# Minesweeper: rules, patterns and tips

> Minesweeper rules step by step, the patterns worth knowing (1-1, 1-2, 1-2-1, 1-2-2-1), how fast players play, and a daily minesweeper with no guessing.

- Web page: https://www.neurostim.fr/en/wiki/minesprint
- Play: https://www.neurostim.fr/en/minesprint
- En français: https://www.neurostim.fr/wiki/minesprint.md
- Updated: 2026-11-07

Minesweeper is played on a grid of closed squares, some of which hide a mine. The goal is to open every square that has no mine. Each opened square shows how many mines are among its eight neighbours, diagonals included: with those numbers and a little logic, you can tell where the mines are without ever touching one.

On Neurostim, [Minesprint](https://www.neurostim.fr/en/minesprint) gives everyone the same minefield every day, in three sizes, and each field is built to be solved without guessing. This guide covers the rules, the game's controls, the patterns that save time and what the records actually mean.

## In short

- **Genre**: a single-player logic puzzle against the clock.
- **Goal**: open every square that does not hide a mine. You do not have to flag every mine.
- **Sizes**: Beginner 8 × 8 with 10 mines, Intermediate 16 × 16 with 40 mines, Expert 30 × 16 with 99 mines, the three sizes of the world minesweeper rankings.
- **Daily challenge**: the same field for everyone in each size, renewed at midnight, Paris time. Your first try of the day is ranked.
- **Free run**: a new field every game, your best time of the day is ranked.
- **No luck**: the game starts with an area already open, and the rest can be worked out by logic.
- **Account**: not needed. You get a guest name with your first game.
- **Devices**: computer, with a mouse or the keyboard, and phone or tablet, with a finger.

## The rules of Minesweeper

### The grid and the mines

The field is a rectangle of closed squares. A known number of mines is hidden in it; the "Mines" counter shows how many are left to find, that is, the number of mines minus the number of flags you have placed.

### Opening a square

When you open a square:

- if it hides a mine, you lose;
- otherwise, it shows a number from 1 to 8: the number of mines among the eight squares touching it, across, up and down, and diagonally;
- if no mine touches it, it stays blank and opens all its neighbours by itself, which may open others in turn. That is how large areas clear in one click.

### Flags

A flag marks a square you are sure hides a mine. It changes nothing on the field: it is a memory aid and protects the square from a careless click. A wrong flag is not a mistake in itself, but it throws off the counter and the automatic openings.

### Opening around a number

When a number already has as many flags around it as its value, clicking that number opens all its other neighbours at once. Players call this *chording*. It saves a lot of clicks, but if one of the flags is wrong, it opens a mine.

### Winning

You win as soon as the last square without a mine is open. The clock stops at that moment.

## Playing Minesprint on Neurostim

### Controls

| Action | Mouse | Keyboard | Touch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open a square | left click | `Enter` on the selected square | tap the square |
| Place or remove a flag | right click | `F` on the selected square | long press, or the "Flag" button |
| Open around a number | click the number | `Enter` on the number | tap the number |
| Move between squares | | arrow keys | |

In a free run, `Tab` then `Enter` gives up the game and starts another on a new field; `Esc` then `Enter` leaves it, and a second `Esc` takes you back to the field. Practice tries on the daily field only have `Esc`. The first try of the day has neither: no shortcut can waste it by accident. When a game starts, the selection sits on a number in the open area: `Enter` opens nothing there until its flags are placed. On the end screen, `Enter` starts another game and `Esc` goes back to the game's page.

### The daily challenge

Every day at midnight, Paris time, Minesprint draws a new field in each of the three sizes. It is the same for everyone, from the first player of the day to the last. Your first try is the one that counts: if it hits a mine, you have no ranked time on that field today. You can then replay it as practice, but those tries are not ranked, up to ten tries per size per day, the first included.

### The free run

The free run draws a random field every game, in the size you pick. You can start up to 300 games a day in each size, a safeguard that does not get in a normal player's way, and your best time of the day is ranked. Over the week and the month, your best time of the period counts, not points.

### The clock and the leaderboards

The server keeps the time: the clock starts when the field appears and stops with the last safe square. Leaving the page does not stop it: your game stays open and the clock keeps running. While the game lasts, the mines stay on the server and the page does not know where they are, so they cannot be read from its code. They only appear when the game is over.

Each challenge has its [daily leaderboard](https://www.neurostim.fr/en/challenges/minesprint/beginner). The top ten of the day score 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 points and every other ranked player 1 point, and those points make the weekly and monthly leaderboards. A click rate out of human reach, measured against the field's 3BV, is kept but never ranked.

