be solvable by logic.

What are 3BV and 3BV/s?

3BV is the fewest clicks needed to clear a board without flags: one for each blank area, plus one for every numbered square no blank area opens. 3BV/s divides it by your time in seconds, so you can compare speed across different boards.

What does Replay this board do?

It gives you the same mines again after a game, to try a better route. Replays aren’t counted in your statistics or best times, since you already know where the mines are.

Can I play on my phone?

Yes. Tap to open a square and long-press to flag, or turn on Flag mode so a tap flags. Settings lets you change how long a long press takes and make the squares larger.

Where is my game kept?

Only in this browser: the game in progress on each level, your settings and your statistics. Nothing is sent anywhere, and clearing your browser’s site data removes them.

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