How to Play Minesweeper: seven patterns, and why you never have to guess here
Most Minesweeper advice ends at "then you guess". Not here: every board is cleared by an independent logic solver before you see it, using deduction only. So when you are stuck, a deduction exists — and it is almost always one of the patterns below, at a spot you stopped looking at.
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Subtract the flags you have already placed
A number counts mines, not unopened squares. A 3 that already touches two flags is really a 1 for the rest of its neighbours. Read every number as "how many are left" and most of the board simplifies at once.
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If the count equals the unopened squares, they are all mines
A 2 touching exactly two unopened squares has no choice about where its mines are. Flag both. This is the single most common deduction on the board and the one people skip when moving fast.
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If the flags equal the count, the rest are safe
The mirror of the previous rule, and the one that actually opens ground. When a number is satisfied, every other neighbour is clear — open them all without hesitating.
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1-2-1 along a wall: mine, safe, mine
Three numbers reading 1-2-1 in a straight line, with unopened squares along one side, resolve completely. The squares beneath the 1s are mines and the square beneath the 2 is safe. It works because the 2 is already fully served by its neighbours.
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1-2-2-1 along a wall: safe, mine, mine, safe
The same idea, one step longer. Under 1-2-2-1 the two middle squares are mines and the two outer squares are clear. Learning these two shapes removes most of the mid-game hesitation.
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Subtract one number from its neighbour
When two numbers share some unopened squares, compare them. If a 2 and a 1 overlap and the 2 has exactly one square the 1 does not touch, that square is a mine. This is the technique that cracks positions the simple rules cannot.
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Use the remaining mine count at the end
The counter is a clue, not decoration. Late in a board, the number of mines left often forces an arrangement the local numbers alone cannot — especially when only two candidate regions are left.
Because these boards are verified no-guess, being stuck means a deduction is on the board somewhere. Walk the whole frontier again rather than clicking hopefully — the answer is there.