How To Play Minesweeper: 6 Tricks That Will Help You Win The Game

how to play minesweeper
Kristin
November 24, 2020

The minesweeper game is a one-player video game that can be played offline or online. This game will train you to make informed decisions by making calculated guesses and eliminating unlikely options. You go from known to unknown in the minesweeper game. So, how to play Minesweeper?

Your first click in the game gives you the first information, and it is the only known fact in the game. This click will not be a mine, and it will lead you to every other mine. Each correct click will give you a clue to another click. The minesweeper is a game of puzzles, only this time you are watching out for mines.

The chances are that you already have this game on your personal computer if you use the Windows operating system. It is a top-rated game with many variants developed for general use with different devices.

This article will explain the typical structure of the minesweeper you will get on a Windows operating system and other common platforms. It gives a comprehensive minesweeper guide that will help you learn how to play minesweeper as a beginner and teach you minesweeper strategies and tricks that will increase your chances of winning the game.

We would be giving you minesweeper tips and tricks to help you become an expert of the game. To understand the minesweeper strategy, you have to learn all about the game structure and how it is played. By the end of this article, you would have had enough information to make you a great player.

This article serves as a minesweeper guide, which will teach you the following:

  • All the minesweeper game is about
  • Basic rules on how to play minesweeper
  • Minesweeper tips you will need while playing
  • Minesweeper tricks and strategy
  • How to win minesweeper whenever you play

What is Minesweeper? Quick Overview of the Game

Dated as far back as the 60s and 70s, the minesweeper game is one of the oldest played games in history. Though the game has seen several modifications from its ancient form, the essential gameplay remains intact with general minesweeper rules applying to all varieties of the game that has ever been.

The minesweeper game is a video game played by a single player. Like its name, it involves navigating through mines in a puzzle-like game.

By structure, you have a game board, rectangular, which contains hidden mines or bombs. The minesweeper rules dictate that you do not “detonate” any of these mines or bombs while playing.

It is a game that combines both luck and skill. Luck is involved in the composition of the game you get at the start of the game. You cannot decide what number of mines you will have at the beginning of the game or how they will be arranged. 

The skill while learning how to play minesweeper involves knowing and mastering the minesweeper strategy and tips that teach you how to win minesweeper when you play.

Structure of the Game

In a typical minesweeper game, you get a board that is divided into cells. These cells could be covered, exposed, or flagged. These are called the states of the section.

minesweeper game overview

  • A covered cell is seen as blank on the game board. You do not know what is in the section until you uncover it
  • An uncovered area has been exposed, and its content viewed
  • A flagged cell is tagged by a player while playing a minesweeper strategy to note a potential mine or bomb location.

There might be variations in the structure of the minesweeper game depending on what version you are playing. Despite these little changes you may get depending on the developer, the game has a standard structure of cells on the board.

The Game Interface

You must get familiar with the game interface as it will make it easier for you to learn how to play minesweeper, especially if you are new to the game.

There are certain basic features you will get on your display after loading your game. Knowing what these are and how to use them can make your game experience better.

  • Minesweeper Game

game structure

This feature is mostly at the top left corner of your game page. Clicking on this gives you a drop-down menu that presents you with multiple options. With this feature, you can choose a new game, set the game level you want to play; either the beginner, intermediate, expert, or custom.

You can also exit a game even when it is not over by using this game menu option.

  • Help

The help button is always situated beside the game button at the top left corner. This feature gives you basic instructions on how to play the game and navigate around the board.

These minesweeper instructions are brief and fundamental, making them inadequate for properly mastering how to play minesweeper. It is why you may need a comprehensive review and minesweeper guide like this to help you learn how to win minesweeper.

  • The Timer

The game is timed, and this makes it more competitive. For a beginner, this might add a little pressure to your game. Here, the minesweeper trick is that you stay calm and stick to your guts while carefully interpreting the clues that lead to the next step until the game is won.

  • The Smiley

minesweeper smiley

The smiley feature is one exciting feature. You get a yellow smiley at the start of the game, which probably indicates that all is well as you play. This yellow smiley changes once you click on the wrong cell and you detonate a bomb.

Clicking on a mined cell triggers an explosion, and you lose your game immediately.

  • The minimize button

You can use this button at either the top left or right area of your game, especially if you are using the Windows version, to hide the game. It allows you to leave the game page to attend to other things on your personal computer.

You can return to the game without losing it even when you have not saved the game. The trick here is to make sure you do not close the game.

How to Play the Minesweeper Game

Several people have had to learn how to play the minesweeper game via trial and error. When you get the game at first, you are not provided with explicit information on what to do or not. It might become worse when you make your first click and realize that a counter is there to time your game, giving a sense of urgency.

Most people have had to source for information outside of the minesweeper instructions provided by the developer. Congratulations! You have just found the right article to help you learn not only how to play mines but how to win minesweeper as well.

