Minesweeper Online
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Tips, Strategies & Fun Facts
Basic Tips for Beginners
- Your first click is always safe! The game will never place a mine on the first square you reveal.
- A number on a square tells you how many mines are in the eight squares immediately surrounding it.
- Right-click to place a flag on a square you suspect is a mine. This helps you keep track and prevents you from accidentally clicking it.
Common Patterns
- The 1-2-1 Pattern: If you see a "1-2-1" pattern against a wall or edge, the square next to the "2" (away from the 1s) is always safe to click.
- The 1-1 Pattern: If two "1"s are next to each other, and there's only one unknown square next to the first "1", that square must be a mine.
- Chording: If a numbered square is already touching the correct number of flagged mines, you can left-click it again (or middle-click) to automatically reveal all its other un-flagged neighbors. This is a huge time-saver!
Fun Facts
- Minesweeper was created by Robert Donner and Curt Johnson and was included with Microsoft Windows 3.1 in 1992.
- The original purpose of the game was to teach users mouse control, specifically the concept of left-clicking and right-clicking.
- The world record for solving a hard (16x30) Minesweeper board is under 30 seconds!
FAQs
- How does the timer work? The timer starts the moment you make your first click on the grid and stops when you either win or lose the game.
- What is 'chording'? Chording is a technique where you click on a revealed number tile when the correct number of adjacent mines have been flagged. This action reveals all other adjacent hidden tiles. It's a key strategy for speed.
- Can every game be solved with logic? Almost! Most board configurations can be solved purely with logic. However, there are rare situations where you might be forced to make a 50/50 guess between two squares.