QUICK GUIDE
How to play Google Minesweeper
Clear the safe squares by reading the number clues, marking suspected mines and using the controls built into the game. The board includes a difficulty menu, hints, a timer, a mine counter, sound and theme controls.
The goal: clear every safe square
Reveal every square that does not contain a mine to win. Opening a mine ends the run. Flags help you remember where you think mines are, but flagging is optional if you can safely uncover the whole board.
The top bar keeps the key information in view: the remaining-mine counter, timer and best-time display. Choose a difficulty from the menu before starting. In the default Medium setup, the mine counter begins at 40.
Read the number clues
A number counts the mines in the eight squares touching it, including the diagonals. A 1 means exactly one of those neighboring squares contains a mine; a 2 means two. The number does not point to a direction, so compare it with nearby clues before opening a covered square.
Blank squares have no mines next to them and can reveal a connected area automatically. When a number already has the same number of flagged neighbors, its other covered neighbors are safe to open. When its count matches the remaining covered neighbors, those squares are mines.
Mouse, touch and keyboard controls
On a computer, click a covered square to reveal it and right-click to place or remove a flag. On a phone or tablet, switch on Flag mode before tapping suspected mines, then return to reveal mode for safe squares. The game’s flag-mode shortcut is F.
The game panel also has a Hint button with a remaining-use count, a leaderboard, theme and sound controls, and a restart button. Keyboard shortcuts shown by the game are H for Hint, L for Leaderboard, T for theme, M for sound and R for restart.
Use deductions before asking for a hint
Start with a clue that has very few covered neighbors. If a 1 touches only one covered square, that square must contain a mine. If all mines around a number are already accounted for by flags, the other covered neighbors can be opened safely.
Compare two clues that share neighboring squares to narrow down the possibilities. Avoid placing a flag just because a square looks risky: an incorrect flag can make a later move unsafe. If you are stuck, use one of the hints shown in the game panel.
A responsive game panel for desktop and mobile
The embedded board fills the available page width and adjusts as the browser window gets narrower. Use a mouse on desktop or the in-game touch and flag controls on a phone. On a small screen, rotate the device if you want more horizontal room for the board.
The embedded game keeps its own best times and leaderboard. Those results are separate from the online rankings on Mine-Sweeper Arcade.