Your mouse is all you need to play the minesweeper game. You play the minesweeper game by uncovering all the cells on the board. It is a single-player game, so you do not have to take turns while playing. A win is determined according to the rules of the game.

The main techniques to the game involve the following:

1. Uncovering a cell: To reveal a compartment, you left-click on the cell to expose its content.

2. Flagging of a cell: Right-click on a cell to flag it as a potential mined section.

minesweeper cell

3. Questioning a cell: You do this when you are in doubt about what a section contains. Once you double click on the cell, the question mark appears on it.

The Minesweeper Rules: Learning How to Play and Win Minesweeper

By the game rules, you have to uncover all cells in the game that do not contain a mine to win a game. Be careful not to lose the game when you find a mined area.

You are expected to make a calculated guess about the contents of each cell before clicking on them. You get clues on what the next cell contains after a section has been uncovered. Any misinterpretation of the clues given to you by an uncovered cell can cost you the game if you, unfortunately, click on a mined section.

There are some common misconceptions about the minesweeper game we may need to clarify.

  • You do not necessarily have to flag all mined cells to win the minesweeper game.
  • Your first click in the game does not have to be the first cell on the minesweeper board.
  • A cell might not have a number when uncovered.
  • There is no standard for the dimension of the board or the number of the cell. It is determined by the game version you have and are playing.

The basic minesweeper rules that guide the game are listed below;

  • First Click Rule: The first clock made in the game is never a mine. This rule is made because each cell uncovered gives you information about neighboring cells. The accurate interpretation of the number on every uncovered section will determine if a game will be won or lost.
  • The numbers displayed on an uncovered cell gives information on the number of mines next to it.
  • When a cell is blank after it has been uncovered, it indicates no adjacent mines to the section.

Master the 6 Golden Tricks to Winning a Minesweeper Game

Despite being primarily dominated by luck, you need to develop skills in playing this game. There are tested and proven minesweeper tips that will help you improve your game skills. For this article’s sake, we have compiled six minesweeper tips, which we call the golden tricks.

Once you learn how to apply these golden tricks in every game, you are already on your way to becoming a professional minesweeper player.

  1. Know What the Numbering Means

When playing the minesweeper game, you will find that you often get a number displayed on the cell after clicking a cell. Understanding what these numbers mean is your key to winning the game.

This number directs you on what cell is safe to click and what is not. To conclusively decide if a section will contain a mine or not, you may need to use the information on about two to three exposed cells around it.

The number displayed on an exposed cell tells you the number of mines adjacent to it. You might notice patterns, and the ability to interpret these numbering patterns will also increase your chances of winning the game.

  1. Elimination Method

The minesweeper game is a typical puzzle you have to unravel. The best strategy to do this is by using the elimination method. For every cell you rightly decode, you have just eliminated that option. You keep doing this until you uncover the last safe cell (a non-mined cell), and you will win the game.

  1. Dealing with Uncertainties

It is okay to be unsure about the content of a cell. These uncertainties may occur if the uncovered cells around the cell do not give full information to help know for sure if the section is mined or not. The beautiful thing about this is that you can go from known to unknown.

When you are faced with such a situation, question the cell as a tag. This way, you do not forget why you left it. You can then move on to uncover other cells. When you continue with your game, you get more information to guess your questioned section’s content correctly.

  1. Only take Calculated Guesses

Minesweeper indeed involves some level of luck. It is, however, wrong to play the game guessing your way all through. This way, you might never win a game or learn to play the game properly.

While you may have to make guesses, always make sure there is the reasoning behind every decision to click a cell. You may be wrong at times, especially when you are just beginning to learn. However, as you go on, you will start to learn how to improve your guesses.

  1. Use Tutorials

Minesweeper tutorial will always help you become a better player. For most games, you have the option of playing a tutorial before starting the game properly. Do not be hesitant in taking tutorials.

If you are beginning to study a pattern, tutorials are ways to perfect them to improve your game skills.

  1. Keep Playing Minesweeper Game

The importance of constant practice cannot be overemphasized. No matter the volume of articles or game reviews you read, you are only as good as your level of training.

When you keep playing, there are several other tricks you will learn all by yourself. You would have discovered patterns that you are sure will always work, and even without serious thinking, you can decide what a cell contains when you see the number patterns.

Do not be scared of losing a game as a beginner. You pick lessons from every game lost, which helps you become the better player you seek to be.

Conclusion

The minesweeper game is one that will keep you focused till the end. You will particularly enjoy the game’s build-up, and every accurate click you make will give you a sense of achievement.

It would be best if you did not forget that continuous playing is the way to continually get better at the game. You perfect every trick you learn in a previous match at the next. No matter what, make sure you have fun all the way.

Try to play MineSweeper Online in our library.



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