How to Play Minesweeper: A Beginner's Guide to Reading the Numbers

Minesweeper is a classic logic puzzle with a simple goal: reveal every safe square without uncovering a mine. Although the rules are easy to understand, learning how to use the numbered clues makes the game far more interesting.

Start With a Small Board

Beginners should start with a 9×9 board containing 10 mines. This provides enough clues to practice logical deductions without facing an overwhelming number of possibilities.

You can try this difficulty on OnlinePuzzle Minesweeper, which runs directly in your browser on desktop and mobile.

What Do the Numbers Mean?

Every revealed number tells you exactly how many mines touch that square. All eight neighboring positions count, including diagonals.

For example, a square showing 1 has exactly one mine among its covered neighbors. If all but one neighboring square have already been revealed safely, the remaining covered square must be a mine.

You can mark suspected mines with flags to help track your deductions.

Find Safe Squares Before Guessing

Suppose a revealed 2 already touches two mines you have correctly identified. Every other covered square touching that 2 is safe.

This is one of the most important ideas in Minesweeper: subtract confirmed mines from the numbered clue to determine what remains unknown.

When a section becomes difficult, examine another part of the board. A clue elsewhere may reveal the information you need.

Practice Without Pressure

OnlinePuzzle offers Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert boards. Its desktop controls support left-clicking to reveal and right-clicking to flag, while mobile players can tap or press and hold.

Start by understanding individual numbers, then work toward recognizing patterns involving several neighboring clues.

Minesweeper becomes much more satisfying when each move has a reason behind it.