Free for blogs, schools, libraries and clubs. Paste this HTML where you want the game to appear; please keep the credit link.
Quick answer
Minesweeper is a free logic puzzle game that plays instantly in your browser on phones, tablets and computers, with no download, sign-up or ads. Open every cell that is not a mine; numbers show how many of the eight neighbours hide a mine.
Minesweeper at a glance
What it is
Logic puzzle game
This page
Intermediate: 16 × 16 with 40 mines
Goal
Open every cell that is not a mine; numbers show how many of the eight neighbours hide a mine
Modes
Beginner 9×9 with 10 mines, Intermediate 16×16 with 40, Expert 30×16 with 99
Controls
Tap or click to open; long-press, right-click or Flag mode to flag; double-tap, double-click or two-finger tap to chord; keyboard
Players
1
Price
Free, no ads, no sign-up, no download
Works on
Phones, tablets and computers, in any modern browser
Intermediate packs 40 mines into a 16×16 board. About one cell in six is a mine, compared with one in eight on Beginner, so openings are smaller and you will spend more time reading the numbers along the edge of what you have opened.
The patterns that matter here
1-2 on an edge. Read a straight wall of numbers from one side. A 1 next to a 2: the 2’s extra mine has to be on the cell only it can reach, so flag it.
1-2-1. Three numbers in a row against a wall of hidden cells: the mines sit under the two 1s, and the cell under the 2 is safe.
1-2-2-1. The mines sit under the two 2s, and the cells under the 1s are safe.
Subtract shared neighbours. When two numbers share most of their hidden cells, the difference between their values tells you about the cells only one of them touches.
Speed tips
Chord, do not click. Once the mines around a number are flagged, one double-click opens the rest. Good players chord far more than they click.
Only flag what helps. You do not need to flag every mine to win; flag the ones you will chord around.
Leave guesses for last. If you are stuck, look for safe progress elsewhere on the board before risking a guess.
Ready for the full challenge? Expert has 99 mines on a 30×16 field.
How to play Minesweeper
1
Open a safe start
Click or tap anywhere. The first click never hits a mine and always opens an area.
2
Flag what is certain
When a number's hidden neighbours match its value exactly, all of them are mines. Flag them with a right-click or a long-press.
3
Chord to save time
Double-click or double-tap a number whose mines are all flagged to open every other cell around it at once.
4
Work along the edges
Most progress comes from the border between open and hidden cells. Solve it piece by piece, comparing neighbouring numbers.
The classic 30×16 board with 99 mines, the standard for speed records. About one cell in five is a mine.
Frequently asked questions
How hard is Intermediate?
+
The field has 40 mines in 256 cells, about one cell in six. That is denser than Beginner, so openings are smaller and you will lean more on patterns.
What is the 1-2 pattern?
+
Along a straight edge, a 1 next to a 2 tells you the cell beyond the 2, on the far side from the 1, is a mine. It is the single most useful pattern at this level.
Will I ever have to guess?
+
Sometimes, yes. As in classic Minesweeper, some positions cannot be solved by logic alone. When that happens, pick the cell least likely to be a mine, such as one far from the numbers.
The board is bigger than my phone screen. What can I do?
+
Cells never shrink below a comfortable tapping size. If the board does not fit, it scrolls inside its frame, and on a tall screen wide boards turn sideways to fit better.
Can I play with a keyboard?
+
Yes. Focus the board and use the arrow keys to move, Enter or Space to open, F to flag and C to chord.
Prefer a puzzle with no luck at all?
Every Sudoku here has exactly one solution and can be solved by logic alone, from Easy to Expert.