Minesweeper Patterns

Open the online Minesweeper solver Bring a board, then compare its clues with these examples.

What Are Minesweeper Patterns?

A pattern is a recurring relationship between revealed numbers and their covered neighbors. The digits alone are not the entire pattern. The edge of the board, the shape of the open area, and any correctly established flags determine which hidden cells a number can still count. Two games can display the same sequence of digits and require different moves because their surrounding cells differ.

Think of a mine as 1 and a safe cell as 0. Each clue gives a small sum over its neighbors. Comparing those sums can determine a cell even when you cannot locate every mine in the group. This is why a useful pattern does not always have one unique solution for the entire area: a safe cell may be shared by several valid arrangements.

The Patterns Worth Memorizing

These diagrams are closed teaching positions. Cells outside each frame are either beyond the board boundary or already known safe; they add no unknown mines to the displayed clues. Read M as a proved mine, S as a proved safe cell, and ? as unresolved. A letter in the answer diagram describes a conclusion, not a number you would see after opening the square.

1-1 Pairs Against a Wall

Start at the left edge. The first 1 touches only the two covered squares A1 and B1, so exactly one of them contains a mine. The second 1 touches that same pair plus the two squares in column C. Because the pair already supplies its required mine, both additional squares must be safe.

The important result is the safe extension, not a flag in the shared pair. A1 can hold the mine while B1 is safe, or B1 can hold it while A1 is safe. Neither clue distinguishes those possibilities. An extra covered neighbor to the left of the first 1 would change its equation and could invalidate this deduction; always check the wall before applying the shortcut.

1-2-1

In this straight frontier, the three unknown squares sit above the three clues. The middle 2 sees all three, while each outer 1 sees the middle square and its nearer end. Try assuming the middle square is a mine. Each 1 would then forbid a mine at its end, leaving only one mine beside the 2. That contradiction proves the middle square safe.

The 2 still needs two mines, so both outer squares must contain them. You can now flag A1 and C1 and safely open B1. Rotating or reflecting the whole position preserves the logic. Copying just the digits does not: if a clue also touches an unaccounted-for covered square below or beside this strip, include that square before claiming the same result.

1-2-2-1

This four-cell strip produces the opposite-looking answer: the middle pair contains mines and the outer pair is safe. Compare the first 1 with the 2 immediately beside it. The 1 counts A1 and B1. The 2 counts those same cells plus C1. Its extra required mine must therefore be C1. Make the mirrored comparison from the right to prove B1 is a mine.

With B1 known, the left 1 excludes A1; with C1 known, the right 1 excludes D1. This two-sided proof is easier to remember than a picture of four colored squares. On a real board, first subtract any adjacent proved flags from the clue counts. The resulting remaining counts may form this pattern even when the printed digits are larger.

2-2 Chains

A pair of 2s is not a universal mine arrangement. Here it becomes useful because the left boundary leaves the first 2 exactly two covered neighbors. Both must be mines. The second 2 touches those same two mines, so every extra covered neighbor it sees is safe. In the diagram, those extra neighbors are C1 and C2.

If the first 2 had three or four possible mine locations, this quick proof would not work. Follow longer chains by checking each clue's remaining count after a deduction. A newly proved mine can satisfy the next number, but uncertainty in one link must stay uncertain. Do not assume a repeating visual rhythm guarantees a repeating mine placement.

Corner Patterns

A corner cell has only three neighbors, including the diagonal. In this example, the corner 1 already touches a proved mine at B1. Its other two neighbors are therefore safe. The flag is a starting assumption backed by earlier reasoning. If you placed it as a guess, the two safe marks would be conditional on that guess being right.

A corner 1 without the established flag would simply tell you that one of its three neighbors is mined. It would not identify which one. Corners simplify the list of neighbors you must consider, but do not automatically provide a safe continuation or establish the best opening click for every game version.

How to Read a Pattern in Your Own Game

1. List every covered neighbor. Include diagonals and squares just outside the shape that first caught your eye. A screenshot crop is not a board boundary.
2. Subtract only proved mines. A displayed 3 beside two established mines needs one more mine among its other covered neighbors. Keep that remaining count separate from the printed digit.
3. Compare shared and extra cells. If one clue's remaining neighborhood is contained in another's, subtract their mine requirements to reason about the extra cells.
4. Recheck after each move. A new clue changes the available information. Apply the updated neighborhood instead of following a memorized sequence of clicks.

For example, remaining counts 1 and 1 over a small group and a larger group prove that the extra cells in the larger group contain zero mines. Counts 1 and 2 over the same groups prove one mine in the extra group. That identifies a particular mine only if the extra group has exactly one cell. This distinction prevents a common mistake: knowing that a group contains a mine is not the same as knowing which square contains it.

Patterns That Still Need a Guess

The question marks in the first diagram are intentional. Both arrangements of its shared pair fit the starting clues. Another revealed number elsewhere could later distinguish them. Without that information, a local pattern cannot pick the correct square. Unresolved does not automatically mean 50/50: mine totals and constraints outside a local picture can change how many complete layouts support each choice.

Before guessing, inspect the rest of the frontier and check your flags. A stalled analysis can mean the chosen method has not found a deduction, rather than proving that none exists. A genuine forced guess requires ambiguity that remains after considering all available information. Learning to preserve uncertainty is part of reading a board correctly; there is no benefit in turning an undecided square into an unjustified flag.

For choosing between uncertain moves and using the remaining mine total, continue with the Minesweeper strategy guide.

Practice Patterns on a Live Board

In each small exercise, choose a covered square and read the explanation. A safe square receives an S marker and a proved mine receives a flag. Unresolved squares remain covered. Reset the example to check a different cell first, or show all deductions to compare your answer with the diagram. These exercises keep the original clues fixed so a newly revealed number does not change the lesson halfway through.

For a full game, open the online Minesweeper solver and reveal an opening, or import a screenshot of your board. Check the recognized clues and total mine count, then press Step to inspect a suggested reveal or flag. Compare that suggestion with the neighboring counts. Use the solver walkthrough for the controls and the rules guide for diagonal counting and flags.

For additional illustrated examples of shared-neighbor comparisons and reductions, see the Minesweeper Online pattern reference. The diagrams and clickable exercises on this page are original teaching examples.

Try your board in the solver Check a safe move or a mine to flag, one step at a time.