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Minesweeper for Beginners: Start Here

New to Minesweeper? Learn what the numbers mean on a Beginner board, master the two simple checks, then learn the 1-1 and 1-2 patterns. Those cover almost every move you’ll need. This page puts the guides in that order, with a six-position warm-up to check yourself before you move up a size.

Open Minesweeper full screen for more sizes, saved progress and best times.

Your path, in order

  1. Learn the rules. The Minesweeper rules page explains what a number means and plays the start of a real board. The one idea to take away: a number counts the mines in the eight squares around it, diagonals included.
  2. Play your first Beginner board. Tap the middle first: it opens the most ground (tip 1).
  3. Use the two simple checks. A number with exactly as many hidden squares as mines it needs: they’re all mines. A number with all its mines flagged: the rest are safe. On Beginner, these two do most of the work.
  4. Flag only what’s certain. A flag on the wrong square is the commonest way to lose a game you thought you had (mistake 2).
  5. Learn the 1-1 and the 1-2. When the simple checks run out, compare two numbers side by side. How to solve Minesweeper covers both, and the four other techniques.
  6. Do the warm-up below. Six positions, each practising one idea from the guides above.
  7. Pick up speed. The Minesweeper tips page adds where to look next, and how to guess when you have to.
  8. When a game goes wrong, read the six common mistakes. The big one is guessing when there was a sure move.
  9. Move up a size when you’re ready (see below).

Warm-up: six positions

Each one is a row of seven hidden squares above a row of numbers, at the bottom edge of a board. Look at the ringed numbers, work out which hidden squares they settle, then open the answer. Every answer comes from the ringed numbers alone.

1. A 2 in the corner

A 2 in the corner A row of seven hidden squares over the numbers 2 2 1 1 1 2 1. What do the ringed numbers tell you? 2 2 1 1 1 2 1
Show the answer
A 2 in the corner: the answer The same row, with what the ringed numbers settle: mines at squares 1 and 2, nothing safe. 2 2 1 1 1 2 1

Squares 1 and 2 are mines. The 2 sits at the end of the row, so it touches only two hidden squares, and it needs two mines.

2. A 1 beside a flag

A 1 beside a flag A row of seven hidden squares over the numbers 1 1 1 1 1 2 1. What do the ringed numbers tell you? 1 1 1 1 1 2 1
Show the answer
A 1 beside a flag: the answer The same row, with what the ringed numbers settle: no mines, safe at squares 1, 3. 1 1 1 1 1 2 1

Squares 1 and 3 are safe. The 1 already touches a flag, so it has all the mines it needs.

3. Two 1s at the edge

Two 1s at the edge A row of seven hidden squares over the numbers 1 1 1 1 1 2 1. What do the ringed numbers tell you? 1 1 1 1 1 2 1
Show the answer
Two 1s at the edge: the answer The same row, with what the ringed numbers settle: no mines, safe at squares 3. 1 1 1 1 1 2 1

Square 3 is safe. The first 1 touches squares 1 and 2, so its mine is one of those. The second 1 touches squares 1, 2 and 3, and its mine is the same one, so square 3 is safe. This is the 1-1 pattern. You can’t yet tell whether the mine is in square 1 or square 2.

4. A 1 and a 2 at the edge

A 1 and a 2 at the edge A row of seven hidden squares over the numbers 1 2 1 1 1 1 1. What do the ringed numbers tell you? 1 2 1 1 1 1 1
Show the answer
A 1 and a 2 at the edge: the answer The same row, with what the ringed numbers settle: mines at squares 3, nothing safe. 1 2 1 1 1 1 1

Square 3 is a mine. The 1 says squares 1 and 2 hold exactly one mine between them. The 2 touches squares 1, 2 and 3, and needs two, so the second has to be square 3. This is the 1-2 pattern.

5. A 2 with a flag, beside a 1

A 2 with a flag, beside a 1 A row of seven hidden squares over the numbers 1 2 2 1 1 1 1. What do the ringed numbers tell you? 1 2 2 1 1 1 1
Show the answer
A 2 with a flag, beside a 1: the answer The same row, with what the ringed numbers settle: no mines, safe at squares 5. 1 2 2 1 1 1 1

Square 5 is safe. The 2 already touches one flag, so it needs one more mine, from squares 3 and 4: it works like a 1. The 1 beside it touches squares 3, 4 and 5, and its mine is the same one, so square 5 is safe. A 1-1 pattern, once you take the flag off the 2.

6. A 1, a 2 and a 1

A 1, a 2 and a 1 A row of seven hidden squares over the numbers 1 2 1 2 1 2 1. What do the ringed numbers tell you? 1 2 1 2 1 2 1
Show the answer
A 1, a 2 and a 1: the answer The same row, with what the ringed numbers settle: mines at squares 3 and 5, safe at squares 2, 4, 6. 1 2 1 2 1 2 1

Squares 3 and 5 are mines; squares 2, 4 and 6 are safe. The 2 needs two mines from squares 3, 4 and 5. If square 4 were one of them, both 1s would be satisfied by it, leaving the 2 a mine short. So the 2’s mines are squares 3 and 5, and with those, both 1s are done. This 1-2-1 shape is common along a straight edge, and always works out this way.

When to move up a size

You’re ready for Intermediate when you can clear Beginner boards without guessing when there’s a sure move, you spot the 1-1 and 1-2 without working them out, and you flag only what’s certain.

The bigger fields aren’t just larger; they’re more crowded, and they need more of the comparing techniques. Mines fill 12% of a Beginner board, 16% of Intermediate and 21% of Expert. On the Classic boards we tested, the 1-1 (subsets) was needed on 51 of 200 Beginner boards, 125 Intermediate and 172 Expert, and comparing two numbers that only partly share squares (pairs) on 4, 18 and 114. On Classic boards, guesses also become part of the game: 27 of 200 Beginner boards needed one at some point, 83 Intermediate and 174 Expert. The default boards never need one, at any size.

Next steps

Questions

Is Minesweeper a game of luck?

Not on PeerPuzzles: by default every board can be cleared by logic alone. Traditional random boards, which the game offers as Classic, are mostly logic too: on Beginner, logic alone cleared 173 of 200 from a first tap in the middle. Luck comes in when nothing on the board is certain, and on bigger fields that happens more often.

Do I need to be good at maths?

Only at counting to eight. Every move comes from comparing a number with the squares around it, and after a few boards the common shapes become patterns you recognise without counting.

How long should a game take?

As long as it takes. Speed comes from recognising patterns, not from rushing, and a rushed tap is how most games are lost. PeerPuzzles keeps your best time for each field, so you can see yourself improve without trying to.