Intermediate is a 16 × 16 board with 40 mines, roughly one cell in six. Openings are smaller than on beginner, so you will meet the 1-2-1 and 1-2-2-1 patterns often and chording starts to save real time.
How to use
- Choose Beginner, Intermediate, Expert or Custom. Your first click is always safe and opens an area.
- Each number shows how many mines touch that cell, including diagonals.
- Flag a cell you know is a mine: right-click, long-press on touch screens, or turn on Flag mode and tap.
- Click a number whose mines are all flagged to open all its other neighbors at once (chording).
- Open every safe cell to win. Hit a mine and you can undo that move or start over.
- On phones the expert board turns to portrait (16×30) so cells stay big enough. Pinch or use the zoom buttons for more.
- Question marks can be turned on in Options: right-click cycles flag, question mark and blank.
- Best times count only when you win without undoing a move. The game and timer are saved and the timer pauses when you leave the tab.
Board sizes and mine density
Beginner is 9 × 9 with 10 mines (12% of cells), Intermediate 16 × 16 with 40 mines (16%) and Expert 30 × 16 with 99 mines (21%). On a phone the expert board turns to portrait, 16 × 30, so the cells stay large enough to tap. Custom boards go from 5 × 5 up to 50 × 50, with up to 85% of cells as mines.
Your first click never hits a mine: the cell you click and its eight neighbors are kept clear, so the game always starts by opening an area.
How to solve minesweeper
Each number is the count of mines among the eight cells around it. Start with the obvious cases: a 1 touching a single closed cell means that cell is a mine. When a number already has all its mines flagged, every other neighbor is safe; click the number to open them all at once. The 1-2-1 and 1-2-2-1 patterns along a wall are worth learning, as they place mines without guessing. Some layouts do require a guess, usually near the end; pick the cell that reveals the most information.
Frequently asked questions
Is the first click in minesweeper always safe?
Yes. Mines are placed after your first click, away from that cell and its neighbors, so the first click always opens an area.
How do you flag a mine on a phone?
Long-press a cell, or turn on Flag mode and tap. On a computer, right-click or press F with the keyboard cursor.
What is chording in minesweeper?
Clicking a number whose mines are all flagged opens all its remaining neighbors at once. It saves many clicks on bigger boards.
How many mines are on an expert board?
99 mines on a 30 × 16 board of 480 cells. Intermediate has 40 mines on 16 × 16, beginner 10 on 9 × 9.
Why does my best time not count?
Best times are saved only for wins without undo. If you undid a move after hitting a mine, the game is marked as assisted.
Can I continue a game later?
Yes. The game and its timer are saved in this browser, and the timer pauses while you are on another tab.