Minesweeper – no-guess mine logic puzzle

How it works

The puzzle follows the rules of Minesweeper but turns the task around. You do not uncover anything, and nothing blows up. Some cells are already open and carry a number: it says how many of the eight neighbouring cells hold mines, diagonals included. A 0 means none. All other cells are covered; some hide a mine, the rest do not.

Above the board you see how many mines there are in total. Tap a covered cell to mark it as a mine; a second tap removes the mark. The puzzle checks itself as soon as you have marked as many cells as the count above. Until then nothing happens, so you can rearrange your marks in peace.

On this page you start in practice mode: Minesweeper is already selected, so you only choose Easy, Medium or Hard and begin. Play as many boards as you like — nothing is scored, and the clock counts upwards instead of setting you a time limit.

There is exactly one difference from the original. There, you reach positions where two cells are equally likely and you have to toss a coin. Not here. Every puzzle has exactly one solution, and it follows entirely from the numbers. You will meet the same puzzle in the Daily Sprint, in Endless, in Deduction Rush and in duels.

Tips & techniques

• The rest are mines. If a number has exactly as many covered neighbours as it still lacks mines, all of them are mines. A 3 with precisely three covered neighbours leaves no other arrangement. This is the most common step of all.
• The rest are safe. The reverse: once all of a number's mines are marked, every other neighbour is safe. A 0 is the special case where that holds immediately — so start with the zeros and note their neighbours as mine-free.
• Subset rule. When one number sees only covered cells that a second number sees too, you can set the two against each other. If the single mine of a 1 lies somewhere in the shared area, the second mine of the neighbouring 2 must lie in the remainder that only the 2 can see. Neither number gets anywhere alone — this is the step where most people get stuck.
• Mine count. The total above the board is a clue in its own right, not just a counter. Once every mine is found, everything else is safe. And if a single number already accounts for all the mines still missing, none can lie outside its neighbourhood.
• Trial. On Hard only: assume, for the sake of argument, that a cell holds a mine. If that contradicts one of the numbers, the cell is safe — and the other way round.
• Work from the outside in. Look at a single number first, then at two neighbouring numbers, then at the whole board. The reasoning gets more involved in that order.

Frequently asked questions

Are there really no 50:50 situations?

None. Every board is built so that each mine can be worked out from the numbers and the total, and there is exactly one solution. If you are stuck, a rule is missing — not luck.

What happens if I mark the wrong cell?

Nothing at first: the check only runs once you have marked as many cells as there are mines on the board. If your selection is wrong at that point, you are told so — but not which mark was the wrong one. In practice mode a failed attempt costs nothing.

How do the difficulty levels differ?

Easy is a 5×5 board with two or three mines that needs only the two counting rules. Medium is played on 6×6 with four or five mines and may require the mine count. Hard has five or six mines on 6×6 and may additionally call for the subset rule and at most one trial.

Can I get help when I am stuck?

In practice mode you can ask for the next cell about which something certain can be said. Whether it hides a mine or not, the hint does not reveal. Each puzzle comes with three hints on Easy, two on Medium and one on Hard.

Do I need an account?

No. Minesweeper deduction runs free of charge in your browser, and you can play at once without signing up.