### With friends

Minesprint can also be raced in a [room](https://www.neurostim.fr/en/lobbies): share the link, everyone plays the same field at the same time, guests included. The first to clear it takes first place, but the race goes on: the others play for the next places, on time, until everyone is done or the limit of 3, 10 or 20 minutes is reached, depending on the size. A mine knocks you out and places you behind those the clock stopped. These races do not count towards the daily leaderboard.

## Solving a field without guessing

### The two certainties

Almost all of Minesweeper rests on two lines of reasoning:

1. **All closed neighbours are mines** when a number equals the number of closed squares touching it. A 1 that touches a single closed square points straight at it.
2. **All other neighbours are safe** when a number already has as many known mines around it as its value. A 1 that already touches a mine leaves its other neighbours free.

Always start with these two rules around the open area: they unlock most positions.

### The patterns to know

Patterns are configurations that keep coming back along the edge of an open area. Spotting them at a glance saves you from counting everything again. In the diagrams below, the top row is closed, the row of numbers is open, and the row below the numbers is open too.

Diagram key:

```grid-key
# closed square, still unknown
X certain mine
O safe square, to open
_ open square outside the pattern, its value does not matter
| edge of the field
```

**1-2**: along a straight edge, when a 2 follows a 1, the closed square that touches the 2 but not the 1 is a mine, and the one that touches the 1 but not the 2 is safe. The 1 can give at most one mine to the two squares it shares with the 2; the 2 needs a second one, so it lies on the far side, and the 1 already has its mine.

```grid
O # # X
_ 1 2 _
```

**1-2-1**: the mines face the two 1s, and the square facing the 2 is safe. You can see it by applying the 1-2 pattern from each end.

```grid
O X O X O
_ 1 2 1 _
```

**1-2-2-1**: the mines face the two 2s, and the squares facing the two 1s are safe.

```grid
O O X X O O
_ 1 2 2 1 _
```

**1-1 against a wall**: when a 1 sits against the edge of the field and another 1 follows it, the third closed square from the edge is safe. The first 1 has only two closed neighbours, which hold its mine; the second 1 shares those two squares, so its third neighbour is free.

```grid
| # # O
| 1 1 _
```

### Reduction

When a mine next to a number is already known, take it away from that number for the rest of your reasoning: a 3 touching a flag behaves like a 2 for its other neighbours, and a 2 touching a flag like a 1. The patterns above then show up where you could not see them before.

### Counting mines at the end

Near the end, the "Mines" counter becomes a clue of its own, as long as your flags are right. At 0, every closed square without a flag is safe. If it equals the number of closed squares without a flag, they are all mines. And if numbers that share no closed square call for all the mines left between them, every closed square that none of them touches is safe.

### Why Minesprint does not make you guess

In classic Minesweeper, there are positions where no reasoning can decide between two squares: the infamous 50/50, which you lose half the time. Minesprint builds each field from a starting square whose 3 × 3 block has no mine, then has it solved by a program that may only use the two certainties, the comparison of two neighbouring numbers and the count of the mines left. A field that program cannot finish is thrown away and another one is drawn.

Across 500 fields per size, drawn in November 2026, it took 1.6 draws on average on Beginner and on Intermediate and 9.6 on Expert, up to 56 for a single field, and all 1,500 fields kept can be solved without a guess. The program had to compare two neighbouring numbers on 47% of Beginner fields, 59% of Intermediate fields and 98% of Expert fields: when you seem stuck, take away the mines already found, compare two neighbouring numbers, then count the mines left.

The generator stops after 200 draws, 120 on Expert, and then keeps the field the program got furthest in, which can leave a square to guess. At that rate, we estimate this at about one Expert field in 500,000, and it did not happen on any of these fields.

## Getting faster

- **Open from the numbers.** Clicking a number surrounded by its flags opens up to seven squares at once, and many more if one of them is blank. It is the move that separates a decent time from a good one.
- **Only place useful flags.** A flag that will never be used to chord around a number costs a click for nothing. Some fast players place no flags at all and only open safe squares: that style is called "NF", *no flag*, and it has its own records.
- **Keep one direction.** Work along the edge of the open area instead of jumping from corner to corner: your mouse travels less and you reread fewer numbers.
- **Read patterns, do not recount.** A 1-2-1 is recognised at a glance once you have seen it a hundred times. The 8 × 8 Beginner field shows them one at a time; Expert strings them together, with eight comparisons of two numbers per field on average, against one on Beginner.
- **Slow down at the end.** The last squares are the ones people click too fast. A click on a mine three squares from the end costs the whole game.
- **On touch screens, pick your mode.** A long press places a flag without switching tools; the "Flag" button is safer when you place many flags in a row.

