Minesweeper Intermediate

Intermediate Minesweeper online

The intermediate board has 256 squares and 40 mines, so roughly one square in six is dangerous. That is enough to stop the board from opening itself, and you will need to read the numbers together instead of one at a time. If the rules are new to you, the 9×9 beginner board explains them.

Controls

Click or tap opens a square. Right-click, or press and hold on a touch screen, sets a flag; the Flag mode button turns every tap into a flag. Tapping a number that already has its flags opens everything else around it, which saves a great deal of clicking on a board this size. Undo works after any move, including a mine.

Patterns worth knowing

1-2-1 along a straight edge of closed squares: the mines sit behind the two 1s and the square behind the 2 is safe.
1-2-2-1: the mines are behind the two 2s; the squares behind the 1s are safe.
1-1 starting at a wall: the third square along is safe, because the first 1 already accounts for the mine the second one sees.
When one number’s closed squares are all contained in a neighbour’s, subtract: the difference tells you about the squares they do not share.

Getting faster

Flag only what you need in order to open more squares. Extra flags cost time and prove nothing.
Finish one front completely before starting another, so you do not lose your place.
A good first target is to clear the board in under two minutes.

Ready for more? Try expert, 30×16 with 99 mines.

Intermediate Minesweeper online

Controls

Patterns worth knowing

Getting faster

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