Play Minesweeper

Minesweeper is a game that's installed by default on most computers that come with Windows. Most people like to just click around the program hoping to not hit a mine, but if you want to master the game, then you have to play with strategy. The most important skill you can use while playing Minesweeper is a process of elimination.

Steps

  1. Select a difficulty level. Click Game in the upper-left corner, and select Beginner, Intermediate, Expert, or Custom. If you're new to Minesweeper, start with Beginner.
    • Custom allows you to determine the number of squares in the grid, as well as the number of mines. You can play around with this later.
  2. Notice the numbers at the bottom in white? The number in the lower-right corner denotes the number of mines on the board. The number beside it is the timer.
  3. Click any square, preferably towards the middle. Most Minesweeper players click random squares until a group of squares "opens" up. If 4 or 5 squares opened after your click, it's time to evaluate the numbers. If only one square opens after your click, find another random square.
    • Left clicking uncovers the contents of a given tile. Right clicking or holding alt while clicking marks a tile as a suspected bomb.
  4. Check the numbers to find bombs. As you uncover tiles, you will see numbers revealed. A number means that there are that number of bombs touching that tile (both sides, top/bottom, and diagonally). If you see a 1 on the board, it means that square is touching exactly 1 mine.
  5. Click known safe squares. Eliminate squares that can't possibly contain mines by left clicking. Say you found a 1, and you're pretty sure where the mine for that 1 is. You can click all the other squares around that 1 to open them, because the 1 can only be in contact with a single mine.
    • Use all of the numbers in a given area to figure out where the mines are.
  6. Right-click to identify mines. When you're reasonably certain you've found a mine, identify it by right-clicking or holding alt and clicking on the square. This will put a flag on the mine, and prevent you from clicking on it.
  7. Keep moving through a process of elimination. As you go around the board, flag potential mines. If you find that you've flagged more mines than the game allows, go back and re-evaluate them.
  8. Practice. After you master Beginner, move on to Intermediate, and then to Expert. As you go on, you'll notice yourself losing less often.



Tips

  • Practice, practice, practice! The only way to get faster is to train your brain to learn certain patterns!
  • Stay focused, simple mistakes can end a game quickly!
  • If you see a pattern "121" along a straight line, then place a flag on the ones, and step on the number 2.
  • To actually cheat at the Windows XP version of minesweeper, press "xyzzy" and then hold the shift key while pressing enter. This will make the very top left pixel of the screen turn white if the space your cursor is on is not a mine, and turn black if it is a mine. If it is difficult to see, minimize windows and change the desktop background to a solid color other than black or white.
  • Don't worry if you keep failing. Just play it, and master it.
  • If you want to cheat, use the custom option and set the first 2 changeable numbers to 100 and the 3rd changeable number to one. These numbers mean fewer mines on a larger board.

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Sources and Citations

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