Minesweeper
Also known as Mines and Mine Sweeper
Reveal every square that is not a mine. Each number counts the mines touching that square, and from those counts the whole field can be reasoned out. Every board in Winters Puzzles is generated so it can be solved without guessing — the coin-flip that ends a round in most versions is not in this one.
How it works
- Reveal every square that isn't a mine to win.
- A number counts the mines touching that square, including diagonals.
- Flag the squares you have worked out are mines. Flags are for you — they are not needed to win.
- Tap a number with all its mines flagged to open the rest of its neighbours at once.
- Every board can be solved without guessing.
Good if you want…
- A familiar puzzle without the unfair endings
- Quick deduction under a little pressure
- Playing the same thing at three different sizes
How to solve Minesweeper
Read the easy numbers first
A number counts the mines in the eight squares around it. If a 1 touches only one hidden square, that square is a mine. If a number already has as many flags around it as its value, every other hidden neighbour is safe. Those two rules alone clear most of an easy board.
Learn the 1-2-1 and 1-2-2-1
Along a straight edge of opened squares, a row of numbers reading 1, 2, 1 has mines under both 1s and a safe square under the 2. A row reading 1, 2, 2, 1 has mines under the two 2s and safe squares under the 1s. These patterns come up constantly, and recognising them saves working them out every time.
Subtract one number from another
When two numbers share some of their hidden neighbours, compare them. If a 1 and a 2 sit side by side and the 2 has one hidden square the 1 cannot see, that square must be a mine — the 2 needs one more mine than its neighbour, and the extra square is the only place for it. This subtraction is how every hard position is cracked.
Chord to go faster
Tapping a number that already has all its mines flagged opens all its other neighbours at once. It is the quickest way to clear a field — but only chord a number whose flags you are sure of, because a wrong flag turns a chord into a detonation.
There is always a safe move
Every board in Winters Puzzles is generated so it can be solved without guessing. If it looks like a coin toss, it is not: there is a subtraction somewhere, often involving a number a little further from the edge than you were looking.
Common mistakes
- Flagging on a hunch. A wrong flag misleads every deduction made from it.
- Only reading numbers one at a time. The hard positions are solved by comparing two neighbours.
- Forgetting the diagonals. Each number counts all eight surrounding squares.
Where Minesweeper comes from
Games of hunting hidden mines by their counts date back to early computer games of the 1960s and 70s. Minesweeper became one of the most-played games in the world after a version was bundled with Windows in the early 1990s.
Minesweeper questions
Do I have to flag every mine?
No. Flags are for you. You win by revealing every square that is not a mine.
Will I ever have to guess?
Not here. Every board is generated so that it can be solved by deduction from start to finish.
Minesweeper in Winters Puzzles
Minesweeper is one of 40 puzzles in Winters Puzzles, so it sits alongside Patch, Logic Grid, Pippin and everything else in the app rather than being a download of its own. It counts towards your stats and streak like any other puzzle. It is not one of the puzzle types included in Pip’s dailies.
Play Minesweeper.
Free on iPhone and iPad, with 39 other puzzles alongside it. Or play it in your browser — no download, nothing to sign up for.
