Puzzle

ASCII Minesweeper

Reveal every safe square on a grid of hidden mines, using the neighbour counts to deduce where the mines are.

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Controls

Arrow keys or WASDMove the cursor between squares.
Space or EnterReveal the square under the cursor.
F or ZFlag or unflag the square under the cursor.
Tap / long-pressTap a square to reveal it, long-press to flag it.
RStart a new board.

How to play

  1. Move the cursor with the arrow keys, or tap a square. Your first reveal is always safe.
  2. A revealed number is the count of mines touching that square. An empty square opens its neighbours automatically.
  3. Use the numbers to work out where the mines are, and flag those squares so you do not reveal them by mistake.
  4. Reveal every square that is not a mine to clear the board. Reveal a mine and the game ends.

About Minesweeper

Minesweeper is a logic game wearing the costume of a gamble. The first square you reveal is always safe, and from then on every number you uncover is a fact: it is the exact count of mines touching that square. String those facts together and most of the board can be cleared by deduction alone, with a genuine guess needed only occasionally when the information runs out.

This version uses the classic nine-by-nine beginner board with ten mines. Revealing an empty square opens up its empty neighbours in one step, the way the original does, so progress comes in satisfying cascades. Flags mark where you believe a mine sits and stop you revealing it by accident. The clock starts on your first reveal, and your fastest clear is saved on this device.

Frequently asked questions

No. The mines are placed after your first reveal, and the square you first reveal - and its immediate neighbours - are guaranteed clear, so the game always opens with a usable cascade rather than an instant loss.

A number on a revealed square is the exact count of mines in the eight squares touching it. A square showing 1 has a single mine somewhere around it; a blank square has none, which is why its neighbours open automatically.

Long-press the square. A short tap reveals a square; holding it marks a flag instead, so you can note where you believe a mine is without revealing it. Long-press a flagged square again to remove the flag.

While you are here

BNS Data Tools

The same team builds a set of free, privacy-first data and developer utilities - formatters, converters, validators and calculators - that run in your browser the same way these games do.

Open BNS Data Tools