How to Play Minesweeper

Posted on February 11th, 2009 by Elaine

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Minesweeper is probably the most common default game on Windows computers, but strangely enough, many people avoid it. This gray grid game is simple, yet most people shy away from it, opting to play Solitaire or Freecell instead. It’s probably because Minesweeper doesn’t come with instructions and it can be pretty confusing, but if you learn how to play this game, you’ll find out that it’s addictive and entertaining.

Understanding The Minesweeper Basics

To find Minesweeper on your PC, go to Start, then All Programs. From there, click Games. You’ll see the Minesweeper icon immediately. The game comes in three difficulties: Beginner, Intermediate and Expert, which has 9 x 9 (10 mines), 16 x 16 (40 mines) and 30 x 16 (99 mines) grids, respectively.

It’s no use clicking on the gray boxes, if you don’t know what they’re for. The gray grid in Minesweeper represents a minefield, where numerous mines are hidden, ready to detonate. The game’s purpose is to successfully clear the field, without detonating any mines. You can click on the spots on the grid, which then reveals either empty or numbered spaces, or mines. If the box you click shows a number, that number represents the number of mines that space is adjacent to, either diagonally, horizontally or vertically.

How To Play

To start, you have to click on one of the boxes in the grid. You have to be careful, though, because you may immediately hit a mine. You must then start the game again. To avoid this, click on a space near the grid center. This will give you a higher chance of opening a big area.

minesweeper

If you manage to click a box that’s not adjacent to a mine, other spaces in the area that aren’t adjacent to mines will also open, letting you find mines easier.
Once you open a big area, you will boxes with different numbers on them. These numbers indicate how many mines are touching it, giving you clues where the mines are possibly situated. For example, if you open a box with the number 1, it means one mine is touching it.
The mines that are touching the numbered boxes are the ones that are on its sides or the corners. The easiest method is to find a box with only one mine touching it. Your common sense will tell you that that box adjacent to it is a mine. You can then mark it off.
To mark boxes with mines on them, press your mouse’s right-click button, to put a red flag over the square, allowing you to avoid opening it in the future.
By clicking both your mouse buttons at the same time, uncover all the adjacent squares to a numbered space, if you manage to find all the mines around that space. For example, you find a mine with a space with a number one adjacent to the mine, you can assume all the spaces adjacent to the number 1 box aren’t mines. Click on the numbered box using both your mouse buttons, so all the non-mine squares adjacent to it will open at once.
Proceed with the game, until all the spaces without any mines are opened. You might also click on a mine and lose, but when this happens, you can just start a new game. Oftentimes, you will have to guess where a mine is, so a little luck is still needed for this game.

Additional Minesweeper Tips

Practice. This will let you work faster, while training your brain to learn various patterns.
Stay focused, to avoid mistakes and avoid ending your game quickly.
If you want to cheat, press “xyzzy”, hold the shift key and press enter. The top left pixel of the screen will turn white, if the box where your cursor is on is not a mine, but will turn black if it is.

Minesweeper seems confusing at first, but don’t feel intimidated by it. With these tips, you’ll soon be sweeping through that game and winning every round. It’s an entertaining game you’ll want to master!