How to play Mines: rules and patterns

Mines looks like luck, but almost every square can be worked out from the numbers. Learn a handful of patterns and you’ll clear fields faster than you thought possible.

The rules

The field is a grid of covered squares, and some hide mines. Uncover a square and it shows a number: how many of its eight neighbours, including diagonals, are mines. A blank square has none, and the game opens all the squares around it for you. Uncover every safe square to win. Uncover a mine and the game is over.

Your first tap is always safe. On BoardGameSite the mines are laid after your first tap, never on that square or the ones touching it.

Flags and quick clearing

When you know a square is a mine, flag it: long-press on a phone, right-click on a computer, or switch to Flag. Then tap a number whose mines are all flagged, and every other square around it opens at once. This is called chording, and it’s the secret to fast times.

Pattern 1: the lonely 1

A 1 with just one covered square next to it means that square is a mine. The same goes for any number that has exactly as many covered neighbours as its value.

Pattern 2: satisfied numbers

If a number already has that many flags around it, every other covered square around it is safe. Most clearing comes from these two patterns used again and again.

Pattern 3: 1-2-1 along a wall

Along a straight edge of uncovered squares, the numbers 1, 2, 1 in a row mean the squares opposite both 1s are mines and the square opposite the 2 is safe.

Pattern 4: 1-2-2-1

Along a straight edge, 1, 2, 2, 1 means the two squares opposite the 2s are mines and the squares opposite the 1s are safe.

Pattern 5: compare neighbours

Two numbers side by side share most of their neighbours. If a 1 and a 2 sit next to each other along an edge, the 2 has one more mine, and it must be in the squares the 2 can see but the 1 can’t. Thinking about what two numbers share solves many tricky spots.

When you have to guess

Mines are placed at random, so now and then the numbers can’t decide between two squares. Before guessing, uncover everything else you can. If you must guess, pick a square that would tell you the most if it’s safe, often one away from the tangle.