Minesweeper patterns
Most Minesweeper boards are cleared with a handful of patterns. Learn to spot them and you rarely need to stop and count. Every board on Daily Minesweeper is checked by a solver, so these rules always lead you to a safe move: you never have to guess.
In each diagram, the left side is what you see and the right side is what you can prove.🚩 must be a mine✓ is safe is still unknownSquares not drawn are already open.
A number with just enough hidden squares
The 2 touches exactly two hidden squares, so both are mines. This is the first thing to look for anywhere on the board.
A number that already has its mines
The 1 already touches a flagged mine, so every other hidden square around it is safe. In the game, tap the 1 to open them all at once.
The 1-2-1 pattern
Along a straight wall of hidden squares, a 1-2-1 always has its mines next to the two 1s. The square next to the 2 is safe, and so are the squares just past each end.
The 1-2-2-1 pattern
Along a straight wall, a 1-2-2-1 has its two mines next to the two 2s. Everything next to the 1s is safe.
The 1-2 pattern
The 1 allows at most one mine in the two squares it shares with the 2, so the 2 needs its second mine in the square only it touches. The square only the 1 touches is safe. This works anywhere along a wall, and it is the reason both patterns above work.
The 1-1 pattern at an edge
Here the first 1 is against the edge of the board, so it touches only two hidden squares and one of them is its mine. The second 1 touches those same two squares plus one more, and the mine it needs is already among the two. So the extra square is safe. Away from an edge, a 1-1 tells you nothing on its own.
Subtract flags first
Every number touches the flag below the 3. Take one away from each: the row now reads 1-2-1, and the 1-2-1 pattern applies. Do this whenever a number already touches flags.
When the patterns run out
- Compare any two numbers that share squares. If every hidden square of one number is also next to the other, the difference in their counts must be in the squares only the second one touches. All the patterns above are this one rule.
- Count the mines left. Near the end, compare the mine counter with the hidden squares that remain. If they match, every hidden square is a mine; if it is zero, every hidden square is safe.
- Stuck? On Minigamy there is always a provable move. Look again along the edges of the open area, and subtract flags from every number first.