## Benchmarks: 3BV, efficiency and records

### 3BV

3BV, short for *Bechtel's Board Benchmark Value*, is the smallest number of clicks needed to clear a field without placing a flag: one click per blank area, plus one click per numbered square that borders no blank area. It measures the work a particular field takes, not how subtle its deductions are. Minesprint shows the field's 3BV and your number of clicks on the end screen of a game you win. Its 3BV counts from the area already open at the start, which costs no click.

Across 500 fields per size drawn by Minesprint's generator in November 2026, the 3BV ran from 3 to 34 on Beginner (14 in the middle of the series), from 35 to 100 on Intermediate (63) and from 113 to 235 on Expert (170). So one field can take twice as many clicks as another of the same size, and far more on Beginner. A low-3BV daily field is luck for everyone at once: it is the same for all players.

### 3BV per second and efficiency

Dividing the 3BV by your time in seconds gives your speed in 3BV/s, the measure players use to compare games played on different fields. Comparing your number of clicks with the 3BV tells you how many clicks you spent beyond the minimum, with one caveat: Minesprint only counts the clicks that open squares, not flags. With chording, that total can therefore drop below the 3BV.

### World records

Classic Minesweeper records are kept by the [Minesweeper Game](https://minesweepergame.com/world-records.php) website, on 8 × 8, 16 × 16 and 30 × 16 fields played with competition software. According to its records page, the best times are 5.80 seconds on Intermediate and 26.59 seconds on Expert, both set in 2022 by Ze-En Ju, who also holds the 3BV/s speed records. In 2020, aged 12, he became the first player to clear Expert in under 30 seconds, beating the 31.13 seconds of Kamil Murański, the record since 2010.

Those times do not compare directly with Minesprint's: competition fields start with nothing open and can force a guess, Minesprint's cannot. To see where you stand, look instead at [the daily, weekly and monthly leaderboards](https://www.neurostim.fr/en/challenges/minesprint/beginner) on fields that are the same for everyone.

## The history of Minesweeper

- **1983**: *Mined-Out*, by Ian Andrew on the ZX Spectrum, already hides mines in a grid and counts the neighbouring mines, but only in four directions, without the diagonals.
- **1980s**: other games on the same idea circulate, including *Relentless Logic* for MS-DOS. In 1989, Curt Johnson writes *PM Mine* for OS/2.
- **1990**: Robert Donner rewrites the game for Windows 3.0 as *Win Mine*. It ships on 8 October 1990 in the Microsoft Entertainment Pack, renamed *Minesweeper*.
- **1992**: Minesweeper joins Windows 3.1, replacing Reversi. It ships with every version of Windows up to Windows 7. Beginner grows from 8 × 8 to 9 × 9 with Windows XP.
- **2000**: Richard Kaye's paper *Minesweeper is NP-complete* (The Mathematical Intelligencer) proves that deciding whether a Minesweeper position is consistent is NP-complete.
- **Around 2000**: the International Campaign to Ban Winmine calls the game disrespectful to landmine victims and asks Microsoft to change it; the Italian version of Windows 2000 becomes *Prato fiorito*, with flowers instead of mines, and other versions follow.
- **2012**: from Windows 8 on, Minesweeper no longer comes with Windows; it becomes an app to download from Microsoft's store.

## Frequently asked questions

### How do you play Minesweeper?

Open a square: if it does not hide a mine, it shows how many mines touch it. Use those numbers to work out where the mines are, flag them if you like, and open every other square. You win when every square without a mine is open, and lose if you open a mine.

### What do the numbers in Minesweeper mean?

A number tells you how many mines are among the eight squares touching it: left, right, above, below and the four diagonals. A 1 touches exactly one mine, a 3 touches three. A square that touches no mine stays blank and opens its neighbours by itself. An 8 is possible but very rare: all eight neighbours must be mines.

### Is Minesweeper luck or skill?

Mostly skill: most positions can be solved by logic. But classic Minesweeper sometimes leaves two squares that nothing can tell apart, and you have to bet, like the very first click on an untouched field. Minesprint removes that luck: each field starts with an open area and has been checked to be solvable without guessing.

