How to Win Minesweeper: Patterns, Flags and Chording
Minesweeper is mostly logic. Each number tells you how many mines touch that square, so compare neighbouring numbers to find squares that must be mines or must be safe. Learn the common patterns (1-1, 1-2, 1-2-1, 1-2-2-1), flag mines you're sure of, and chord (click a satisfied number) to open safe squares quickly.
Reading the numbers
A number counts the mines in the eight squares around it, including diagonals. Every deduction in Minesweeper comes from two simple questions about a number:
- Does it have exactly as many closed neighbours as its value? Then every one of them is a mine. A 1 with only one closed square next to it has found its mine.
- Does it already have as many flags as its value? Then every other closed neighbour is safe.
Patterns are just shortcuts for these two questions applied to two or three numbers in a row. In the diagrams, orange spiky markers are squares proven to be mines and green ticks are squares proven safe.
Pattern 1-1: start from the wall
When a row of numbers runs along a line of closed squares and the first number sits against the edge of the board, look at the first two numbers. If both are 1s, the first 1's mine is in one of its two squares, and both of those also touch the second 1. That uses up the second 1, so the third square along is safe.
Pattern 1-2: the 2's far square is a mine
When a 1 and a 2 sit side by side along a line of closed squares, the 2 touches one square that the 1 doesn't (on the far side). The 1 allows at most one mine in the squares they share, so the 2 needs its other mine in that far square.
Pattern 1-2-1: mines under the 1s
This is the most famous pattern. Along a straight line of closed squares, a 1-2-1 always means: mines next to the 1s, safe next to the 2. You can check it with the 1-2 rule from both sides: each 1-2 pair forces a mine on the far side of the 2.
Pattern 1-2-2-1: mines under the 2s
Stretch it by one and the answer flips: along a straight line, 1-2-2-1 puts the two mines next to the 2s, and the squares next to the 1s are safe. Again it's two 1-2 readings, one from each end.
Flagging and chording
Flagging marks a square you're sure is a mine. On a computer that's usually a right-click; on GameLake you can also long-press a lily pad or switch the mode button to Flag. Flags are optional (you win by opening every safe square, not by flagging every mine), but they make the next step possible.
Chording opens all the remaining neighbours of a number in one go. When a number already has as many flags around it as its value, click it (or tap it on GameLake) and every other closed square around it opens. It's how fast players clear boards, but it trusts your flags completely: one wrong flag and the chord opens a mine.
Is Minesweeper luck? When a guess is really needed
In classic Minesweeper, mostly not, but sometimes. The board is generated at random, and occasionally the numbers can't tell you where a mine is. The classic case is two closed squares that share all the same numbers, with one mine between them: a true 50/50. No amount of logic separates them.
Before you accept a guess, make sure it really is one:
- Check every number on the border, not just the one you're staring at. A deduction somewhere else often reaches round.
- Use the mine counter. Near the end, the number of mines left can settle a region that the numbers alone can't.
- If you must guess, guess early rather than late, and pick the square that would open the most information if it's safe.
On GameLake you never have to guess. Every board is generated so it can be solved by logic from your first tap, so if you're stuck, there's always a deduction to find. Tap Teach me and Hop the frog lights up the numbers to read and the squares they decide, and explains why in plain words. You also get a life ring that saves you once per game.
A routine for every board
- Open in the middle of the board; on GameLake the first tap is always safe and usually opens a patch.
- Work around the edges of open water, looking for 1s with a single closed neighbour.
- Flag what you're sure of, then chord numbers that are complete.
- Scan straight borders for 1-1, 1-2, 1-2-1 and 1-2-2-1.
- Still stuck? Compare two neighbouring numbers and ask which squares only one of them touches. That's what every pattern is underneath.
Want the full rules and the story of where the game came from? Read Minesweeper rules and history.
Frequently asked questions
Is Minesweeper based on luck?
Mostly logic. Classic random boards sometimes force a 50/50 guess, but most of the game is deduction. GameLake boards never require a guess.
How do you flag in Minesweeper?
Right-click a square on a computer. On GameLake you can also long-press a lily pad, or switch the mode button to Flag and tap.
What does 1-2-1 mean in Minesweeper?
Along a straight line of closed squares, the mines are next to the two 1s and the square next to the 2 is safe.
What is chording in Minesweeper?
Clicking a number that already has the right number of flags around it, which opens all its other neighbours at once.
Do you need to flag every mine to win?
No. You win by opening every square that isn't a mine. Flags just help you keep track and let you chord.