Minesweeper is a single-player logic puzzle where players uncover squares on a grid while avoiding hidden mines. Here is a complete guide to the rules, from setup to scoring, so you can start playing right away.

What Is Minesweeper?

Minesweeper is a single-player logic puzzle played on a rectangular grid of covered squares. Hidden beneath some squares are mines. Your job is to uncover every safe square without detonating a mine.

The game has been a staple of Windows PCs since 1990 and remains one of the most-played puzzle games in the world.

The Board

A Minesweeper board is a grid of covered (hidden) squares. Each square is in one of three states:

  • Covered — You haven’t interacted with it yet.
  • Revealed — You left-clicked it and it was safe. It now shows a number or is blank.
  • Flagged — You right-clicked it to mark it as a suspected mine.

Beneath the covers, each square is either safe or a mine.

Controls

Action Effect
Left-click a covered square Reveals it. If it’s a mine, you lose. If it’s safe, it shows a number (or opens a blank region).
Right-click a covered square Places a flag to mark a suspected mine. Right-click again to remove the flag.
Left-click a number (with correct flags) Some versions chord — revealing all unflagged neighbors when the flag count matches the number.

What the Numbers Mean

When you reveal a safe square, it displays a number from 1 to 8 (or is blank).

  • The number tells you how many of the 8 surrounding squares contain mines.
  • A blank square (zero) means none of its neighbors are mines — so all neighbors are automatically revealed, which can cascade across the board.

Example

If a square shows 2, exactly two of the up-to-eight squares touching it are mines. The other neighbors are safe.

Winning and Losing

  • You win when every safe square is revealed.
  • You lose when you left-click a square that contains a mine.

Flagging is a tool, not a requirement. You never need to flag a single mine to win — but flags help you reason about the board.

Step-by-Step: Your First Game

  1. Click any square to start. The first click is always safe.
  2. Read the numbers. Each tells you how many adjacent mines exist.
  3. Flag obvious mines. When a number has exactly that many covered neighbors, they must all be mines — right-click to flag them.
  4. Reveal safe squares. When a number’s mine count is satisfied by flags, the remaining covered neighbors are safe to click.
  5. Repeat. Work outward from known information, using numbers and flags to deduce safe squares.
  6. Clear the board to win!

Key Concepts

The Opening

Your first click often reveals a large blank area (called an “opening”). Use the numbers along the edges of this opening as your starting information.

Flagging

Right-click to place a flag on a square you believe is a mine. Flags prevent accidental clicks and help you track your deductions.

Chording

In many versions, clicking a revealed number that already has the correct number of adjacent flags will automatically reveal all unflagged neighbors. This speeds up play considerably.

The 50/50 Guess

Sometimes you’ll face two covered squares where one is a mine and logic alone can’t determine which. This is a “50/50” — you must guess. It’s part of the game.

Common Board Sizes

Difficulty Grid Size Mines Mine Density
Beginner 9 × 9 10 12.3%
Intermediate 16 × 16 40 15.6%
Expert 30 × 16 99 20.6%

Start with Beginner to learn the rules, then progress to Intermediate and Expert as your pattern recognition improves.

Summary

Minesweeper is pure logic: read the numbers, mark the mines, and reveal everything else. The rules are simple — master them and you’ll clear boards with confidence.

Ready to play? Try Minesweeper for free on Rare Pike — no download needed.