### Can Minesweeper be solved without guessing?

Not always in classic Minesweeper: some fields contain a forced 50/50 that no reasoning can settle. That is why "no guess" versions exist, which only keep fields a logic solver can finish. Minesprint is one of them: every field, the daily one and those of the free run, is checked that way before you see it.

### What should you do when you are stuck in Minesweeper?

Go through each number on the edge and subtract the mines already found: a known pattern often appears after that reduction. Then compare two neighbouring numbers that share closed squares. Near the end, count the mines left. On Minesprint, being stuck means a deduction is escaping you, not that you have to guess.

### What is the 1-2-1 pattern in Minesweeper?

Along a straight edge of the open area, a 1-2-1 sequence means the mines face the two 1s and the square facing the 2 is safe. The related 1-2-2-1 pattern puts the mines in front of the two 2s. Both follow from applying the 1-2 pattern from each end.

### What is the Minesweeper world record?

According to the records page of minesweepergame.com, checked in November 2026, the Expert record (30 × 16, 99 mines) is 26.59 seconds and the Intermediate record (16 × 16, 40 mines) is 5.80 seconds, both set in 2022 by Ze-En Ju. On Beginner, the same page gives 0.45 seconds, by Michal Szoplik, on a field that took only 2 clicks. These records are set on classic fields, where a guess can be forced.

### How big is the Expert grid in Minesweeper?

Expert Minesweeper is 30 squares wide and 16 high, with 99 mines, as in Windows Minesweeper and in the world rankings. Intermediate is 16 × 16 with 40 mines, Beginner 8 × 8 with 10 mines (9 × 9 from Windows XP on). Minesprint offers the three sizes, with an 8 × 8 Beginner.

### What is 3BV in Minesweeper?

3BV (*Bechtel's Board Benchmark Value*) is the smallest number of clicks needed to clear a field without flags. It measures how hard a given field is, and 3BV divided by the time in seconds gives a player's speed in 3BV/s. Minesprint shows it at the end of every game you win, next to your number of clicks.

### Why is Minesweeper not on Windows 10 or 11?

Since Windows 8, Minesweeper is no longer installed with Windows. Microsoft offers it as a free, ad-supported app in its store. You can also play in your browser without installing anything: Minesprint works on computers and phones, with no account and no ads.

### Was Minesweeper banned in Italy?

None of the sources checked mentions a ban: the flowers came from a campaign against the game. Around 2000, the International Campaign to Ban Winmine asked Microsoft to change its theme, calling it disrespectful to landmine victims, and the Italian version of Windows 2000 renamed it *Prato fiorito*, "flowery meadow", with flowers instead of mines. Later versions of Windows offered that theme elsewhere too.

### Is Neurostim's Minesweeper free, with no account?

Yes. Minesprint is free, has no ads and can be played without an account: you get a guest name with your first game and are ranked just like members. Create an account whenever you want to keep your results and follow your progress.

## Sources

- Minesweeper Game, [world records](https://minesweepergame.com/world-records.php), [ranking rules](https://minesweepergame.com/ranking-rules.php), [patterns](https://minesweepergame.com/strategy/patterns.php), [the story of Robert Donner](https://minesweepergame.com/history/robert-donner.php) and [of the Microsoft Entertainment Pack](https://minesweepergame.com/history/windows-entertainment-pack.php), [the Relentless Logic entry](https://minesweepergame.com/database/games.php?id=41), checked on 7 November 2026.
- Minesweeper Online, [help](https://minesweeper.online/help) and [patterns](https://minesweeper.online/help/patterns).
- Richard Kaye, "Minesweeper is NP-complete", *The Mathematical Intelligencer* 22 (2), 2000, pp. 9-15, [doi:10.1007/BF03025367](https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03025367).
- Benj Edwards, [30 Years of Minesweeper](https://www.howtogeek.com/693898/30-years-of-minesweeper-sudoku-with-explosions/), How-To Geek, 8 October 2020.
- TheGamer, [the first Expert clear under 30 seconds](https://www.thegamer.com/12-year-old-ze-en-ju-first-person-clear-minesweeper-expert-grid-under-30-seconds/), 18 September 2020.
- Wikipedia, [Mined-Out](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mined-Out), [Microsoft Minesweeper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Minesweeper) and [Minesweeper (video game)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minesweeper_(video_game)).
- The Register, [the campaign against Winmine](https://www.theregister.com/2001/06/21/windows_minesweeper_is_an_offence/), 21 June 2001.

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