Minesweeper online: free mine sweeper game

A mine sweeper game that runs in your browser

This minesweeper online game works with a mouse, a keyboard or a finger, with no account and nothing to install. You get three standard levels, a Custom board and a No guessing option that promises a game you can finish by logic alone.

The rules

Mines are hidden under the board. Your goal is to open every cell that does not hold one; opening a mine ends the game. Each opened cell shows how many mines touch it among its 8 neighbours (fewer on the edges). A cell with no mine around stays blank and opens the whole blank area next to it. Your first click can never hit a mine and always opens a blank patch.

Reading the numbers

A 3 means exactly three mines among the hidden cells touching it. If that 3 has only three hidden neighbours, all three are mines.

Three patterns worth learning

1-1. Two 1s side by side along a border, the first one against a wall. Its mine must be in one of its two cells, and the second 1 sees both of them. So the third cell touched by the second 1 is safe.

1-2. A 2 sees three hidden cells and the 1 beside it sees two of them. Those two cells hold one mine at most, so the 2's other mine is in the cell the 1 cannot see.

1-2-1. Along a straight border, the cells under both 1s are mines and the cell under the 2 is safe.

Flags and chording

Right-click, long press or the F key places a flag on a mine you have found, and the Mines left counter goes down by one. With Question mark after the flag ticked, a second right-click shows a ? when you are unsure. When a number has as many flags around it as its value, click it and all its other neighbours open at once. A wrong flag will set off a mine, so chord with care. On a phone, the Flag mode button swaps the gestures: a tap places a flag and a long press opens. The − and + buttons resize the cells; a wide board scrolls inside its frame.

The levels

Custom accepts 5 to 30 columns, 5 to 24 rows and up to the number of cells minus 9 mines, which is 135 on a 12 × 12 board.

Why you sometimes have to guess

On a purely random board, two cells can be impossible to tell apart: a mine in either one gives exactly the same numbers. With No guessing ticked, the page first plays the board from your first click using the rules above plus the count of mines left. If that gets stuck, it draws another board. An Expert board is usually found in a few hundredths of a second. The search stops after 1.5 seconds: on a very crowded custom board you then play an ordinary board and a message tells you so.

Frequently asked questions

Can the first click hit a mine?

No. The mines are placed after that click, never on the cell you touched or on its neighbours.

Does the timer keep running in another tab?

No, it pauses and picks up again when you come back. A game in progress is also kept if you close the page.

Can I play without a mouse?

Yes. Click once on the board, then use the arrow keys. Space or Enter opens a cell, F toggles a flag, and Space on a number chords.

Where are my times stored?

Only in the browser on this device. Reset clears your games, wins and best times.